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!

If your experience in public schools was anything like mine, then you will have similar horror stories about the shockingly bad food. During my years in high school, I was already vegetarian, so lunch for me was often tater tots, plain baked potatoes, iceberg lettuce, and a side veggie—if I was lucky. Not exactly what I would call a wide variety of mouthwatering choices.

It has been a long time since I chowed down on anything off one of those plastic trays, and the food in some schools has since improved immensely. I recently read an old post on 101 Cookbooks about the Oxbow School, which in 2005 had a chef from Chez Panisse(!) whipping up school lunches—and she always included a vegan or vegetarian option.

For those of you who can't coerce chefs from the nation's most famous restaurants into wearing hairnets in Lunch Lady Land, don't worry. There are other ways to get healthy vegetarian options into cafeterias.

Great new resources, such as the Earth Voice Food Choice manual, walk students, teachers, and parents through the steps necessary to get these options on their school's menu. The manual provides recipes as well as tips for promoting the options to students and explains the problems that poor diets cause. Following the advice of the manual is a surefire way to get healthier, tastier options into any cafeteria.

While stalking the Green Olive Media Web site yesterday—which does beautiful design and PR for restaurants, and I wish to god there were someone doing this with the same degree of success for veg restaurants—I found out that this year's list of James Beard award nominees has been announced. Although not surprised, I was happy to see that Hugh Acheson from Five and Ten in Athens, Georgia, is nominated for Best Chef in the Southeast. Many of you who read the blog regularly probably already know that I lived in Athens for many years and that I love the delicious vegan plate that Five and Ten creates.

I was, however, surprised to see one vegetarian cookbook nominated for an award and a few more things I love on the list. Here's a quick rundown of what stood out to me:

•How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman: Nominated in the "General" section of the James Beard Foundation Books Awards.

•Super Natural Cooking: Five Ways to Incorporate Whole & Natural Ingredients Into Your Cooking by Heidi Swanson: From the blogger who delivers great pictures and recipes at 101 Cookbooks, a large number of which are vegan or vegetarian. She's nominated in the "Healthy Focus" section of the James Beard Foundation Books Awards.

•Chow.com: Nominated in the "Website Focusing on Food, Beverage, Restaurant, or Nutrition" category. It is by far my favorite online food site—next to this one, of course—because of the great blogs, recipes (many vegan), and videos it offers from a youthful point of view.

•Top Chef Season 3: The Bravo show hosted by Tom Colicchio and Padma Lakshmi is nominated in the "Television Food Show, National and Local" category. I've been a fan since season one, when I would watch every week with a few of my favorite people. Season four in Chicago just started and is featuring a few of the most famous in the food world, including Wylie Dufresne of wd-50, Rick Bayless, and Anthony Bourdain—and we're only a few weeks into the season.

You can learn more about James Beard, the great culinary figure the awards are named for, and the scandalous past of his foundation in The United States of Arugula: The Sun-Dried, Cold-Pressed, Dark-Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution by David Kamp.

Over the last couple of months, I've noticed lots of vegan food mentions popping up all over the mainstream media. It has become increasingly common to see vegan recipes and books presented in a positive light, right alongside those that feature meat, dairy products, and eggs. Here are just a few recent vegan mentions I've noticed:

•Vegan Sashimi Wins on Top Chef: In the "Quickfire Challenge" judged by Daniel Boulud, Dale won with vegan sashimi that showcased his knife skills.

•Epicurious Tours Moby's Kitchen: In a short video series, Moby gives a tour of his kitchen, talks about his favorite kitchen equipment, and makes vegan blueberry pancakes.

•'Knit Night' Cupcakes on Martha Stewart: VeganYumYum is without a doubt one of the best food blogs out there, and its creator was even invited to make her "Knit Night" cupcakes on The Martha Stewart Show back in February.

•Heather Mills to Host Vegan Cooking Show: Also announced in February is that Heather Mills, ex-wife of Sir Paul McCartney, has landed her own cooking show, and it will be all vegan. I don't know when or where it will air, but you can read a few more details here.

This is just a short list of recent vegan food news, and of course, it doesn't include the recent James Beard nomination for a vegetarian cookbook, which I told you about last week, or the vegetarian recipes that pop up in Gourmet magazine often.

Please let me know if you have other veg food news items to add to the list!

I don't know how I missed this, but on the last episode of Hell's Kitchen, Chef Ramsay asked the remaining contestants to identify the missing ingredient in three dishes: chicken parmesan, beef stew, and sausage ravioli. Not one of the chefs could identify the missing ingredient in any of the dishes—meat.

That's right, Chef Ramsay replaced the chicken and beef with vegetarian Gardein "meats" (available at Whole Foods deli counters and in California and Arizona as the brand It's All Good), and the sausage with Lightlife's soy sausage. Even Ben, who claims that he has "the best palate in the world," couldn't tell that they were faux meats.

If you're a fan of these products or Morningstar Farms Meal Starter Strips, this probably isn't very surprising to you either, since these products taste great and have a convincing texture. As always, I was amused by the show, but definitely not surprised. You can watch the clip here:

No joke. You read that title right. As a part of our KFC campaign victory in Canada, most Canadian KFCs will start offering a vegetarian chicken sandwich.

The Classic Vegetarian Sandwich, which can easily be made vegan by asking for it in a wrap and with no mayo, should be available some time in July. I don't have any more details at the moment about which company will be making the vegan chicken. Also, I hope that all of you Canadian readers will try it out as soon as it's available and let us know how it is. I personally have never found a vegan chicken I don't like, and I suspect this one will be yummy too.

Read more about PETA's KFC campaign victory in Canada here.

Sailing over crystal clear water to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, I was most excited about one thing: the delicious food I would eat during my week-long vacation in Mexico. I had done my research and found that the small island in the state of Quintana Roo offered a variety of options that were mostly targeted at tourists. I wanted nothing to do with that. Who goes to Mexico to eat pasta and pizza anyway?

My food sights were set on one thing—finding delicious vegan Mexican dishes. And to make a long story short, it definitely was not a challenge.

Many of the restaurants on the island featured Mexican food that seemed more like Americanized Mexican, rather than traditional recipes, but it was still delicious. Everywhere we went, fresh guacamole and homemade warm tortillas were served in heaping quantities. Fresh veggies were abundant and diverse. And restaurant staff could easily point me toward meat-free menu options.

Here's a quick peek at some of the food I ate on Isla Mujeres, which not only was a great destination for vegan travelers but also has one of the most beautiful coasts I've ever seen.

Guacamole and corn tortilla chips at Don Chepo.

Nopales tacos served on fresh corn tortillas.

Vegetable fajitas that go beyond just onions and peppers—carrots, nopales, and broccoli were included too.

Nopales fajitas have tart flavors not commonly found in American fajitas.

Organic tofu and vegetables covered with herbs, at Elements of the Island.

Isla Mujeres, Mexico

You may remember that back in June I asked for your help finding the best faux chicken sandwiches in North America. We read through your suggestions and taste-tested as much faux-chicken as we could get our hands on, and we've finally tallied the results in our quest to name some of the best mock meats on restaurant menus around the country.

And the Top 10 Faux-Chicken Sandwiches in the U.S. are ...

1. Green New American Vegetarian, Tempe, Arizona: The Secret BBQ Chicken Sandwich features mock chicken topped with caramelized onions and peppers slathered in espresso BBQ sauce. The sandwich is also served with vegan mayo and your choice of thyme fries, curry pasta salad, tahini coleslaw, or fresh fruit.

2. Govinda's Gourmet Vegetarian, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philly's most famous sandwich, but with a twist! The Vegan Philly Chicken Cheese Steak has soy chicken and rainbow peppers grilled in olive oil and topped with soy cheese. The sandwich is served on a sesame seed roll, a whole wheat roll, or a wrap.

3. Veggie Grill, Orange County, California: This SoCal location offers a Bayou Chickin' Sandwich, featuring veggie chicken that is lightly blackened with Cajun spices, dressed with lettuce, tomato, red onion, avocado, and spicy vegan mayo on a wheat bun, and served with a side of red cabbage slaw.

4. Native Foods, Southern California: Native Foods is known for its interestingly named menu items, and the Chicken Run Ranch Burger is no exception. The sandwich features crispy battered "save the chicken," vegan ranch dressing, lettuce, carrots, and onion served on an organic wheat and sprouted brown rice ciabatta roll.

5. Red Bamboo, New York City: The Chicken Parmesan Hero at one of NYC's many vegetarian eateries takes fifth place with a sandwich made from breaded soy chicken with vegan mozzarella cheese, smothered in sweet basil marinara sauce and served on Italian bread.

6. Pizza Lucé, Minneapolis: Pizza Lucé's Mock Chicken Dijon—a mock-chicken patty seasoned with Dijon mustard and topped with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and banana peppers served on a toasted bun—puts Minneapolis on the list in sixth place.

7. VegiTerranean, Akron, Ohio: Chrissie Hynde's restaurant comes in at number seven for the Grilled Gardein Bruschetta Pomodoro Panini. The sandwich comes with balsamic basil marinated tomatoes and soy mozzarella and is accompanied by a grilled vegetable orzo salad.

8. Foodswings, Brooklyn, New York: Foodswings' No Chicken Caesar Club is made with grilled mock chicken, crisp romaine lettuce, tomato, black olives, and vegan Caesar dressing and is served on warm Italian bread.

9. Vertical Diner, Salt Lake City, Utah: The Breaded Chicken Sandwich is served on French bread, 7-grain bread, or a tortilla wrap and comes with lettuce, tomato, onion, and Vertical Sauce, with a choice of tortilla chips or carrot sticks.

10. Red Dog Saloon, Norfolk, Virginia: Red Dog serves a sandwich made with fried Chickette served on a roll with lettuce, tomato, and chips.

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!