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February 1, 2002/19 Shevat 5762, Vol. 54, No. 20
Local woman creates vegetarian delights
BETH OLSON
Staff Writer
It all started with sausage. Vegetarian sausage, that is.
Donna Knopf, owner and creator of Tempe-based Vegetas vegetarian products, began her business in 1993 with the goal of creating a healthful grain-based sausage. The sausage she created is now carried at Pita Jungle restaurants, and the idea of designing healthful, flavorful, vegetarian foods has translated into a 39-item product line.
From tamales to salsas, dips and tortilla chips, most Vegetas products are all natural with no preservatives.
Currently, Vegetas' tamales are carried at Gentle Strength Cooperative, a vegetarian caf‚ in Tempe, as well as The Trophy Room at Karsten Golf Course.
"Our tamales are different - traditional tamales are made with a sack of flour, lard or shortening and broth. Ours are healthy and they're made with fresh whipped-up corn and that replaces a lot of the canola oil that we put into the tamale just to put a little bit of rich flavor into it," Knopf says.
Frozen tamales are available at retail locations in a variety of flavors: black bean, cheese, garden vegetable, red bean, restaurant style and sweet potato. Locally, Vegetas products are carried at A.J.'s Purveyor of Fine Foods, Wild Oats Community Market and Whole Foods Market.
The most popular products, according to Knopf, are spinach dip and the Vegetas line of hummus dips - including jalapeno, extra garlic and roasted red pepper. Her own favorite product is Smokie Chipotle Salsa - one of several enticing flavors, including avocado tomatillo, citrus jicama and cranberry mango.
Knopf decided to make a move toward a more healthy lifestyle when she was suffering from health problems. She now eats a mostly vegetarian diet.
"I'm not a vegetarian for philosophical reasons, I'm a vegetarian for health reasons," she explains. "If it's not convenient or its not appropriate to be singled out, I'll take some chicken or I'll take some fish."
Her affection for food started at a young age - Knopf's father owned a delicatessen in Chicago for 42 years. In addition to helping her father, she says she spent a good deal of time cooking with her mother and grandmother.
"I actually thought my fort‚ was baking," she explains. "I baked all the cheesecakes one summer, when I was in my teens, for my dad's restaurant."
Knopf went on to obtain a degree in interior design and worked in the interior design industry in Chicago. She moved to Phoenix in 1977 and began doing fiber artwork.
She says she found yet another creative outlet in food when she started Vegetas.
Knopf collects cookbooks and enjoys studying different spice combinations in ethnic recipes. She's in the process of building a library of cookbooks for herself.
Eventually, Vegetas will be available for order online at www.vegetas.com.
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