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.

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.

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.

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 first love—food love, that is—was the taco. I'm talking about your standard hard shell, filling, lettuce, and salsa—nothing fancy. It's the first food I remember discovering on my own and realizing that I loved without any influence from my family. You can call it my "taco rebel phase."

Memories of my first love came rushing back when my friend Corey passed along this recipe for Take-and-Go Tacos. They are much healthier than the tacos I knew as a child, but that's why they are perfect for back-to-school lunches.

All the ingredients can be prepared ahead of time, and then in the morning, you simply reheat the ingredients that need reheating, pack, and go. Perfect for a busy family—or any child in his or her own taco rebel phase.

For more back-to-school lunch ideas, check out "Pack a Lunch With Punch."

Can you guess which sandwich is the happiest on Earth? OK, I'll just tell you because I'm impatient—it's vegan grilled cheese!

We're not talking about a wimpy sandwich made with strange cheese slices that come wrapped in pieces of plastic—no way. We're talking about using the gourmet stuff, Sheese, which comes in nine flavors of hard vegan cheese and five flavors of creamy vegan cheese.

The combination of bread and cheese dates back to ancient Roman times, but for my gourmet grilled cheese, I put a modern twist on the combination by using vegan mozzarella. I then layered the cheese with roasted red peppers and sautéed red onion slices and used grilled ciabatta bread smothered with Earth Balance. The happiest sandwich on Earth led to the happiest stomach on Earth—mine.

Are you stuck in a deli slices or PB&J rut when it comes to lunchtime sandwiches? Let's shake it up a bit. After all, it is Friday.

I recently stumbled upon an interesting sandwich recipe on Epicurious.com that uses sweet potato as the main filling. I was intrigued.

After making a few alterations to veganize, I found myself with a healthy and easy-to-prepare lunch. But I was curious—where did this sandwich come from? Sweet potatoes on bread is a combo I've never heard of, and I was curious if this is a common meal. I was raised in a family where sweet potatoes were either candied or whipped—that's it.

After a few minutes of Internet research, I found only the recipe below and one for a sweet potato and pineapple sandwich, but I'm convinced there must be more. Does anyone out there have more info on the use of sweet potatoes in a sandwich? Anyone?

Life often delivers pleasant little surprises, and for me they often come in the form of food. I recently found a vegan breakfast bar at a local grocery store, complete with biscuits, gravy, and tofu scramble—I had to pinch myself to make sure I was awake. Other times, it happens when I find unexpectedly vegan items, such as the Trader Joe's candy cane Oreo-type cookies.

You can experience this "Oh my god, I can't believe that's vegan" joy—over and over again—by checking out the list of accidentally vegan foods. These are brands you recognize and items you see in almost every grocery store, and you probably just assumed that they had eggs, dairy, or something else in them.

One of the highlights for me was finding Bisquick on that list, because vegan pancakes can be kinda hard to come by in restaurants, and for some reason I can't seem to master making them from scratch.

My friend Joel, who happens to be obsessed with SMILES fries, says that I am "against processed foods," but it's more accurate to say that I don't like to eat them all the time. In moderation, they're just fine. And if you want foolproof pancakes, just like those from a local diner, then this is the perfect time.

After feasting on stuffing, green bean casserole, pies, cookies, and more over the last month and a half, I'm finally in the mood for something a little healthier, and I hear a salad calling my name. I decided to try this mock tuna salad—made mostly from chickpeas, veggies, and a small amount of vegan mayonnaise—over a bed of greens, but you could try it on a sandwich too.

Now, I have no clue if this salad actually tastes like the one it's named after—it's been way too long for me to remember—but regardless, it was yummy and satisfying. You can find this recipe and other easy, healthy salads in VegCooking.com's recipe database.

Happy New Year!

Having about 30 people, only part of my large family, visit for Christmas brought back memories of the city we're all from—New Orleans. I know I've said it before, but it's nearly impossible to think of the city and not think of food. Cajun and Creole classics typically come to mind first, but there is one New Orleans original recipe with an Italian influence—the Muffuletta.

The often-massive sandwich consists of four main elements and can easily be veganized: a variety of deli slices, cheese, round Italian bread (if you can find it), and, most importantly, the olive salad. The salad is usually made from olives, capers, carrots, celery, and garlic, which combine to create the unique flavor and potent smell of the sandwich.

Unless you want to anger a ragin' Cajun, the sandwich should be served at room temperature. WhatsCookingAmerica.net makes it clear that "it is considered blasphemy to heat the sandwich." For more info on the correct way to prepare the sandwich and to learn about the sandwich's history, check out GumboPages.com or Colorpro.com, to name just a couple.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret for a good recipe that looks and tastes harder to make than it is—Panko-Encrusted Dijon Seitan. I am a firm believer that panko breadcrumbs make most recipes somehow seem fancier than they really are. I bet the light and crisp crumbs would turn even a plain hunk of tofu into a mouthwatering treat—OK, that is a bit of a stretch, but they do add a lot to the simplest of dishes.

My seitan was served over a parsnip purée with roasted red potatoes and garlic on the side—also very easy to make—but will go with almost any veggies you like. Enjoy.

The Food Network and Rachael Ray cleverly explain the name of pasta puttanesca as follows: "This sauce is named for ladies of the night. They would place pots of it in their windows to tempt men into the bordellos. I like it because it's spicy, fast, and easy (…no disrespect to the ladies)."

If that description wasn't intriguing enough, then maybe reading over the list of ingredients for our vegan version will be—kalamata olives, capers, red pepper flakes, slivers of garlic, basil, and brine. And if you don't like it as spicy as a "lady of the night," tone it down by reducing the amount of red pepper in the sauce.

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!

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.

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.

As promised yesterday, here's a great idea for your leftover soy meatballs from my spaghetti and meatballs recipe: a meatball sub!

Meatballs, made from vegan ground-beef-flavor Gimme Lean, taste even better the next day, after they have soaked in your homemade marinara sauce overnight. When the meatballs are added to a toasted hoagie roll and topped with warm vegan mozzarella, you'll forget all about that spaghetti you ate them with last night and appreciate their newfound form in all its messy glory.

This classic deli sub is so satisfying that you'll probably be tempted to whip up a whole new batch of soy meatballs, so be prepared. Enjoy!

Pesto is traditionally made from only a few key ingredients—basil, garlic, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. Of course, there are variations, but most recipes include these four ingredients. This means that the classic sauce is naturally vegetarian and can be easily veganized by omitting the cheese or replacing it with a vegan alternative.

Warm pasta enhances the flavors of this pungent sauce, but it's definitely not your only option for serving. Get a little crazy and try it on pizza, on a sandwich, as a marinade for tofu before it is baked, or even in lasagne.

Grilling season is officially here, and I couldn't be happier. We just set up a new grill outside this weekend and have already used it about five times.

The great thing about grilling is that little preparation is required for most of the foods you might throw on the grill. Most veggies can get just a quick coat of olive oil and salt, and then they're ready for the flames. You can add frozen veggie burgers and some veggie hot dogs for a quick meal, or even tofu. Marinated and seasoned pieces of tofu cut into card-deck-size pieces hold up surprisingly well on most grills.

The one vegetable I was most excited about grilling up this year is asparagus. I love cooking it for only about four minutes, making sure it's not overdone. This allows it to retain a bit of its crispiness and keeps the spears from getting stringy when you bite into them.

Whole wheat pasta is one alternative to white pasta, but with more nutrients and more flavor, in my opinion. I know that some people are afraid of trying the denser, grainier, healthier, and browner pasta, but if you don't expect it to taste just like the white stuff, then you'll be one step closer to enjoying it.

Whole wheat pasta should be appreciated for its own unique qualities and paired with appropriate flavors. That's exactly why I chose to couple it with a mushroom "cream" sauce in this easy yet rich dish.

The mushrooms complement the earthiness of the pasta and add the umami flavor essential in any savory dish. The "cream" sauce adds contrast, and then it's finished with parsley and lemon to lighten things up just enough to keep the dish from becoming too heavy and monotonous. Enjoy!

Spring and summer are the perfect time to load up on healthy salads. Sure, fresh produce is plentiful and there's that whole heat thing that keeps us from craving, oh, let's say, a stew, but I will fess up that just a teeny part of my motivation for leaning toward salads does come from a little thing called a swimsuit.

Getting in shape for the summer and swimsuit season is something I always strive for—and only sometimes accomplish. I find that having a few healthy salads in my menu rotation helps get me in shape faster, and variations of the chickpea salad below show up very often.

I broke out of the "salad must contain lettuce" mind-frame a long time ago, and now I like to center my salads around beans because they are both filling and healthy. You can try salads with chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans, or black-eyed peas—they're all delicious. However, it is important to remember that beans have way more calories than iceberg lettuce, so check out that nutritional information on the back of the can if you are trying to slim down. Also, remember that salad is no longer a health food if you top it with an entire bottle (or anywhere close to that amount) of vegan ranch dressing, so use it sparingly!

Many of you already know I'm completely obsessed with Gourmet magazine, which is why so many of its recipes show up here. Today's is no exception. I was trolling Epicurious for a summery salad to complement today's beautiful weather, and this couscous salad with raisins, roasted red peppers, pine nuts, and more jumped out at me. I then realized that it is, of course, from Gourmet.

The salad is described as an African-Sicilian hybrid—the couscous is a typical North African ingredient, and the raisins, garlic, olives, capers, peppers, and pine nuts are typical Sicilian ingredients. I've never had the pleasure of visiting Sicily myself, so until then I'll be forced to experience the Italian island through its cuisine.

It was a pleasure to "visit" Sicily through this salad because in addition to the rich flavors from the olives, capers, and garlic, it was easy to make. The salad took no time at all to prepare because very little cooking is required—perfect for these beautiful long days when I'd rather spend more time outside than behind a stove.

Many, myself included, think of panini as just a grilled sandwich with a golden to dark brown color and those perfect little lines across the bread. But grilling isn't necessarily a panini requirement, and you can serve them minus the marks—but I don't know why you'd want to do a thing like that. My favorite part of a panini is the crispy bread and the cute lines.

I also love being able to choose a variety of fillings that are forced to be pressed together into one compact little sandwich. After watching last week's Top Chef and seeing that both teams made some sort of beef dish with a horseradish sauce, I decided I needed to play off those flavors to create my own (vegan) panini.

The meatiness of portobello mushrooms was naturally my first choice, and to add even more flavor I sautéed the strips in a dash of liquid smoke and olive oil. The creaminess—and kick!—of the horseradish sauce was the perfect complement to all the veggies.

Yesterday's post featured a light, citrusy vinaigrette made of orange juice and champagne vinegar, and as promised, here's a great salad to pair it with. Yes, the vinaigrette is delicious served over just a bed of field greens, but I like to get a little crazy and do a lot more with it. You should too.

Since it's getting warm outside, I decided to pair the vinaigrette with a few of my favorite ingredients that make me think of spring and summer—hearts of palm and avocados. They are both commonly found in Caribbean cuisine, and that's exactly why I like eating them when it's warm out.

Hearts of palm are literally the hearts of some palm trees. Their flavor is very mild, and their texture is interesting and similar to a marinated artichoke heart. The first time I tried them was at a Cuban restaurant in L.A.; they were used as the filling in empanadas. For at least 10 minutes, I was convinced that the soft white filling was fish, but I was eventually convinced that it was in fact a vegetable that would quickly become one of my favorites.

You can try hearts of palm in fritters, salads, and empanadas, and they might even make a good taco filling. And I wonder how they would taste grilled…

Please let me know if you have any good hearts of palm recipes or prep methods that you'd like to share!

Tomatoes have been involved in a bit of a PR nightmare lately. First there was the tomato-salmonella scare, and then all fried foods, specifically fried green tomatoes, were banned at this year's Democratic National Convention. If you're not making it to the convention and want to indulge in fried green tomatoes today, try this recipe, which uses a cornmeal crust and has Cajun seasoning in the mix for additional Southern flare.

Fried green tomatoes are easy to veganize, and the results are actually better without an egg wash, which many people may think is necessary. With just a cornmeal coating, the result is much crunchier than what you get with extra, unnecessary ingredients. And if you are trying to achieve that perfect, golden, crispy coating, then you might want to listen to this advice from Wikipedia. I'm no Alton Brown, but the Wikipedia folks seem to make a pretty good case:

"The tomatoes are then pan fried in vegetable oil up to a depth slightly shallower than the thickness of the slices. This keeps the tomatoes from floating, allowing gravity to hold the cornmeal to the bottom side. Oil may be drizzled over the top to allow it to firm up also."

You can enjoy these on a sandwich, as I did, topped with anything from Vegenaise to tempeh bacon. Or try them on their own as a snack or meal.

Green beans are one of the most common veggies in the U.S.—and they are one of the most commonly overlooked by me. Because of their mild flavor and low number of calories, I've assumed that there's, well, just not that much to them. I'll go ahead and admit it—I was wrong.

Green beans pack quite a nutritional punch. They are full of vitamin K, vitamin C, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids, for starters. And in addition to the health factor, they are also a very diverse ingredient. You can smother them in cream of mushroom soup to make the Southern classic green bean casserole, you can enjoy them just steamed and salted, or you can try them in a variety of Asian-inspired dishes.

This recipe is for the popular dish sesame green beans, but with a twist. I like to add in onions and shiitake mushrooms to give a little more variety to the flavors and textures. Enjoy!

Quick—what's the difference between a crimini and a portobello mushroom? If you said only their size, then you are correct. They are the same mushroom, but at different maturity levels. Criminis are the young'uns, and once they grow to a full 4 to 6 inches, they become the more mature portobello.

Portobellos are probably one of the most commonly known mushrooms to vegans and vegetarians. At most events or at most restaurants, if a cook is looking for a meat replacer, he or she reaches for a portobello. This has sorta given me a bad attitude about this type of mushroom because they can cause some people to stay away from making new creative vegetarian dishes. However, I recently gave portobellos another shot and realized that my bad attitude was, well, just that.

When properly prepared—in my opinion, this means not overly marinated or overly cooked—portobellos can have a great meaty texture and earthy, delicious flavor. My recipe for portobello steaks calls for marinating them in an oil, white wine, lemon, and garlic blend for a nice light flavor. You can eat these "steaks" on a bun if you'd like, but I prefer to just eat them plain. This way, you can really taste all of the flavors instead of burying them under a pile of bread and condiments. Enjoy!

And now for something totally unrelated to mushrooms—I've been nominated for a VegNews VeggieAward! Please visit the magazine's site and vote for me in the "Favorite Veg Blog" category. Voting is easy, and there's something in it for you because voters have a chance to win fabulous prize packages, including a New York City Urban Getaway, a Glam Girl Goodie Bag, a Marshmallow Madness Gift Pack, and a Vegan Cookie Smorgasbord.

Please visit VegNews and vote for The VegCooking Blog now!

The end of summer is near, and that means it's time for the new school year. Busy parents who are new to a vegetarian diet may wonder, "What the heck am I going to feed my child?" if easy meals, like deli meat sandwiches, are no longer an option.

The good news is that it's just as easy to whip up delicious—and might I add, healthier—vegetarian lunches.

One foolproof route is using mock meats to replace the real thing in all your favorite recipes. It can be as simple as using faux-meat deli slices on a sandwich, or you can use mock chicken to create a salad, like the mock chicken salad recipe below, that can be eaten with crackers, over a bed of lettuce, or between slices of bread.

Mock meats aren't something you want to serve every day—variety is key to obtaining all the nutrients we need—but they are a great idea for people who are making the transition to a veg diet and for little ones who want to fit in with friends.

If you're in need of more lunch ideas, check out the VegCooking feature "Pack a Lunch With Punch" for easy lunches, and best of all, no recipes required! Also, stay tuned to VegCooking because we will have more back-to-school lunch ideas and a back-to-school contest very soon!

Ever wondered what the leafy vegetable hanging out in your Chinese food is? Well, there's a 99.9 percent chance it's bok choy. But Chinese cabbage (also known as bok choy) isn't used exclusively in Chinese food—it's also quite common in Korean, Thai, and Japanese cuisine.

I'm unaware of bok choy used in any non-Asian dishes, though, which is really quite surprising considering how common greens are worldwide. Why not try bok choy coleslaw, slow-cooked bok choy, or creamed bok choy?

The recipe below can be considered the Thai version of creamed bok choy, which uses coconut milk to achieve the creamy goodness. The chilies in this might make the dish a little too spicy for most, so feel free to reduce the number. Enjoy!

I'm obviously on a comfort food kick these days. Thursday's post featured fried jalapeño poppers, and today I'm going with soy cream cheese and "bacon" stuffed mushrooms. I guess that's what football season will do to you.

This recipe is a very straightforward veganized version of a very popular recipe on All Recipes. The only difference is that I threw vegan bacon pieces into my soy cream cheese mixture—oh, and that I used soy cream cheese rather than a dairy product.

You can get fancy and use tempeh bacon or something similar, but I chose to use Bac-Os (yes, they're vegan), and it was delicious.

Enjoy!

There are few things I love more than chickpeas. For some people, that intense food love is reserved for chocolate or avocados, but for me it's chickpeas. I even love them in recipes that some would consider strange—wasabi-barbeque chickpeas, anyone?

I've realized my Asian-American hybrid chickpea dish really isn't that strange, because chickpeas are adaptable and can go well with just about any sauce. They work smothered in a light vinaigrette, in only olive oil and salt, in a little barbecue sauce, and especially in coconut milk or curry. A diverse little bean it is.

The curried chickpea recipe below is an extremely easy-to-make yet flavorful dish. The curry packs a punch, and the broth and cumin really add to the depth. Enjoy!

Pasta salads can be made out of just about any ingredients you'd like. The only real requirement is that it has—you guessed it!—pasta as the base and some type of dressing. With even the word "dressing" open to interpretation, that means you're open to a seemingly endless list of possibilities for your pasta.

But even with about a bazillion options available to me, I still prefer to keep my pasta salad plain and simple. To me, there is little that is more satisfying than pasta with good olive oil, herbs, and salt, so I decided to turn this delicious combo into an easy pasta salad recipe over the weekend.

The ingredients and methods won't shock you—there's nothing outrageous here, just a simple recipe that has flavors that work incredibly well together.

Enjoy!

Today's potato recipe is sort of a Spanish variation of home fries. The potatoes are boiled until just tender—not too mushy or falling apart—then pan-fried with spices until nice and crispy.

Most home fries recipes I've seen contain just a few basic ingredients, like salt, pepper, oil, garlic, and onions, but this one uses other ingredients that are more common to Spanish cuisine—paprika, parsley, and turmeric. OK, saffron is technically the ingredient common to Spanish cuisine, and turmeric is just an inexpensive way to cheat.

The spices in this recipe give it a little more kick than most home fries, and the parsley adds unexpected freshness. Don't worry, though—the comfort of your typical home fries isn't lost. It still comes through because of the deliciously crispy and seasoned skin on the potatoes. Enjoy!

Breakfast parfaits almost don't even count as recipes because they're so incredibly easy to make. Take soy yogurt, granola, and fruit, then layer away—that's it. Yes, it's super-easy, but that doesn't mean the end result is boring.

The crunchy granola and cool creamy yogurt offer a wonderful contrast. The variety of fruits—you can use almost any type of fruit you like—results in sweet bursts of flavor and healthy vitamins.

I know—"parfait" and "healthy" are two words that you don't always find together. Dessert parfaits are typically made by layering ice cream, not yogurt, with other not-so-healthy ingredients. But when you replace the ice cream with soy yogurt and opt for fruits and a little granola, you're left with a delicious and healthy breakfast treat.

There are many people who aren't too fond of onions, but when deep-fried with an unhealthy amount of batter on them, they are transformed into a completely different food that few can resist.

In my opinion, sweet onions like Vidalia work best when cut into thick slices, about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch wide. There are actually many options when it comes to batter, but for my main dry ingredient I prefer to use flour rather than cornmeal or breadcrumbs so that the finished product is light and almost melts in your mouth.

There are options for the liquid in the batter too. My recipe below calls for beer, for a little extra flavor, or you can skip that and just use soda water. Regardless of which you choose, the onion rings will end up as oily, crispy goodness.

I highly recommend these when you're in the mood for cheap comfort food or if you're whipping up vegan game-day treats. Enjoy!

To stick with my theme of cheap vegan eats, I've decided to feature a recipe for a homemade veggie burger using black beans as the base.

By making your own burgers, you can stretch your dollar pretty far and you can completely control the flavor. For black bean veggie burgers, the only real requirement is, well, black beans. (By the way, bean-based burgers are a great alternative for people who have a soy allergy.) After mashing the beans, you can throw in just about any spices and veggies you like to create a tasty mix for your patty. I highly recommend trying these with the onion rings that I featured a couple of days ago. Enjoy!

Pudding is a food term with many meanings, but in the U.S. we often use it to describe the custard-like dessert that is commonly flavored with chocolate and vanilla.

Creamy chocolate pudding is by far one of the easiest vegan desserts you can make, and the vegan version is much simpler than any version with eggs or dairy. In fact, most recipes require only three or four ingredients and a blender!

The recipe is very plain and simple, so if you're looking to jazz it up, try using a higher-quality cocoa powder or adding additional flavors. Raspberry or cherry flavoring can be used in place of vanilla, or you can throw fresh fruit into the mix. Just keep in mind that too much will change the consistency of the finished product.

Enjoy!

My favorite recipes are those that you create at home on the fly, with whatever ingredients happen to be left over in your fridge. Sure, sometimes it is a complete disaster, but other times the results are amazing.

My most recent "recipe on the fly" was a Thai-inspired tofu salad. I reduced a handful of leftover veggies in soy sauce and the spicy Thai sauce known as Sriracha and then threw in a little basil for freshness. Like usual with my Asian at-home dishes, I served it with tofu that is cooked until golden brown and chewy and then coated with a splash of soy.

I would venture to say that one of the most common mistakes made by people trying to prepare tofu is not cooking it properly. Many people aren't sure how to handle it, and so it often ends up in not-too-pleasing crumbles. But if you pan-fry small tofu cubes in a healthy dose of oil for about 15 minutes, while stirring often to prevent sticking, you will be left with tofu that is chewy and delicious. All the mushiness and bland flavor will be gone, and it becomes the perfect canvas for Asian ingredients. Enjoy!

After a long honeymoon filled with eating food that was far from healthy, I find myself still on a junk-food kick. I decided that I needed to start eating some vegetables again—but that they should be prepared in a way that is still almost sinful. That's how I stumbled upon this recipe for spinach and artichoke dip.

Sure, the name sounds healthy, but when you add a cup of vegan mayo and cheese to any veggies, you certainly cancel out almost all health benefits from the main ingredients. But, that shouldn't scare you away from making this delicious dip every once in a while. It's wonderful—and easy—as an occasional appetizer that can be eaten in small portions.

I visited Savannah on my honeymoon and saw the line formed outside Paula Deen's restaurant—no matter what time it was, night or day—and I'm certain this recipe would make the queen of Southern cuisine proud! Enjoy.

There is a bit of debate over how to properly prepare eggplant. Some say that you must always start by salting and rinsing sliced eggplant to remove bitterness, and others say that this step is usually unnecessary. I've tried both and say—it depends.

When cooking eggplant with a great deal of oil (I do this when roasting or grilling), I don't find it necessary to salt/rinse. The oil and creamy texture that result from this method of preparation help cut through any bitterness, and honestly, a little bitterness doesn't bother me.

But when using eggplant in recipes that call for little or no oil, I do prefer to salt and rinse. This helps achieve a nice texture in recipes such as breaded and baked Italian eggplant.

The simple eggplant recipe below can be looked at as the start of a delicious Italian dish. It can be topped with marinara and served with warm pasta or can be used as the main ingredient in a warm sub sandwich. Either way, the smooth texture of the eggplant center paired with the crunchy breadcrumb coating will be delicious.

There's one aspect of marriage that can be quite frightening to many—in-laws. Part of the fear regarding new fam comes from being forced to eat whatever meals they prepare for you, while pretending to enjoy it. And when you're vegan or vegetarian, this can be an even scarier prospect.

Luckily for me, though, my new husband's family loves to whip up vegan meals for us when we stop by to visit, and they're always tasty. On a recent trip to visit my new sister-in-law, we were greeted with heaping plates of warm pasta with vegetables roasted in Italian seasonings, after our long seven-hour drive there.

Roasting vegetables in oil really helps retain their moisture and brings out more complex flavors, and the earthiness pairs well with whole wheat pasta. Of course, I had to recreate this dish at home after eating it with my in-laws, and here's the easy recipe for all of you. Enjoy!

I stepped outside this morning for my usual run, and once I saw the ice built up on cars and felt the biting cold in the air, I stepped right back in. On cold wintery days, one of the easiest and most comforting meals you can make is a creamy bean soup.

You can purée just about any bean with vegetable stock to get a delicious soup. Chickpeas, cannellini beans, black beans, and even lima beans work. Today, I decided to go with lima beans.

Sticking with basic ingredients, like onion, garlic, salt, and pepper, can result in a rich lima bean soup. Or, if you're feeling more adventurous, throw in a touch of curry powder. It's good, I promise! And by puréeing the entire mixture, instead of leaving a brothy base and whole beans, the texture is surprisingly indulgent.

Enjoy!

For many, wonton, dumpling, and spring roll wrappers can be intimidating. They're always so delicate and often quite small. And they always seem to dry out before you're even done working with them! To this, I must say, practice makes perfect.

Delicate wrappers used to encase an endless number of delicious fillings are quite tricky to work with, but once you learn a few basic tips on how to handle them, it can be a breeze.

The keys are to make sure they're not too dry or too wet, to work quickly, and to apply the right amount of pressure. You don't want to be too rough so that your super-thin sheet of dough tears, but you also don't want the finished product to fall apart while cooking. That would be disastrous.

And since speed is important when working with wrappers, be sure to prep your filling in advance and have your work station ready to go. By following these basic tips and by practicing, you'll have the technique down in no time, and you'll be able to whip up a batch of the healthy vegetable-filled steamed dumplings featured here. Enjoy!

I must admit that I often get wrapped up in trying exotic new recipes, fancy faux meats, or veganized versions of classics. And when you do this it's easy to overlook the basics, like simple vegetable sides.

One vegetable that knows a thing or two about being overlooked is cauliflower. In my kitchen, it usually only makes appearances in stir-fries, but it can be used for much, much more. One simple side recipe I recently tried puts this often overlooked veggie front and center—Creamed Cauliflower.

In this recipe, you prepare the cauliflower like you would a potato or parsnip purée. You simply cook the vegetable and blend with your favorite combination of soy milk, margarine, salt, and pepper. The recipe I used for inspiration adds a touch of cayenne pepper for a nice little kick. Enjoy!

Brussels sprouts—two words that strike fear in the hearts of children around the world. Sure, the round little green vegetable can lack any redeeming quality if cooked improperly, but if done right, they are rich and flavorful. Thanks to Heidi at 101 Cookbooks, I've found the right way to cook them.

Before today, I'd only steamed Brussels sprouts, which I must admit was a huge mistake. I recently tried a new approach—cooking them in a pan over medium heat until the halved sprouts become golden brown—and it was as if I were eating a completely different vegetable.

Coating the Brussels sprouts with oil and then cooking them in a pan gives them a nice subtle crunch in some areas. It also enhances the flavor of the vegetable and makes them seem (dare I say it?) almost indulgent.

Check out my veganized version of Heidi's simple recipe below, and be sure to check out Heidi's site 101 Cookbooks. Enjoy!

We're only six days into January, and already I'm 2 for 2 with soup recipes! I promise I won't feature just soups this month, but I will feature quite a few, and today I'm going with Chunky Corn Chowder.

Corn soups can go in many directions. Recipes can be made creamy with a blend of potatoes and soy milk, or you can go the more heated route, focusing on a combination of corn and peppers.

The flavor of corn goes well with a variety of peppers such as red bell peppers, poblanos, Anaheim peppers, and more. And it doesn't take many to make a major impact on the flavor.

The corn chowder featured is a happy marriage of both approaches. I used red bell pepper (because I had one on hand), but feel free to experiment with any type of pepper. Just be careful and consider the heat of the pepper when deciding how much to use!

Enjoy!

Super Bowl Sunday is a little over a week away. Many are thrilled, while others couldn't care less, but regardless of which category you fall into, there is one thing that everyone can get excited about come game day—the food!

I promise to do at least a couple of posts on indulgent, fatty party food that will make you feel like you're gaining weight just by looking at the picture, but first, I would like to start with a healthier recipe. For those of you who want a tasty snack that doesn't come with all the fat and calories, a low-fat black-bean dip with baked corn chips is the perfect option.

My black-bean dip recipe below is chunky, creamy, and spicy. Instead of pairing it with store-bought deep-fried chips, you can save on calories (and money!) by making your own chips at home using corn tortillas.

All you have to do is bake or broil tortilla wedges until they're crispy, and voilà! You have low-fat chips. It's that easy! And baked chips not only are better for you but, in my opinion, also have a stronger corn flavor that isn't overpowered by a ton of oil.

Enjoy!

You may know salsa fresca by another name—pico de gallo. Both are a chunky salsa that is light on liquid but heavy on fresh ingredients.

Salsa Fresca

Like many salsas, tomatoes are used as a base, but with salsa fresca, you leave your tomatoes diced but chunky. Other common salsa ingredients are included—onion, garlic, salt, and cilantro—as well as small jalapeño pieces for a little kick.

Many salsa fresca recipes don't require the use of a blender or food processor, but I like to use mine for a pulse or two so that the ingredients are combined but just barely.

Enjoy!

Spinach may not be the most exciting green, but it's definitely one of the most versatile. You can use it in a simple salad, enjoy it lightly steamed, or smother it with a creamy sauce just as you could with other veggies.

Creamed Spinach

But creamed spinach is a simple side dish that isn't as decadent as the name implies. The most "sinful" ingredients are soy margarine and soy milk!

The recipe below is a fairly straightforward veganization of the classic. Let me know if you have tested any other appetizing creamed spinach recipes!

Avocados are commonly used in guacamole or on sandwiches, but you can also whip the fatty fruit into a delicious creamy sauce. And this weekend—during an at-home Iron Chef-style cook-off with my husband—I discovered that a light avocado cream sauce can be perfectly paired with pasta.

Avocado Cream Pasta

The recipe below is one that I, the cook-off winner (!), made during the challenge. It worked well with thin spaghetti, but you might also try it with pasta that is better at holding sauce such as shells or elbow macaroni.

Here, I've used red pepper for the sauce, but to make a heartier meal, try topping the dish with pieces of spicy blackened tofu instead. The heat from either goes well with the creamy coolness of the avocado sauce.

Enjoy!

After enjoying two unusually warm weeks, we're back to the more common winter weather here in the South. To heat myself up during what is (hopefully) the last cold weather of the season, I decided to try making homemade creamy tomato soup for the first time.

Roasted Tomato Soup

This recipe is from our extensive recipe database here on VegCooking.com, where you can find a variety of soup recipes. It's simple, yet calls for roasting the tomatoes first as an interesting twist. And to stay true to the canned tomato soups that I know and love, I puréed the mixture until completely smooth instead of leaving the small chunks that the recipe calls for.

Enjoy!

Everyone is on the lookout for ways to pinch pennies right now, and one option is to choose low-cost and healthy vegan sandwiches. Many vegan staples, such as tofu, are high in nutrition and low in cost, and they make a great base for a sandwich.

Today's featured "cheap eat" is a BBQ tofu sandwich. The BBQ filling is more of a salad that uses uncooked pieces of tofu that are combined with veggies and a bottled barbecue sauce. So not only is it cheap, it's also easy! Enjoy!

BBQ Tofu Sandwich

With winter weather pounding the South on Sunday, many of us decided to stay indoors and cook using just the ingredients at hand. I must admit that I had made a trip to the grocery store the day before, but that didn't make the "snowed-in" challenge any less fun.

Comfort foods made with fresh, light, and probably-not-in-season ingredients are what made the cut in my house. I became mildly obsessed with the supply of lemons and fresh herbs that I had and used them in just about everything. Baked tofu cutlets, potatoes, and asparagus were all cooked with either lemon juice or herbs or both.

Garlic-Lemon Roasted Asparagus

The simple recipe below is for roasted asparagus and calls for—can you guess?—lemon juice! It's only the first featured recipe in the "snowed-in" series, so stay tuned.

Simple, healthy salads are at the top of my list for warm-weather eating. And after an entire weekend of weather in the 70's, I've been eating lots of them! Using greens as the base for salads can get boring, so I like to mix it up sometimes and use chilled noodles instead. My favorite? Soba noodles.

Sesame-Soba Noodle Salad

Soba, a Japanese buckwheat noodle, has more flavor than wheat-based noodles and holds up well under thick sauces and in soups. In addition to being good for your health, it's also good for your wallet. In my city, you can find packages of soba in the $2 to $3 range, and one package usually makes 4 to 5 servings.

The recipe below is for a simple soba salad that combines some very common Asian ingredients. Feel free to experiment by using more or less of each or by throwing new ingredients into the mix.

Enjoy!

Tofu might seem unfamiliar to many new vegetarians and nonvegetarians, but the good news is that when properly prepared, tofu can be delicious. And by "properly," I mean cooking the tofu my favorite way—pan-frying it until it's golden and chewy.

Perfect Tofu

To achieve this, you can freeze your tofu overnight, and let it thaw before cooking it for a short amount of time. But if you're not one for planning ahead, then your tofu must be cooked for a long time to reach the chewy stage. There's simply no way around it. I often see recipes that call for tofu to be cooked for just a few minutes, but if you do that, you'll probably be left with a very soft texture.

The only other requirement for perfect tofu is to finish off the pan-fried soy protein with a splash of soy sauce. It's a great first layer of flavor that can easily be built upon.

Enjoy!

It's officially springtime, and that means sunny days, baseball, overgrown lawns, and lots of grilling. Eggplant is one food that makes it onto my grill often because it's delicious when prepared simply—with just oil, salt, and pepper—and can be used in more complex recipes.

Grilled Eggplant

FatFree Vegan Kitchen shares a recipe for Grilled Baby-Eggplants With Korean Barbecue Sauce that looks cute and delicious. On Chow.com, you can find a fantastic recipe for Roasted Elephant-Garlic Soup With Grilled Eggplant. Just be sure to use vegetable broth instead of the other options that are listed. And for a grilled eggplant recipe that is just screaming to be veganized, there is a Grilled Eggplant Panini.

What's your favorite food to grill?

The most common dip made with chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) has to be hummus, but that doesn't means it's the only dip that you can make with chickpeas. They go well with fresh herbs, good olive oil, and a little salt, and that's exactly what I used to make my dip.

Chickpea-Parsley Dip

I found a recipe online for a version of chickpea-parsley dip but decided to tweak it a little by reducing the amount of parsley and upping the amount of salt. This dip isn't as light or as smooth as hummus because it doesn't contain as much liquid, so be prepared for something a little more filling.

Enjoy!

Peak season for green beans is right around the corner and already they're popping up at grocery stores for majorly discounted prices. This weekend, I went a little fresh fruit- and veggie-crazy at the supermarket after realizing how cheap fresh produce is right now (talk about budget-friendly foods!), but then I realized that I'm not quite sure how to prepare all the green beans in my fridge without repeating the same recipes over and over.

Grilled Green Beans in Mustard Vinaigrette

Sure, you can use them in a bean salad, steamed and served on their own, or in a creamy casserole, but is there any other way to enjoy green beans? Yes: grilled.

After a little bit of research, I found that you can grill green beans the same way you would grill any other vegetable. All it takes is a light coating of oil or a marinade and a few minutes over medium heat. That's it! Once you remove them from the heat, try tossing the beans in your favorite sauce or vinaigrette for a little extra flavor.

Enjoy!

Cucumber sandwiches don't have to be dainty tea-time snacks made with pieces of nearly flavorless white bread. They can be a little more "rough and tough" by loading them with filling spreads and savory surprises and grilling them to crispy perfection too.

Crispy Cucumber Sandwiches

My version of the not-so-dainty cucumber sandwich is made with two pieces of rustic whole wheat sourdough bread, two heaping tablespoonfuls of hummus, and as many slices of olives and cucumbers as my bread can hold. To add interesting texture, I like to grill the sandwiches in a panini pan so that I end up with three different layers of crunch.

With the abundance of fresh cucumbers available now, this is definitely a budget-friendly sandwich too. Enjoy!

To keep with the theme of easy recipes that can be made in minutes, today I'm featuring sandwiches. Many people have "go-to" sandwiches that they make over and over again (myself included), but isn't it fun to mix it up once in a while?

Faux Turkey Melts

Below is an easy recipe for faux turkey melts. All you need for this jazzed-up version of your plain ol' faux turkey sandwich is bread, avocado, vegan turkey slices, vegan cheese, and a heaping spoonful of vegan mayo. After layering the ingredients, place the open-face sandwich under a broiler until the cheese begins to melt and the bread becomes lightly toasted. Simple, yet delish.

Here are a few more interesting vegan sandwich ideas you can try if faux turkey isn't your favorite:

•Smoky Miso Tofu Sandwich

•Vegan Corned Beef Sandwich

•Split-Pea Spread Sandwich

Enjoy!

With peas in season, I decided that it's the perfect time to try a simple soup that appeared in a recent issue ofGourmet. The soup—which was easily veganized by using vegetable broth—is made from an interesting combination of both peas and pesto.

Sweet Pea-Pesto Soup

Pairing basil with peas has never occurred to me, but the pleasing combination will surprise even the most die-hard pea-haters. Enjoy!

Fathers' Day is the perfect time for hearty, no-fuss meals, so why not whip up a "man meal" this Sunday for your dad? You can check out our list of hearty and healthy Father's Day fare, or just try out the recipe I'll be using—Beer-Basted Vegan Brats With Caramelized Onions and Hot Mustard.

Beer-Basted Vegan Brats With Caramelized Onions and Hot Mustard

They're not very complicated, but they're still delicious. Enjoy!

I've always had a slight aversion to the typical three-bean salad made with kidney beans, green beans, and wax beans. But it's not the salad's fault. Before this weekend, I had only tried three-bean salads after they had been sitting on a salad bar for who knows how many hours. To give the salad a fair chance, I decided to make my own version this weekend.

Summer Three-Bean Salad

It was built around kidney beans, green beans, and chickpeas. Most versions I've tried use wax beans, but I'm not a huge fan, so I opted for chickpeas instead. The dressing that brought all the ingredients together was typical for a bean salad—apple cider vinegar, sugar, oil, salt, and pepper—and to add a summery lightness to it all, I threw in diced cucumber and chopped parsley. In the end, it was much tastier than the salad-bar version I was used to, and it only takes minutes to make. Enjoy!

Grilled summer sandwiches can make for some of the best meals. With two toasted pieces of bread that have a crunchy exterior and soft inside and fresh summer ingredients that are delicious and cheap now, what's not to like? Herbs are available in abundance during the summer. To make the most of them, try a grilled sandwich slathered with a pesto spread.

Grilled Portobello Pesto Sandwich

Grilled pieces of a fresh baguette spread with pesto need little else to make a delicious sandwich, so keep it simple and add only a grilled portobello cap for a little "meatiness." The earthiness (and juiciness!) of the mushroom is perfectly complemented by the grilled bread and fresh basil in the pesto. The recipe below serves four, but you might like these so much that you'll want to keep it to two. Trust me.

Enjoy!

Grilled Portobello Pesto Sandwich

4 portobello mushroom caps
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 baguette
1 cup pesto

•Remove the stems of the mushrooms and brush off any dirt.

•Brush the mushroom caps with one tablespoon of the olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

•Place the caps on a grill over medium-high heat and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until just tender. Remove from heat.

•Cut the baguette into four equal parts, then cut those parts in half vertically for a total of eight pieces.

•Brush the soft inner side of each baguette piece with the remaining oil, then place them on the grill for one minute or until browned. Remove from heat. Add 1/8 cup pesto to the grilled side of each piece of bread, top with one mushroom cap, and close.

Makes 4 servings

Mexican restaurants are full of vegan options these days, but eating out isn't always friendly on the wallet. When trying to stick to a budget, why not whip up a fiesta in your kitchen instead?

Spicy Tofu Taco Salads

If you've been a long-time reader, you might realize that I have a soft spot for Mexican meals that can be made at home:

•Roasted Veggie and 'Chicken' Tacos

•'Chicken' and Mushroom Quesadillas

•Roasted Chili and Corn Tamales

•Black Beans With Mexican Beer

•Seasoned Refried Beans

•Tomatillo Salsa

But until now, I haven't featured my favorite "go to" Mexican meal—the taco salad.

One of the easiest versions of the taco salad is cooking veggie crumbles in a packet of store-bought taco seasoning (which usually costs less than a buck), then piling it high onto a bed of lettuce, tomato, salsa, and your other favorite toppings. You can keep it cheap by purchasing vegetables that are in season and adding inexpensive refried or black beans.

Another, less salty option is using pan-fried spicy tofu in place of the crumbles. Sprinkling a blend of cayenne, chipotle, and cumin onto the tofu while cooking will help sear their flavor into the dish, and to balance out the heat add a dollop of guacamole. Enjoy!

Veggie fajitas in many Mexican restaurants in the U.S. are prepared in a similar way. They almost always include bell peppers and onions—often mushrooms too—and they're sautéed until soft, then hit with a splash of soy sauce and some seasonings.

Fajita Tacos

The fajita seasonings may vary, but they typically include a touch of cumin and some type of chili seasoning—for example, chipotle, cayenne, or a blend. Surprisingly, cumin isn't a spice that's commonly used in Mexican cuisine; it's an American addition to Mexican-inspired recipes.

To balance the heat of the chili seasoning, I like to top my fajita tacos with diced tomatoes instead of salsa. This prevents any additional spice from sneaking onto my plate. What can I say? Sometimes I just can't handle the heat.

Enjoy!

Turn your lunchbox into a "brunchbox" by packing a sandwich made with fluffy biscuits. Whether you're preparing these for your child's lunch or your own, the best part is that you can sneak in added nutrition by replacing white flour with whole wheat flour.

Lunchbox Biscuits

Lunchbox biscuits can be used to make almost any type of sandwich—for instance, a faux chicken biscuit (as seen here), a PBB&J (peanut butter, biscuit, and jelly), or an "egg" biscuit with pan-fried tofu used in place of eggs.

Make a batch of lunchbox biscuits on a lazy Sunday afternoon and you'll have them ready for days. Enjoy!

Banana s'mores just might be the easiest dessert you'll ever make. All it takes is store-bought vegan graham crackers and a vegan chocolate bar heated in the microwave, then you add slices of fresh banana to the sandwich—that's it!

Easy Banana S'mores

Not only is this version of s'mores easy (maybe a little too easy—I ate three in one sitting), it's also healthier than the traditional recipe and vegan-friendly. By replacing marshmallows—which are one of the components of a typical s'more—with bananas, you're kicking the dessert up a notch by adding vitamins and minerals and eliminating animal products.

I'm not sure how well bananas will hold up over a campfire, so I recommend making this an indoor-only treat. Enjoy!

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!