Many of us are thankful for animals every day and choose not to include them on our plates each day of the year. Around the holidays, however, we are given the extra opportunity to let our compassion shine through via tasty vegan recipes that inspire our loved ones to extend their circle of compassion too.

Green Bean Casserole

One of the nicest (and sneakiest) ways that you can show others how fantastic vegan food is, is to offer to prepare the Thanksgiving meal—or at least some of it. The following are the top five recipe cheats that help to veganize many a traditional holiday dish:

1) Vegetable broth. If your family tends to use chicken stock for everything, vegetable broth is a simple substitution that costs about the same and comes in boxes or cubes and can act just like chicken broth.

2) Vegan margarine is the perfect substitute for cholesterol-laden butter. Just use it exactly the same as you would butter in all your cooking.

3) Plain soy milk. For recipes that call for milk, you can just use the exact same amount of soy milk to replace the milk.

4) Silken tofu. You might not expect your Uncle Bill to enjoy tofu, but hidden inside a pumpkin pie, it just might not seem so scary after all.

5) Just make a vegan green bean casserole. This isn't an ingredient per se, but it is a secret weapon that helps to ensure a magical Thanksgiving dining experience for all. Woo them with this veganized recipe for the classic holiday dish.

For even more ideas on creating your compassionate holiday feast, check out these recipes and also this list of items of more instant versions (like premade gravy) at your local grocery store. Don't forget to include a yummy faux turkey to complete your masterpiece!

Posted by Mylie from PETA Living

The season of eating is rapidly approaching, and if you have a lot of cooking and baking planned this year, make plans now to do something better for animals and your body: Dump the dairy.

Thinking of baking up a batch of cookies for your sweet Aunt Sue? Instead of traditional butter-laden bites, give her the gift of no cholesterol instead! Replacing the dairy in your favorite recipes is easy. There is no fumbling around with complicated concoctions, and you don't need to throw out all your favorite recipes or anything. You just need to clean up their act with a little vegan inspiration:

•Try substituting plain soy milk for recipes that call for milk. You can just use the exact same amount of soymilk to replace the milk that it calls for.

•If it's buttermilk that you need, simply add one tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to one cup plain soymilk. The result will be a thicker, sour type soymilk.

•To replace butter, try a healthy nonhydrogenated style spread. Just use it exactly the same as you would butter.

•To replace eggs, you can use things that you might already have on hand, like soft tofu or mashed potatoes. Check out this list of simple egg replacements.

Easy peasy, right? Now that you are ready to veganize your baking, need more inspiration? Search for recipes here!

Posted by Mylie from PETA Living

Watching Chef Tal cook a vegan celery root soup on a recent episode of Oprah reminded me that you don't need heavy cream or milk to give soup a luxurious creamy texture. Cooking vegetables or beans in a broth or water and then blending at a high speed will actually do the trick.

With a hefty bunch of asparagus sitting in my refrigerator over the weekend, I decided to make a cream of asparagus soup.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

You start by sautéing onions and asparagus in vegan margarine, and then you add broth and bring it to a simmer. The next step—blending all the ingredients—is what creates the smooth texture, but I also like to add just a little unsweetened soy milk to make it extra creamy.

A touch of lemon and cayenne in the soup add tartness and spice that help balance out the strong asparagus flavor. And because of that full flavor, I must warn you that this recipe is strictly for asparagus lovers. Enjoy!

Vegan meats have been popping up on menus around the country, even at restaurants that are known for serving dishes with animal ingredients. With so many options out there, we decided to find out which are the best. Today we're bringing you the best vegan meatballs—made from ingredients like tofu or veggies, not the flesh of dead animals—served at restaurants across the U.S. So who has the best? The winner is …

Ike's Place, San Francisco, California: The runners-up come from all corners of the country, but Ike's has the best vegan meatballs in America. For a sandwich shop that isn't even all vegetarian, Ike's has a huge vegan menu, including two vegan meatball favorites: the Vegan Meatless Mike and the Not So Sloppy Ike.

And the runners-up and their winning dishes are:

•The Greenery Raw Food Café, Encinitas, California: Veggie-walnut meatballs served on zucchini noodles with marinara sauce

•Gianna's Grille, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: "Haastile" Meatball Sub, with sautéed onions, green peppers, and mushrooms

•Caravan of Dreams, New York City: "Live Love Boat," featuring savory almond-Brazil nut meatballs served with sliced tomatoes on a Napa cabbage leaf boat with mango chutney and marinara

•Twisted Tree Café, Asbury Park, New Jersey: Baked tofu meatball wrap served with tomato sauce and vegan cheese

•Buddha Hut, Worcester, Massachusetts: Italian meatball soup

•Portobello Vegan Trattoria, Portland, Oregon: Spaghetti and meatballs

•The Breakroom Café, Oakland, California: Homemade vegan meatballs served on a French panini and topped with vegan mozzarella, upon request

•Spiral Diner & Bakery, Dallas, Texas: "Sketti n' Meatballs" made with tasty soy meatballs, served on spaghetti with homemade marinara sauce and topped with pine nuts and pesto

•One World Café, Baltimore, Maryland: Vegan meatball sub sandwich

Did we leave your favorite vegan meatball spot off the list? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below!

To thank PETA's hardworking interns, we often fill them up with free vegan food—lots of free food. With Halloween right around the corner, we decided to thank our current team with a haunting Halloween cupcake party, hosted by Mylie.

Everyone had a chance to decorate their own masterpieces, as you can see here:

Haunting Halloween Cupcakes

To help you host your own cupcake party, I've compiled a few of my favorite recipes for the cake and icing. You can mix and match the cupcakes with different types of icing using these recipes or go the easy route and use store-bought icing.

Cupcakes

•Chocolate Stout

•Basic Vanilla

•Horchata

Icing

•Easy Chocolate

•Creepy 'Cream Cheese'

•Fluffy 'Buttercream'

And if you're in need of decoration inspiration, check out these ghosts, spiders, mummies, and skeletons. Happy Halloween!

Many people, myself included, are guilty of using food as merely a vehicle for condiments. If you're known to use a tablespoonful of ketchup per fry, then, yes, I'm talking about you. One of the most addicting condiments (OK, some say it's more of a sauce) is gravy.

Pan-Seared Seitan With Mushroom Gravy

Mushroom gravy can easily be made using the margarine, vegetables, and herbs that are left over after pan-searing seitan—and this method will result in more flavorful gravy.

The key to getting the gravy right is to make a roux out of margarine and flour, cooking until it begins to brown. Then slowly add vegetable broth and additional seasonings to taste.

The pan-seared seitan is delicious, but the gravy is definitely the star of the show. Enjoy!

I'm not sure where the tradition comes from, but in Louisiana, Mondays are reserved for red beans and rice. The dish is a Creole staple in my home state—and for good reason. The beans are simmered for hours until they reach an almost creamy consistency, and the combination of vegan Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, and a touch of spice gives this simple dish a complex flavor.

Louisiana Red Beans and Rice

The longer you cook your pot of beans, the creamier the outcome, but no matter what consistency you achieve, the beans are perfect served over a heaping scoop of white rice and a big piece of crusty French bread. Enjoy!

Flipping through the pages of a classic by M.F.K. Fisher or James Beard—or even a recent issue of Gourmet—might be an upsetting experience for some vegans. It can be easy to feel left out if you focus more on what you won't eat than what you will—but I don't have that problem.

Immersing myself in the gourmet food world, regardless of whether I'd eat the items mentioned, is always enjoyable, and that's partly because I'm holding out hope that plant-based cuisine will one day be a bigger part of that world. I think that day is finally here.

For the first time ever, a vegan chef will cook an animal-free meal at the James Beard House in New York City.

The James Beard Award
Picasa/Creative Commons

Chef Rich Landau, co-owner and chef of Horizons, a vegan restaurant in Philadelphia, has the honor of creating the first cruelty-free meal at the James Beard House on November 3. Tickets are available to the public and can be ordered online.

James Beard was known for turning American food into a cohesive and gourmet cuisine. Finally, vegan recipes will be recognized as a significant part of it when Chef Landau takes advantage of this prestigious opportunity.

Landau says, "It has always been my mission to create interesting and delicious food that just so happens to be vegan," and I can't wait to see what he cooks up at the culinary mecca. If you are lucky enough to attend the event, please let me know what you think!

Anyone who has a soft spot for sauerkraut, relish, or even kimchi will certainly be a fan of chow chow. It's a Southern condiment (not just a dog) that's often used on greens and beans.

Black eyed peas topped with chow chow

Chow chow can be made from a variety of bases, such as tomatoes or a combination of peppers, but the most common main ingredient is shredded cabbage. Most recipes call for canning the condiment, which comes in sweet and spicy varieties, but that seems just a bit too complicated for me.

The chow chow recipe I use is one of the few "canning-free" options I've found, and it comes from a barbecue cookbook at SeriousEats.com.

Enjoy!