Using the Five and Ten recipe as inspiration, I decided to try a watermelon-jalapeño salad that downplays the sweetness of the watermelon, making it seem less dessert-like. The acidity of the lime juice and the vinegar helped with this, as did the salt, but of course the sweetness was still shining through. I was surprised to find that the sweet juiciness of the watermelon was actually complemented perfectly by the spiciness of the jalapeño—not in competition with it, as I always was with my little brother.

When it's hot outside, it's hard to think about eating anything warm. Most summer days, I feel like I'm being smothered by the heat and humidity, so the last thing I want to do is increase my body temperature with warm food. On hot nights, cold salads and soups make the perfect meal. Luckily, my mother's garden is full of tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and basil—key ingredients in most gazpacho recipes. I say "luckily" because I am not gifted with a green thumb. I don't think I will ever be able to grow my own garden, and I base this on the fact that I've accidentally killed every plant I've ever had. So I take advantage of my mom's garden and do a little "shopping" there when I can.

Gazpacho is one of the most well-known chilled soups. Most people are familiar with this classic red soup with a thin broth and minced veggies, but I desired something with more body and a slightly different flavor profile. After some research, I stumbled upon Spanish Andalusian gazpacho. Bread is added to the broth, which is then puréed, making it thicker. The result is a soup that is rich and creamy without being overpowering.

What also makes Andalusian gazpacho stand apart is that instead of having the chopped vegetables already mixed in, the diner adds them to taste. That means I can get as crazy as I want. I love to load my soup up with lots of veggies and olives, while my boyfriend piles the croutons high and adds hot sauce.

The best part of gazpacho is that it keeps for days and gets more flavorful the longer it sits. So make a big batch and you'll have lunch for the week.

With football season just around the corner, I decided to start sending the New Orleans Saints positive vibes by making a little ragin' Cajun feast. I was hoping that the spiciness of my side of vegetables would be enough to create some weird cosmic heat wave that would somehow reach the players and light a fire underneath them this season. I'm doubtful this actually worked, but I gotta believe it didn't hurt.

My feast consisted of mock crab cakes, hushpuppies—lovingly referred to as "shut up dogs" by my little brother—and low-country boil vegetables. The recipe for the cakes was provided by Sluggo's in Pensacola, Florida. The flavor was delicious, but they were extremely delicate. My first attempt ended with the cakes broken into small pieces and submerged in an oil bath. After adding extra breadcrumbs, reducing the amount of oil, and placing the formed cakes in the fridge for an hour before frying, they turned out perfectly.

The hushpuppies were much fancier than what I remember eating as a child—stuffed with fresh corn, peppers, and soy cheese. I added a pinch of salt to the batter before frying, and they ended up being very light and airy for a hushpuppy. They, too, were delicious.

The cakes and hushpuppies were complemented by a side of vegetables—I thought I should have at least one thing that wasn't fried!—that are standard for a low-country boil: corn on the cob, red potatoes, and whole heads of garlic. I boiled the vegetables in a lot of Cajun seasoning. They were so spicy that I had to take a huge gulp of water after each bite. Hey, I do what I can for my team.

My entire weekend was spent lounging, relaxing, reading, and baking. It was so relaxing that it felt more like a mini-vacation than your typical two-day weekend. After such a great weekend, I didn't even mind waking up very, very early this morning. So I decided to spread the joy to my coworkers—in a not-so-annoying way—by bringing in one of the many treats that I baked over the weekend.

After reading Danielle Vance's chef profile over the weekend—and daydreaming about having my own bakery—I decided to try her orange-cranberry scone recipe. The recipe was simple and super-easy to prepare, but the results were still delicious. The orange zest and the O.J. I used gave the scones a fresh taste—not too heavy, as scones can often be.

I decided that these would be the perfect treats for my peeps in the office, and after hearing everyone's reactions—lots of "awesomes" and "to die fors"—I knew I made the right choice.

The younger generations are culinary savvy. They want exotic flavors, they love to cook, and they know the difference between Himalayan and Hawaiian sea salts. These young foodies have created a market for culinary academies for kids. From Berkeley, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Washington, D.C., there are a ton of kiddie culinary academies that teach young students the art and science behind cooking. Many of them offer after-school or weekend programs to accommodate busy schedules. Restaurants are also getting in on the action and offering classes to youngsters, including cooking in a working restaurant kitchen.

Many places even offer vegetarian cooking classes specifically for kids! Equinox Restaurant in Washington, D.C., has kids' vegetarian cooking class, and the city of Taylor, Michigan, sponsors a vegetarian cooking class for Taylor's aspiring chefs.

If you know of a young gourmand or have a kid who loves to spend time in the kitchen, let him or her know about our "Cooking With Kids" contest, which gives kids the chance to put their cooking skills to the test and win some fantastic prizes!

It may be hard to believe, but Oreos are vegan. So, let's take the already-sweet classic cookies, combine them with a lot more sugar, and turn them into cupcakes! This is proof of my firm belief that a dessert can never be too indulgent.

To be honest, I wasn't really into desserts until I started baking them. Sure, I enjoyed cake and soy ice cream as much as the next person, but I never really craved them. Now, I enjoy the science involved in baking. The satisfaction comes from getting the delicate balance among all the ingredients just right—now that is what I crave.

The chocolate cake recipe below is from The Grit's own bakery, where I once worked. Don't worry—the recipe was published in The Grit's cookbook, so it's not like I'm giving away any secrets. These cupcakes are delicious, with a rich chocolaty flavor enhanced by the strong brewed coffee used in the batter. Another added bonus is that the recipe is almost impossible to mess up. Guaranteed success sounds like as good a reason as any to try a recipe, if you ask me.

To find more foods that, like Oreos, are accidentally vegan and easily found in your local grocery store, visit the VegCooking Shopping Guide.

Inspired by the recent trend toward regional foods, I decided to delve into the province of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The first area that jumped out at me was the Island of Capri, which is known for its famous Blue Grotto, oh-so-fashionable capri pants, and, of course, the caprese salad.

The caprese salad (a.k.a. insalata caprese) typically only requires a handful of ingredients; some of the standards are tomatoes, basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper. It's fast and simple. And best of all, it requires no cooking (thank God—it's been around 100ºF every day this week!). I have tried several versions of the salad. Sometimes I add soy cheese, sometimes I toss in a few greens, and other times I add slices of marinated tofu.

Tofu is great to work with because it is a blank canvas that soaks up any flavors you coat it with. For my insalata caprese recipe below, I made a garlic-infused broth to use as a marinade. I let the tofu sit in the marinade overnight to soak up more flavor, but if you're just looking for something that is lightly flavored, one hour of soaking will do.

Trick your eyes into thinking that you are at a fancy-pants restaurant by focusing on the presentation of your salad. Layer the tofu and tomatoes so that they fan out, and if you can find them, use both red and yellow tomatoes. This will add a nice touch.

Let's continue on my "tour" (daydream, really) of the province of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Let's take a "boat" from the island of Capri—where we found the insalata caprese—to the Sorrentine Peninsula, which is known for the delicious beverage limoncello.

My friend went to Italy and brought back real limoncello straight from the city of Sorrento, and I fell in love with it immediately. The liquor has an intense lemon flavor and is very sweet. We drank the yummy beverage on the rocks as an after-dinner drink all summer long. The small bottle lasted months because we would only drink it in small doses—we couldn't stand the thought of running out.

I set out on a mission to find a Neapolitan dish that would complement an after-dinner glass of limoncello and found that baked eggplant worked beautifully. Let me rephrase that: The taste perfectly complemented the limoncello that followed, but the appearance was not so beautiful. So if you try the recipe, don't be turned off by the way it looks. It will be delicious! I suggest using Japanese eggplant which tends to be more flavorful. The slow roasting gives the eggplant an incredible texture; it just melts in your mouth. And the saltiness of the dish is balanced out by the sweet drink that follows.

If you can't find limoncello at a store near you, try making your own. After much trial and error, I came up with this recipe that is close to the bottle from Italy. It's easy to make, but it definitely takes some time and patience. Trust me—it will be worth it.

I am on a mission to spread joy around the world by resurrecting classic childhood desserts that we once feared were dead to us. I'm imagining a world where swimming pools are filled with vegan Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Ho Hos. Guilt-free isn't exactly the phrase that comes to mind when thinking about swimming in pools full of desserts, but at least there's no cruelty involved.

Last weekend, I put my plan into action when I saw how badly my boyfriend wanted a vegan Ho Ho. They were mentioned every third sentence as he reminisced about how he would have them every day after school. The oh-so-subtle hint was noted.

Assembling the little cakes required a little bit of care, but it was worth the effort. I ended up reducing the amount of creamer used in the filling so that it would be a little thicker. I also refrigerated the squares for several hours before covering them with chocolate sauce, to avoid turning them into a gooey mess. After eating two in the course of about a minute, my boyfriend said they tasted just like the Ho Hos he remembers.

Based upon his reaction to the Ho Hos, I think my plan just might work. Now on to those vegan Twinkies…

After browsing through several restaurant menus online last week, I started to notice a trend. At Millennium, roasted beets were listed as one of the small plates. At Counter, a roasted beet salad was offered as a mezze dish. And at Blossom, I noticed a tofu and roasted beet salad on the starter menu. Hmm…

I decided to jump on the beet bandwagon and make a salad of my own, using a recipe that tops roasted beets, oranges, and spinach with a Georgia-peanut vinaigrette—a dressing rooted deep in the Dirty South. You can just call it the Dirty Dirty if you'd like. That works too.

I tried to use fancy plating techniques so I would feel like I was eating at one of the above restaurants that I have long wished to visit. My longing started when I was still at The Grit, having nonstop conversations about food with my friend Patrick. We constantly talked about our dream of running away to San Francisco to work in the kitchen at Millennium, but instead of actually doing so, we just settled for reading the restaurant's cookbook. Do all vegan foodies dream of this, or is it just us?

Several years ago, I spent my summer break working in a day care. The funniest part of the day was when all the 3- and 4-year-olds in my class would share little secrets about their home life. There were never any bad tales told, just stories that would embarrass the parents slightly if they ever found out, such as a certain parent's secret love of bad metal music or that one father only wore tighty-whities around the house and nothing else. The best was when one little girl shared that her family watched The Nutty Professor every night for a week; she memorized all the lyrics to KC and the Sunshine Band's "Get Down Tonight." She went on to perform the song during show-and-tell every day the next week. Oh, good times.

The absolute worst part of the day was trying to get the children to eat a healthy lunch, especially if there was a vegetable anywhere on the plate. I often thought they would rather starve than eat anything green.

A few weeks ago, I came across a recipe for a mashed potato sundae and realized just how perfect it would be for 3- and 4-year-olds. It's made by layering mashed potatoes, gravy, veggie burger crumbles, and a vegetable of your choice in a sundae glass—a sneaky way to add healthy items to a child's diet.

To make this a 10-minute meal, you can always sub instant mashed potatoes, quick-mix gravy, and frozen veggies. A balanced meal with minimal effort. Now, if I weren't one of the recipe judges for the Cooking With Kids contest, then I just might enter this recipe.

If, like me, you've paid your dues in the service industry, you've probably spent many Sunday mornings working brunch instead of sitting down to eat it. I've always been a little jealous of people who have the time and funds to do brunch, so last weekend, I created a little feast for myself to make up for all those missed meals.

When prepping for my pity-party feast, I couldn't narrow it down to one item, so I decided to try a few classics. I made French toast topped with fresh strawberries, powdered sugar, and syrup. I grilled hash browns—served scattered and smothered—and mock sausage patties. If you have time, try making your own mock sausage, but if you want to get the food into your stomach as quickly as possible, like me, use a prepackaged "sausage" such as Gimme Lean.

Sitting down to enjoy my meal—with a mimosa in hand—was nice, but it actually made me miss working brunch more than anything. The satisfaction of working so hard on a Sunday morning came from feeling like I had survived a battle—no matter how small. When the doors closed at 3 p.m., I would sit around sharing war stories with my buddies, and all the morning's annoying customers would be forgotten shortly after.

Check out "Making the Transition" for more great brunch ideas.

Guacamole is seemingly simple. Just mashed avocado and a few other ingredients, right?

Yes and no. It's true that the main ingredient in guacamole—avocado—is always consistent, but everything else is up for debate. Some people add lemon juice, while others add lime. Some use onion and cilantro, while others opt for garlic and peppers. Some people get really wild by adding cayenne or chili powder, while we purists opt for just salt.

I've conducted numerous experiments in my kitchen, testing all the above ingredients in an endless number of combinations, and I've found that you get the best results when you keep it simple.

The most important part of making good guacamole is finding the perfect avocado. Look for dark-skinned avocados that give slightly when you push them with your thumb, and make sure that there are no spots that are overly soft.

Here are a few more tips for great guacamole:

•To avoid browning, leave the pits in while storing and preparing avocadoes.

•If you think that your guacamole needs more salt, try adding more lemon juice first. People often think of salt as the only solution for a dish lacking in flavor, but many times, a recipe is just in need of more acid to balance the flavors.

•Chop the avocado into a large dice and combine all the ingredients gently. It's nice to find chunks of avocado in the creamy mixture.

My taste buds tend to think that the combination of lemon, garlic, jalapeño, salt, and a small amount of diced tomato added in right at the end is what makes the perfect guacamole. Tell me what yours think.

To get the most out of a blender, you have to find creative ways to put it to work. Think along the lines of using your car as a storage space, an ink pen as a hair clip, a vegetable peeler instead of a grater, a piece of hair for dental floss—you get the idea.

My favorite way to use my blender is for puréeing soups. Just about any bean on the planet can be whipped into creamy goodness—the result is a velvety texture that is smoother than what you get with an immersion blender. All you have to do is add enough liquid to reach your desired thickness and then add seasonings of your choice.

This is something I discovered when on a strict budget—and by strict, I mean I was almost broke. I had packed my things in my trusty Honda and moved myself across the country to L.A., taking only what would fit in my car. My "everything will work itself out" adventurous attitude landed me in a new city without an apartment or a job.

Those two things were quickly nailed down, but the cash did not start flowing immediately. I had to make the most out of a small food budget, and I found that bean soups were a great option. I developed my own recipes and discovered that my favorites are curried chickpea topped with avocado slices, creamy black bean topped with cilantro and red onion, or a simple puréed lima bean soup—which results in the most velvety texture of all.

Here are a few more ideas for ways to use your blender:

•Making bread crumbs

•Grinding spices

•Blending hummus

•Chopping vegetables

•Grinding coffee beans

•Chopping ice

•Blending a variety of drinks, from smoothies to cocktails

People are going gaga for the Vita-Mix these days, because it can do just about anything. I prefer to stick with my KitchenAid. How could I part with an appliance that is such a seasoned traveler? I just couldn't.

The art of building a delicious burger is one that many think they understand but so few have truly mastered. The problem is that we are presented with so many options for a single burger—that means so many ways to go wrong.

The most important step in making a delicious burger is starting with a homemade patty. Sure, Boca's are great when you're in a hurry or craving a classic taste, but if your burger is going to be crowned "The Ultimate Burger," you have to start with a homemade patty. It's equally important to choose toppings that complement the flavor of the patty, instead of just grabbing every old condiment out the door of your refrigerator.

This summer, I threw a Hawaiian luau where everyone was dressed to the nines in leis and grass skirts, and I decided to try out tropical veggie burgers for the occasion. The patties are made from a combination of lentils, brown rice, curry, carrot, ginger, allspice, and more. After each patty was grilled, we topped them with caramelized rings of pineapple and red onion, then finished them off with juicy tomato slices.

I made the patties the day before the luau and stored them in the freezer to harden. The day of the party, all I had to do was spray them with a little bit of cooking oil and toss them on the grill. My guests all told me that this was one of the best veggie burgers they'd ever tried because all the flavors complemented one another. Now that's how you build a good burger.

One of the best feelings in the world is going home—after being stuck at work late on a Friday night—to find freshly baked pizza waiting for you in your apartment. I'm not talking about just any old pizza, but pizza bianca with a homemade dough, enough garlic to kill a vampire, vegan cheese, fancy kalamata olives, and marinated artichoke hearts.

Several sites define pizza bianca as a flat bread topped with only olive oil and salt, while others say the most common toppings are garlic, olive oil, some type of cheese, and herbs. I will choose to believe the second definition.

On this particular Friday night, the person doing the surprising was my boyfriend. I would say he is a bit of a pizza expert—still using the same pizza pans he received at the age of 12 and always making fresh dough using a recipe taught to him by his grandmother. She would stay up late and make fresh pizzas for her husband—long after the children had gone to sleep—as a Depression-era special treat just for the adults.

She eventually passed her recipe on to my boyfriend, who enjoyed spending time in the kitchen and learning how to cook from his grandmother when he wasn't busy with one of his many bands or general hell-raising. His cooking has definitely come a long way since then, when he would surprise his dad with a meal that consisted of only chili-cheese fries. Now he surprises me with delicious pizza.

I, like many others, have been convinced of the importance of buying seasonal, local produce. It's better for the environment, your wallet, and your taste buds. The problem is that I never know what's in season. How do we know if it's time to buy onions or okra, melons or mango? There are way too many fruits and vegetables out there to keep track of. I can barely remember my family members' birthdays, let alone the peak season of red leaf lettuce.

To help you out with what's in peak season now (that means sprint to your local farmers' market because these items are at their best), I've done a little research and compiled a short cheat sheet.

Yep, it's that time of year that children dread and parents love—back to school. To me, that means two things: I can look forward to new posts from Jennifer on the Vegan Lunch Box, and I can feel less guilty for having "Iesha" by A.B.C. stuck in my head. Come on, it is a song about preteens falling in love on the playground, so this has to be the one time I can get away with singing it, right?

For parents in need of a few super-easy lunches suitable for any playground, try some of Jennifer's favorite Schmoo lunchtime tips:

•Create a crunchy triple-decker PB&J: Cut rice or corn cakes in half with a sharp knife and spread on jam and your kid's favorite nut butter. Top with the other half, and you have a crunchy and nutritious meal.

•Make veggie dogs in a blanket—wrap a veggie dog in a crescent roll and bake. Serve with little containers of ketchup and mustard for dipping.

•"Shake 'N Bake" mock chicken chunks instead of the real thing. Several Shake 'N Bake flavors are vegan—just use chopped Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chik'n Strips or WhiteWave's wheat meat. They're great hot or cold.

•Cut up veggie dogs and cook them with vegetarian baked beans for beans and franks. Pack hot in a thermos with crackers or soy cheese.

•Mini pita sandwiches are always a hit! Cut mini pitas open and stuff with your child's favorite sandwich fillings. Anything goes, from hummus and tomatoes to veggie burger crumbles to marinara sauce and veggie pepperoni.

Be sure to check out "Pack a Lunch With Punch!" All you'll need is a kid-approved lunchbox—for me, that was an old-school metal Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox—and a few minutes of your day to make these easy meals.

My 2006 visit to Ghana sparked what was definitely my greatest food obsession of last year—plantains. They can be starchy, sweet, salty, oily goodness all at the same time.

Outside the Kakum rain forest, I bought bags of thinly sliced plantains fried into salty chips. In restaurants, I would eat fried plantains with "red-red"—black-eyed peas served in a spicy, oily tomato sauce—more than once a day. And on bus rides across the country, I would see roadside stands selling whole roasted plantains. I thought it looked easy enough.

When I returned to the U.S., I tried grilling a whole bright-green plantain after removing the skin. If you have ever cooked a plantain, you know that this obviously did not work. The plantain dried out and became hard as a rock because it was nowhere near ripe.

I had better luck with my plantains after doing a little research. I found that preparation can be as simple and healthy as boiling a whole unpeeled plantain for 15 to 20 minutes or as sinful as deep-frying diagonally sliced ripe plantains. "Kelewele" is a spicy fried plantain dish that I tried in Ghana and was lucky enough to find a recipe for when I returned to the U.S. I ate this with what was my attempt at red-red, and they tasted just as I remembered.

This week, I took time to drive out to my local farmers' market to take advantage of all the great vegetables that are currently in season, and the corn on the cob immediately caught my eye. I love corn on the cob, but shucking can be such a pain. Actually, I think it's just the word "shucking" I don't like. It sounds so strange.

I overcame my hesitation because the corn made me think of my little cat, Pierre, whom I like to call The Cobbler. He loses his mind when we have fresh corn in the house and always tries to steal old cobs out of the trash.

To me, the perfect way to cook corn is on a grill, but there's no way I can fit a grill on my tiny fire escape—and yeah, I guess it's a safety hazard. So, I decided that oven roasting the corn in the husks would be the best way to get a full corn flavor and avoid shucking! Once roasted, the husks are much easier to peel away from the corn. I topped the roasted corn with a cilantro-lime blend, but you can top it with anything from just salt to roasted red peppers to soy sauce.