People often complain that there aren't enough vegetarian or vegan cooking shows on television, and some have even started a petition to get one onto the Food Network, but to those people I say, "Get over it." By doing a quick online search, you can find many options to suit a variety of personalities. To break it down and help you find the show that's right for you, I've compared each host to those famous Food Network stars we all know and love.

1. The Post Punk Kitchen: Host Isa Chandra Moskowitz is the Duff of vegan food shows. Both bakers are clever, funny, and rebellious, and not only do they create beautiful desserts, they look like they're having fun while doing it.

2. Everyday Dish: The attractive sets and clear instructions make this show one of my favorites, just like Giada's.

3. The Traveling Vegetarian: The host visits restaurants across the country and tempts us with vegetarian menu items, chats with the owners, and gives us a tour of each restaurant. Sort of the Rachael Ray of the veg food world.

4. The Eazy Vegan: Jason hosts the straightforward instructional videos and reminds me of a much less annoying version of Alton Brown.

5. Totally Vegetarian on Delicious TV: This is the show you should have your mom or grandmother watch if you're trying to convince her to go vegetarian. Chef Toni is warm, friendly, and easy to follow, just like Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.

After watching clips from each of these shows, I have realized it is time for me to jump on the cooking show bandwagon, and I see a video post in my future. If you know of any good shows I overlooked, please share a link here!

Grab a towel before clicking on the link to the Allison's Gourmet Web site, because the pictures of gourmet desserts are going to make you drool. The boxes of chocolates are just like those my dad gave me for Valentine's Day when I was a little girl—except they're better because they're vegan.

Now is your chance to win the six-piece vegan chocolate assortment of truffles and caramels and the organic vegan peanut-butter cups. Even better, Allison's Gourmet is going to ship them to your door in time for V-Day, so you can give them to that special lady friend or man in your life—or just protest the holiday and eat them all yourself.

All you have to do to win is leave a comment below describing your favorite vegan Valentine's Day food. It can be a candy, a dessert recipe, a decadent savory item—anything goes! The most intriguing comment—as determined by me—wins the prize.

The contest ends February 10 at 12 noon, and the winner (one person will receive both the six-piece assortment and the peanut-butter cups) will be notified immediately.

Don't forget to check out all the delicious offerings at Allison's Gourmet. Good luck!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and many of us are searching for that perfect gift that will surprise and excite. These truffles, with the combination of chocolate and chilies, will do just that.

This super-easy recipe has just a hint of chili powder and a lot of chocolate. Both are known aphrodisiacs and will certainly help with that "excitement" you're seeking. And depending on your threshold for pain, or some might say pleasure, you can kick up the heat by adding more chili powder or using fresh chilies simmered in the "cream."

Super Tuesday is here, and the only way I can think of to make it relevant on a food blog is by featuring a video of talking food dressed as presidential candidates!

That's right—this short and sweet version of the original video, "Road to the Greenhouse," features Broccoli Obama, Celery Clinton, Mitt Ramen-y, Mike Huckleberry, and Dijon McCain in a spoof debate. The video focuses on one critical issue: Is it time that we "gave peas a chance"? It will have you seeing the candidates and your dinner in a whole new light. Enjoy.

Photo Credit: Tim VanOrden

Rory Freedman, one of the authors of the much-loved Skinny Bitch series, has answered a few short questions for us on the books, cooking, great vegan products, and what's next in the series. Read all of her answers below, and be sure to check back tomorrow for a recipe, tested by yours truly, from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch.

Can you tell us a little about the new book, Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, and how you came up with all the recipes?

SBK was really a gift to our readers—people who had read SB, changed their diets as a result, and wanted another tool in helping them live the vegan lifestyle.

But Kim and I are not professional chefs; we're just professional eaters. So our publisher hired a cookbook consultant to help us develop the recipes.

Where did you learn to cook? Any formal experience?

Neither one of us had any formal training. We both just spend a ton of time in our kitchens and obsessing about food in general. Eating is, by far, our favorite thing to do.

Do you have a favorite cooking method and favorite ingredient that help keep recipes "skinny"?

A favorite cooking method? I'm a fan of all of them! Anything that gets a pile of random ingredients into a cruelty-free dish works for me! (Although I do have to say, I'm not big on fried and deep-fried stuff.)

Are there any newer vegetarian products on the market that you are particularly fond of or recommend?

I don't know how new they are, but:

•Parma is an amazing Parmesan cheese substitute made from walnuts. It tastes like a dream and is healthy, to boot!

•I've been seeing more and more Gardein soy chicken and soy beef products lately, and they're pretty darn good.

•Sunergia has a soy feta that totally rocks my world!

Any tips or tricks for the at-home chef who wants to be a "skinny bitch"?

Yeah, first get rid of all the dead, rotting, decomposing flesh and haul away all that dairy nastiness. Skinny Bitches are vegan!

Second, get a bunch of vegan cookbooks. Our faves are The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, How It All Vegan and In the Garden of Vegan by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer, Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, and The Compassionate Cook by Ingrid Newkirk.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only eat one kind of food, what would it be?

Ugh! This question is nothing short of torture! One food? Forever? Ugh! If I were being sensible, I'd have to say fruit, simply because it's so healthy. But all the while, I'd be dreaming about nachos, mashed potatoes, chimichurris from Candle Café in NYC, and cupcakes!

What's next for both of you?

We've got three more books in the works: Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven (for pregnant women), a Skinny Bitch journal/diary, and Skinny Bastard (for men).

And lots and lots of eating!

As promised in the introduction to yesterday's interview with Skinny Bitch in the Kitch author Rory Freedman, here is a recipe I've tested from the book. I must admit that I chose the simple and classic Caesar salad because it's usually a bit harder to impress with recipes that are fairly basic. It was my challenge to the authors to wow me—and they did.

The veganized Caesar contains homemade whole wheat croutons that are covered in herbes de Provence and is tossed in a good amount of Caesar dressing. Their recipe replaces traditionally used anchovies with umami-rich kelp to create the depth and savory elements that are often missing from vegan Caesar recipes. I definitely appreciate the effort to replace the animal products in recipes with a vegan equivalent, instead of just omitting them. Based on the success of this dressing recipe alone, I can't wait to try more from the book.

Don't forget to check out yesterday's interview with Rory Freedman if you haven't already!

Through a little bit of research, I found that there is no right or wrong way to make this traditional Spanish rice dish.

You can try switching up the vegetables or adding fried tofu, soy chicken, or vegan chorizo. You can even swap out one of the key ingredients, saffron—the expensive and hard-to-find spice—with the more common turmeric. The possibilities are endless—well, almost—so enjoy.

The feisty stars of The Post Punk Kitchen and authors of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, have delivered yet another masterpiece. You could say that their most recent effort, Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, is pretty much the bible of vegan cuisine. It includes a little bit of everything, using easy-to-find ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions.

You can enter to win a free copy by visiting GoVeg.com by February 28. Good luck!

Nothing guarantees a little nookie like an aphrodisiac-laced meal. And if you've already met your limit for chocolate, why not try another vegan stimulant—truffles. No, I'm not talking about the chocolate dessert, but the tubers that were the "it" ingredient for many years.

Truffles have long been prized because of their rarity and pungent flavor, but they are also known for their power as an aphrodisiac. Some varieties even have a scent that mimics the male pig sex hormone, so there's no denying that they are a food o' love.

White truffle oil is the easiest to find and most affordable variety and is the perfect addition to a creamy risotto. The muskiness goes well with the earthy flavor and chewy texture of the gourmet mushrooms (I recommend oyster) and the creamy consistency from the arborio rice.

Pair this risotto with a little red wine and mood lighting, while Marvin Gaye sings away on the stereo, and you'll be getting it on in no time—or at least you'll wish you were.

This might be the only time in my life when I'll say "I wish I lived in New Jersey." I was reading over the "Chef Spotlight" profile for Joseph Rosolen when this little nugget of information caught my eye: "A few years later, he recognized that busy people needed a fast, convenient way to have delicious, healthy food delivered to them, and in 2006, Online Vegetarian Deli was born."

Yes, that's right—in New Jersey you'll find a delivery service that specializes in healthy vegan and vegetarian meals, with menus updated weekly. This week's offerings include a seitan cutlet sandwich, broccoli rabe over pasta, black-bean and winter squash stew, and vegan mac and cheese, to name just a few items on the all-vegan list. Why don't they have services like this everywhere?

Since I don't live in Jersey, I decided to try out one of the recipes that Joe shared with us here, an Italian potato salad. The key to success with such a simple dish is using the best ingredients available—so if it didn't turn out, I'd only have myself to blame, not Joe. To add just a little more to the salad, I left the skin of the potatoes on and garnished with just a few capers. The result was a simple yet flavorful dish, largely because of the high-quality olive oil I used.

Having lived in both Atlanta and Los Angeles has spoiled me, as far as finding a good Mexican restaurant goes. In both cities, you can often find an abundance of options within any given 5-mile radius. Whether you're looking for a quick burrito, sit-down Tex-Mex, authentic dishes, or just a mariachi band, you can find it in L.A. or the ATL.

Because of this constant exposure, along with my time as a server at Mexicali Grille, I've developed a deep love for—more like an obsession with—Mexican food.

Luckily for me, the Tex-Mex classics that I enjoy most can be easily veganized. You can use beans to replace the meat in most dishes, or you can substitute faux meats such as "chicken" strips or veggie crumbles. Soy cheese that actually melts has made classics, such as quesadillas, a vegan reality.

The recipe below is even better than the veggie quesadillas I remember eating in high school. My best friend Erin and I would visit the local El Azteca on almost a daily basis, so I got to know its quesadillas very well. I obviously loved the food, but the quesadillas always seemed to be lacking in seasonings. Fortunately, this one gets it right with the dash of chili powder, cumin, and cilantro, all inside the grilled tortilla.

Raw chef Chad Sarno has agreed to do a guest post for us today that features his recipe for beetroot ravioli with cashew-chive bourson cheese, green-garlic oil, and aged balsamic. Yum. Be sure to visit his site, rawchef.com, and the site of his restaurant, Saf: Simple Authentic Food, after reading the post.

This is one of my favorite and easiest versions of raw ravioli. In my Istanbul and Munich restaurants, we offer many small plates, encouraging our guests to share and experience many options off the menu. I have offered this dish on our opening menu, and it was by far the best selling small plate we offered for the winter. It is a great starter or amusé for any Mediterranean-focused meal, really giving the diner that first delicious introduction of what is to follow. The sweetness of the beetroot and the cashew-based cheese is balanced out very nicely with the acid of the balsamic and spiciness of the garlic oil.

Wine Suggestion: 2005 Gruner Veltliner, Wimmer-Czerny, "Alte Reben Weelfel," Wagram, Austria

The natural acidity of the GV grape is rounded out by rich notes of honeysuckle, pear and a hint of mulling spices softening the sweetness of the cashew-bourson while not conflicting with the garlic oil and balsamic.

Many are afraid of this creamy green soup, partially because of its starring role in the film The Exorcist—but you need not be. Split-pea soup is simple, nonthreatening, and satisfying—the perfect item for a dreary day, like this one here in Atlanta.

You might not have much luck getting your kids or even other adults to eat this one, but that just means more for you. Enjoy.

Vegans can sleep well at night knowing that they're not missing out on the strange snack that is jerky, now that there are many meatless varieties on the market—one being the Slim Jim-esque Primal Sticks.

The long, skinny, tubular, individually wrapped "meat" sticks remind me so much of their distant cousin that I can even hear "Macho Man" Randy Savage's voice growling away in my head. And that's not surprising, since Primal Spirit—the company that makes both Primal Sticks and Primal Strips—believes that "a meat alternative product should be completely satisfying to both vegetarian and non-vegetarian diners. Doing that requires that a product have the texture and great flavor of real meat."

Whether you're a meatless-jerky lover or, even better, highly skeptical of this meatless wonder, now is your chance to win some Natural Smoked Flavor Primal Sticks. Three lucky winners will each receive one box containing 24 sticks to gnaw on. To win your free box, just leave a quick comment below sharing a little something about your favorite faux-meat product—whether it's a prepackaged, frozen item or one you make at home. The three most interesting comments win.

The contest ends on March 14, and the winner will be notified by March 21.

Just so you know…by giving us your details here, we're taking that as acknowledgment that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy. And by commenting, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

Biscuits and gravy are a Southern staple, right up there with grits and sweet tea. The best thing about these often-found menu items is that it's OK for all of them to make an appearance at any meal, not just breakfast.

My biscuits and gravy were prepared for breakfast this time—very, very early on a Sunday morning. This is the only excuse I can come up with for using Bisquick mix instead of making the biscuits from scratch. Yes, my grandmothers would be horrified.

The truth is that I wanted to focus more on the gravy, because that is one item that I lack experience making. After barreling through the near-fatal (for the gravy) experience with the whole "make a paste, gradually add water, stir constantly" steps, I was left with a surprisingly rich gravy. It may have been a little lumpy—but lumps are good.

Try this gravy using the recipe below, or give it even more flavor by adding browned veggie sausage crumbles, such as Gimme Lean brand. And for all you purists who would never dream of making your biscuits from Bisquick, try this good ole American Biscuits recipe, here on VegCooking.com.

Egg salad sandwiches were a weekly, if not semiweekly, lunch in my house growing up. I can still see my mom mixing the ingredients—always on a plate, never in a bowl—and then adding a scoop to her untoasted bread and topping it with a slice of dairy cheese.

Now that I'm older—and quite rebellious—I make a vegan version of the sandwich, but of course I do it my own way.

One of the best things about this recipe, which starts with mashed tofu, is that it's much easier to make than the classic recipe. There's no boiling, no peeling—just mashing. Some recipes call for half tofu and half mashed chickpeas, which sounds good, but I've yet to try it. You then add other ingredients commonly found in egg salad—pickle, celery, mustard, onion, parsley, or any others you like—and turmeric for the yellow color. It's finished with a dash—or if you're like me, a lot—of salt and pepper.

I serve my sandwich on toasted bread and opt out of the soy cheese slice on top—take that, Mom! The result isn't exactly like the original—I don't think that's the point—but it is similar. Just close enough that I can see my mother's influence, but different enough so that I can call it my own.

I've seen several vegan mayonnaise recipes online; most use a soy milk and oil base, and others use tofu. Since I'm a Vegenaise-lovin' fool, I've been skeptical that I would be able to whip up anything quite as tasty in my own kitchen. Just this morning, I decided that now is the time to put my theory to the test.

For my first homemade-mayo experiment, I decided to try the soy milk and oil base because a) it was the easiest recipe to find and b) it received the best reviews online. Like any good scientist, I followed the directions exactly, carefully measuring each ingredient so I could be sure the results truly reflected the recipe.

First I blended all of the ingredients, except the oil, which I then added in slowly. I continued to blend on a slow speed so that the mixture would thicken—that never happened. I would say it became less runny, but it definitely never thickened. If you like a thin mayo that's more like a sauce than a spread, then this one's for you, but I was not pleased.

That's exactly when I diverted from the recipe and added my own touches. A little more oil. Why not? A dash of cornstarch. Why not? The result looked a little more like my beloved, especially after chilling in the fridge for about an hour, but the taste wasn't even close. The cornstarch made it slightly chalky, and the flavor was bland.

Looks like I'll be sticking with my Vegenaise for now, but if anyone has a better recipe or some advice on how to improve this one, please share!