I made this recipe for the first time when I was invited to a summertime party at the house of a former coworker and great friend, Patrick. This was back in the day when I was still working at The Grit, where many of my coworkers were just as food-obsessed as I am, especially Patrick. He is one of the few people on the planet with whom I can have a really engaging conversation about food. Our conversations about dream menus, wine pairings, and the merits of oyster mushrooms are works of art in themselves. Of course, my competitive side kicked in when I realized I would be cooking for Patrick and the other employees at The Grit. How could it not? I was going to be cooking for the very people who spend their days making food for others. I decided that comfort food done well would be the way to go.

I found a yummy recipe for BBQ tempeh sandwiches and decided that with a few of my own additions, the sandwiches would be the perfect dish for a Southern summer party. In between taking turns on the Slip 'n Slide and playing rounds of Never Have I Ever, we found the time to scarf down our food, and the sandwiches were a huge success—which was much-needed redemption after the embarrassing truths I revealed during Never Have I Ever. Meat-eaters and vegetarians alike raved that this was the best tempeh they had ever tried. Cooking the tempeh for a long period of time lets it slowly absorb all the liquid until it has a soft texture but isn't mushy. The chipotle powder in the BBQ sauce really has kick—the cool slaw on top provides a perfect balance to the heat and a nice crunchy texture.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

First, you crumble chocolate cookies—I use Oreos—into a fine mess. Drizzle in just enough vegetable oil to bring the crumbs together.

Next, you melt an entire pound of chocolate until smooth, then blend with silken tofu and peppermint extract until creamy.

Finally, pour the creamy chocolate filling into the crispy cookie crust. Top with finely crumbled peppermint pieces and chill.

Thanks to the Tomato Head Restaurant, you'll have a peppermint pattie-like pie that is surprisingly flavorful with so few ingredients. One bite of this pie brought back memories of my mom enjoying her favorite sweet treat, the peppermint pattie. She says they remind her of Christmas—her favorite holiday—and that's why she likes them so much.

Regardless of her good reasons, as a child I had to hate peppermint patties because she loved them—that is, until I was old enough to know better. How could a kid have the same favorite candy as her mother? That just wouldn't be cool. Now that I've seen the light, in the form of the chocolate-mint combo, I enjoy vegan peppermint patties, peppermint pies, minty-chocolate cakes—you name it, I like it. Mom would be so pleased.

It's vegetarian restaurant week! Not sure who started this, when, or even if it's an actual holiday—but I don't care. I see it as an excuse to go out to eat as much as possible this week and to scour the Internet for news on new veg restaurants.

We will start off the week by posting a little veg restaurant roundup, courtesy of Ryan. This is just a teeny tiny sampling of vegetarian restaurants around the country—more to come later in the week, I promise.

Ronald's Donuts

That's right, there's a vegan doughnut shop located in Sin City, Las Vegas. I've been told that Ronald's doughnuts are not only the best doughnuts in the entire city but also the best vegan doughnuts in the country. Ryan said, "We're talking Boston creme donuts, bear claws, glazed, jelly-filled goodness. But I've already said too much. I'll let the pictures do the talking." Clearly, other vegan doughnuts simply do not compare.

Soul Vegetarian

After eating a plate full of BBQ tofu, mac 'n' "cheese," and collard greens, compliments of Soul V in Atlanta, Ryan felt compelled to announce, "This meal has enough soul in it to make James Brown look like Woody Allen." 'Nuff said.

Sublime

Sublime is the famous and fancy vegetarian restaurant located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that is frequented by Pam, Alicia, Alec, and even Bob Barker. After sampling a dessert plate, my friend Ryan said, "Brownies, coconut 'creme' donuts, and pudding for all! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, life is tough." I'm sensing sarcasm.

Be sure to check back later in the week for more reviews, info, and pictures from great vegetarian restaurants around the country. For those of you who are impatient, like me, check out VegCooking's guide to dining out today.

As I promised yesterday, here are some more restaurant reviews for vegetarian restaurant week. I could just talk about the restaurants where I have worked, Real Food Daily and The Grit, but that would be no fun.

Instead, I've decided to branch out a bit and welcome reviews, comments, and photos from my trusty friends and colleagues. Today's restaurant roundup is from another restaurant critic in the making, Pulin.

Veggie Heaven

"There's an amazing restaurant in Austin, Texas, called Veggie Heaven. The food is pretty cheap, very tasty, and quite filling. Yum! Here's a sampling of what I and my crew got last time we were in town for a conference. I don't remember what it's called exactly, but there are some great veggies and some mock meat in this. Pretty balanced meal, if you ask me." I'm going to have to agree with Pulin that this restaurant is amazing. With a menu that ranges from Taipei Lo Mein to Veggie Shrimp Quesadillas, how could it not be?

Red Bamboo

"If you've ever been to NYC, you've heard of Red Bamboo. Here's a photo of the soul chicken as a fairly cheap and filling lunch-special sandwich. The restaurant features amazing entrées plus appetizers and desserts too. And it's just a couple of doors down from another great restaurant, Vegetarian's Paradise 2."

Vegetarian's Paradise 2

I'll admit that I've never been to this restaurant, but after reading Pulin's review above, I did a little investigating. I was amazed to find Fried "Calamari," Maryland "Crabcakes," and Avocado "Crab" Tartare on the restaurant's menu—and those are just a few of the appetizers! Maybe a NYC food expedition is in order?

Stay tuned for more restaurant reviews later this week!

Today's post is a review of treats so sweet that my teeth are aching just from looking at the pictures. Both reviews have been provided by Ashley, whom I envy at this moment for being lucky enough to taste all the sugar-laden confections below. Enjoy.

Vegan Treats Bakery

On my first visit to Vegan Treats Bakery in Bethlehem, Pa., the woman working behind the counter was forced to display saint-like patience while interns Min Hee and Shawn and I spent a full half-hour gawking at the decadent bakery case before we could muster the composure to place our orders.

Not that we could have possibly gone wrong. When you are choosing between such mind-blowing vegan options as an Oreo-crème filled donut, a strawberry shortcake coated with a chocolate shell, and a caramel-nut brownie, there is no such thing as a wrong decision. The best part is the cheesecake—the case with rows of elaborately decorated miniature cheesecakes packs more dazzle than the display case at Harry Winston. They come in tons of flavors—ranging from key lime to chocolate-mint to coconut—and are topped with anything from fruit to gold leaf to chunks of brownies.

And I would be letting my fellow vegans down if I didn't mention that Vegan Treats is famous for its "bomb" cakes, the favorite being the chocolate-peanut butter bomb, a chocolate layer cake with a monster blob of creamy peanut butter frosting on top.

Sticky Fingers Bakery

Tell any vegan that you live in Washington, D.C., and the first words out of his or her mouth won't have anything to do with the White House or the Lincoln Memorial—all he or she will want to know is how close you live to Sticky Fingers Bakery.

With painted chocolate dripping down its pink walls and the aroma of pastries in the air, Sticky Fingers Bakery is a shrine to sweet, carb-laden vegan comfort food. From Frisbee-sized sticky buns and rich layer cakes to Hostess Suzy Q-style "Devil Dogs" and s'mores cheesecake, the goodies at Sticky Fingers entirely live up to the bakery's motto 'The only thing crunchy about us is our cookies."

In addition to desserts, Sticky Fingers offers pre-made sandwiches like the awesome tempeh BLT as well as entrées like mac and "cheese" and seitan barbecue with mashed potatoes. Sticky Fingers has veggie dogs that can be loaded up with chili and soy-cheese sauce, and the vegan "sausage, egg, and cheese" breakfast sandwiches are so popular that your chances of snagging one if you decide to sleep in on a Saturday are laughably slim.

Get started making your own vegan treats at home, with a little help from our dessert recipes here on VegCooking.

To wrap up vegetarian restaurant week, I'll post three more short reviews from my posse of restaurant critics. One restaurant even serves a vegan cheese that is supposedly just like the "real" thing. Here ya go…

Java Green

Java Green in Washington, D.C., offers a delightful mix of vegan Korean dishes like gimbob rolls and bibim noodles—all of which can be ordered with spicy mock chicken—alongside deli wraps and sandwiches like the Veg Max (soy chicken, soy ham, and soy cheese).

In addition to a full juice and coffee bar, Java Green offers milkshakes as well as my personal favorite: mocha, green-tea, and chocolate "frappes," which can be topped with dense, sweet mounds of vegan whipped cream. Java Green also has a weekend brunch menu that kicks some serious ass—think French toast, tofu scramble, and unbelievable veggie link sausage.

The food is delicious and satisfying but also very healthy—you can really chow down and leave without feeling sluggish or stuffed. The restaurant is always packed with loyal patrons—at my old office, even carnivores would make the 10-block trip to Java Green on their lunch hour. And our Korean intern Min Hee gave Java Green a big thumbs-up for its Korean dishes.

Sage's Cafe

With an all-vegan menu ranging from Italian to Asian selections, Sage's Cafe in Salt Lake City will serve up something that will hit the spot, regardless of what you're in the mood for. The unlikely combination of tahini, guacamole, and pesto make up one of my favorite dishes, the Guac-N-Roll burger. Although they are a bit pricey, you also can't go wrong with any of Sage's pasta dishes. And if you are extra-hungry, try starting off with the lettuce wraps as an appetizer.

Madeleine Bistro

On a recent trip to L.A., I stopped at the famous vegan restaurant Madeleine Bistro. The owner and executive chef, Dave Anderson, is known for his gourmet vegan cuisine with a comfort-food twist. I've heard rumors about Madeleine Bistro's vegan cheeses that taste just like the "real thing," so I just had to try them.

A lunchtime visit started with the vegan cheese plate: Champagne, brie, and farm cheeses decorated the plate and were heavenly! A vegan Big Mac is on the lunch menu, and I just couldn't resist. Just like my childhood favorite, this burger was on a sesame-seed bun with special sauce. It tasted even better than I remembered.

No trip to Madeleine Bistro is complete without dessert. There is an out-of-this-world crème brulée that is better than its egg-based counterpart. A light flick to the caramelized sugar rewards you with the famous snap and leads you to the creamy custard. Divine!

The menu has so many delicious options that it was hard to choose. Next time you're in the City of Angels, be sure to visit Madeleine Bistro for a four-star meal.

Now, they can't all be named "Best Vegetarian" restaurant in the Zagat Guide—as Candle 79 recently was—but each vegetarian restaurant out there is delicious in its own unique way. For more info on vegetarian restaurants around the country, visit VegCooking's Dining Out Guide.

I agree with chef Bonnie Tees that stir-fries are one of the most poorly prepared (and, in my opinion, over prepared) vegetarian menu items out there. If I have to eat another bland burrito, stir-fry, or plate of spaghetti with marinara, so help me God…

With that said, it's nice that in today's food world, vegetarian options have finally expanded beyond the three fallback items above. Restaurants around the world are now more willing to take chances with vegetarian dishes—even if that chance is just an updated version of an old classic.

Chef Bonnie, from Bonnys in Montréal, was sweet enough to share this recipe for cannelloni—the classic tube-shaped pasta that is often stuffed with a creamy filling before being covered in tomato sauce and baked.

I opted to add extra sauce to my "cannelloni" (I had to follow Bonnie's advice and use rolled lasagne sheets because I couldn't find cannelloni), which I learned is now acceptable because The New York Times says so. The result was a comforting dish that surprisingly had even more flavor than I had expected from the minimal ingredients.

I couldn't resist the urge to try Sublime's mushroom stroganoff when I noticed that the recipe calls for espagnole sauce and contains all my favorite mushrooms—cremini, oyster, and shiitake.

Espagnole is a classic brown sauce, typically made from a dark roux, a brown stock, and tomato sauce. The French master sauce is often used as a base for other sauces, such as Madeira and bordelaise, and has a super-rich flavor whether it's on its own or just a base. The richness is exactly why I was happy to see that this recipe asks you to practically smother the mushrooms in the espagnole sauce—I can't get enough.

My local Whole Foods had all the ingredients for the espagnole, but I must admit that making it on your own can be rather labor intensive. If that is out of the question for you, just use a high-quality tomato sauce for this stroganoff instead.

The first time I moved away, I naively thought that I'd find all that Athens, Georgia, had to offer, but on a much larger scale, in bigger cities—I was wrong. I've moved to several cities over the last 10 years, and not one comes close to matching that certain something that can be found only in Athens.

No, it's not just the PBR that gives it spirit. It's the small town, the sense of community, the music, the musicians, the school, the night swimming, the late-night dance parties, the local coffee companies, the late-night dance parties at local coffee companies, and so on. Any place with this much soul and creativity is bound to have delicious food as well, and Athens does.

The Grit is an institution in the Athens food scene, and The New Yorker says it has a "reputation as the indie-rock Moosewood." Ask almost anyone who has been to the mostly musician-staffed restaurant and they will tell you that the Golden Bowl is the must-order item. Cubes of tofu are sautéed until chewy and then coated with generous amounts of nutritional yeast and soy sauce. The double-fried goodness is then served over a scoop of brown rice, and you can add sautéed veggies to the mix if you like. This recipe has been tested hundreds of times by my man, who was a cook at The Grit, so I can vouch that it's a good one. Enjoy.

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.

If you read PETA's blog, The PETA Files, you probably already know that I and many of my coworkers were attending South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, over the last week. Because of my obsession with Mexican food and our proximity to the border, I had planned on consuming one of my favorite cuisines for every single meal while in Austin—until I came down with the flu, that is.

Before the sickness set in, I was able to check out a few Austin veggie joints and indulge in only one Mexican meal! Here are a few food highlights from my trip:

•Mr. Natural: This all-natural vegetarian restaurant features some of the healthiest Mexican food in Austin. At the Cesar Chavez location, I sampled vegan tamales, brown rice, refried beans, and a carrot-coconut salad (pictured here), all of which were delicious.

•Mothers: I technically didn't get a chance to visit this restaurant, but my friends were sweet enough to deliver one of Mothers' "TLT" sandwiches (tempeh, lettuce, and tomato) to me. The restaurant's menu is quite diverse, featuring veggies, salads, sandwiches, lasagne, stir-fries, and a variety of Tex-Mex options, of course.

•Veggie Heaven: A small vegetarian restaurant that focuses on Asian-inspired dishes. I had to go for the tofu noodle bowl, but other popular menu items include the Protein 2000, bubble teas, and sweet buns.

•Whole Foods: The megastore on Sixth and Lamar was pretty much our home base during the trip. The expansive salad and hot bars offered a ton of vegan options on a daily basis that we couldn't pass on. A few highlights include the grilled pineapple and tostones.

Other than that, I pretty much survived on Clif bars and The Bad Girls Club while fighting through a 103° fever in my hotel room. I guess there's always SXSW 2009 to look forward to, when I can try again to fully explore the Austin food scene and try to make my "all Mexican meals" goal a reality.

Kale is by far my favorite green, and it has been ever since I realized I liked any greens at all. This happened when I worked at Real Food Daily in Santa Monica, a premier organic vegan restaurant with a menu that features veggies of the day.

So with a new green on the menu daily, I began to experiment and try them all. I practically overdosed on mustard greens, collards, Swiss chard, and kale. Well, we did get free leftovers at the end of the night, so I couldn't resist. I loved them all, but kale definitely stood out as my favorite.

This is going to sound incredibly corny, but during this time I realized that I love not only the taste of the leafy green and the fact that it maintains its structure even when cooked until soft but also that each bite makes you feel incredibly healthy. This is no doubt because of the high vitamin and antioxidant content of kale.

I am a purist and love my kale just steamed with a little tamari (also a RFD influence), but every once in a while I like to do more. Below is a recipe for braised kale, but you can also try it in soup, veganized mashed potatoes, or a dip.

I try not to eat out a lot because, as you can tell, I like to cook. However, when the offer of free food pops up, I can't resist. This month, Johnny Rockets is doing a little buy-one-get-one-free deal for its vegan burger, the Streamliner, so I think a restaurant outing might be in order. You can print your own Johnny Rockets coupon here.

Last year I had the privilege—no, the honor—of going to Johnny Rockets for free veggie burgers with my whole department. That was when I lived in Norfolk. Now that I'm in Atlanta, it looks like I might be going all by my lonesome and will be forced to eat both burgers myself. I believe the Streamliner is the chain's lowest-calorie sandwich, so I guess that won't be too bad…

Learn more about the offer and print your Johnny Rockets coupon here!

*Please note: There was a temporary problem with the print quality of the coupons, but it has been fixed and they should be crystal clear. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Vegan bakeries are popping up all over the country. In many cities, vegans can walk right into what appears to be just your normal bakery, only to find that they can order anything on the menu. I'm obviously insanely jealous because the same is not true in Atlanta (why not?!). Sure, we have coffee shops and Cosmo's that offer vegan baked goods from wholesale bakers, but I need a storefront. I need to walk in the door and see glass cases full of cakes, cookies, and brownies so that I can drool over each. Picking up one brownie covered in plastic wrap off a shelf isn't quite the same as seeing endless, beautiful options.

People who live in D.C. are blessed to have seemingly endless, beautiful options because their city is home to the all-vegan Sticky Fingers Bakery. Yeah, I'm jealous of them too. But at least I can read about the bakery this month on VegCooking.com because we are profiling Ben Adams, the pastry chef from Sticky Fingers Bakery, in our Chef Spotlight. After reading about his training, techniques, and ability to whip up Cinnamon Sticky Buns, Chocolate Love Cake, and I Dream of Cheesecake, you'll be jealous too.

You can read about Ben and Sticky Fingers 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.

There are two great restaurants where I have worked that each have their own unique take on a peanut sauce. At The Grit, it is a thick and sort of sweet condiment that often looked more like a peanut butter rather than a peanut sauce—and it is delicious, of course. At Real Food Daily, the sauce is thinner—more like a dressing—and mixed with cayenne and chili flakes for some kick.

The RFD sauce is the type I prefer (and have attempted to recreate here), but I like to combine it with The Grit's serving style—as a dipping sauce for crunchy, steamed broccoli.

The result is spicy peanut broccoli that has a full broccoli flavor. Sautéing the sauce and veggie together sometimes coats the broccoli too much, masking the flavor. But by dipping, you can make sure you get the ratio just right. If "full flavored broccoli" isn't for you, go ahead and just smother it with the sauce. It will be delicious too.

Remember the days when going out to eat pizza with friends meant that, as a vegan, you were staring at a wall while everyone else chowed down on slice after slice of pies loaded with cheese and meats? Luckily for vegans, those times have passed. It's now easier than ever to find vegan pizza options in almost any city. It's so easy, in fact, that I've put together a list of the Top 10 Vegan-Friendly Pizzerias in the U.S., and the winners are…

1.Pizza Luce: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Pizza Luce in Minneapolis carries a plethora of pizza options. With its wide array of vegan mock meats—including mock duck and two different kinds of mock chicken—as well as two types of soy cheese and all your favorite veggies, you can put together almost any pizza your brain can imagine. Not in the mood for pizza? Grab a vegan entrée, such as the Mock Muffuletta.

2.Pizza Pi: Seattle, Washington
Pizza Pi in Seattle doesn't just have vegan options—its entire menu is vegan! Not only is the pizza tasty, there's loads of variety. Mock meats range from pepperoni to Canadian bacon to veggie sausage, and veggies include sundried tomatoes, artichokes, and capers, to name just a few. Pizza Pi also carries vegan calzones, a wide range of sandwiches, and vegan desserts.

3.Gianna's: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A favorite when in the City of Brotherly Love, Gianna's has enough options to make any vegan happy. From its wide range of mock meats (sausage, beef, bacon, ham, chicken, and pepperoni) to its interesting list of veggies (broccoli rabe, anyone?), Gianna's has it all. And it gets extra credit for having vegan sandwich options, including a vegan Philly cheesesteak.

4.T.J. Scallywaggle's: Allston (Boston), Massachusetts
T.J. Scallywaggle's has an all-vegan menu that is even fun to read. With lots of specialty pizzas named in honor of "Captain Jazelda," in addition to your standard fare, T.J. Scallywaggle's is sure to bring out the pirate in you. It also has a bunch of tasty subs, calzones, salads, entrées, and desserts—all vegan!

5.The Pizza Research Institute: Eugene, Oregon
Don't be fooled by the name! This restaurant is much hipper than the words "research institute" imply. However, with all the one-of-a-kind pizzas on the menu, you would think that there really was a staff of food scientists in the kitchen. One standout is the 3P—pears, potato, and pesto.

6.Slice of Life: Sebastopol, California
Slice of Life in Sebastopol (near San Francisco) is a fully vegetarian, and mostly vegan, restaurant with a huge menu. It includes not only pizza—such as the Cheeseless Wonder—but also other Italian options, as well as Mexican and traditional American dishes too.

7.Mac's Pizza Pub: Cincinnati, Ohio
Mac's Pizza Pub is a lively college hangout in Cincinnati. When winding down after an exam (or skipping class!), locals enjoy Mac's vegan pizza, which is topped with fresh veggies and gourmet vegan mozzarella. But veggie students aren't limited to just pizza at Mac's—the pub also offers a Boca burger.

8.Bella Pizzeria: Norfolk, Virginia
The hometown pizza favorite of PETA, Bella's makes a delicious pie, piling plenty of soy cheese on top of a tasty New York-style crust and, if you like, topping it off with classic veggies. In the mood for something a little different? Try the white pizza, which skips the tomato sauce and uses an olive oil-garlic blend as the base under loads of soy cheese.

9.Pizza Fusion Franchise
With 23 locations across the country, Pizza Fusion is definitely the biggest vegan-friendly pizzeria. As a company that prides itself on being "green," Pizza Fusion's got the right idea by giving the option to get vegan cheese on any pizza, because the best thing we can do for the environment is to go veg!

10.The Rudyard Kipling: Louisville, Kentucky
The official pizza place of frontline warriors against Kentucky Fried Cruelty in Louisville is The Rudyard Kipling. The restaurant offers a super-duper healthy crust with more grains than you can shake a breadstick at. Word has it that you can even get polenta on your pies. Also, be sure to check out its famous Vegan Rudyard Burger.

Did I overlook an awesome pizza joint in your neck of the woods? If so, tell us about it!

Restaurants opened by celebrities aren't exactly a rarity these days, and with the glamorization of the food-service industry, it's not surprising. Many chefs are now full-blown celebrities who have their own television shows, complete lines of merch, and obsessive fans. With the blurred lines between chef and superstar, it only makes sense that the door opens the other way, too, and that singers and actors have been able to dip into the restaurant business. Puffy, Usher, Ashton Kutcher, Bruce Willis, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake, just to name a few, have all dabbled in restaurant ownership. Sure, some have been less successful than others, but they have all tried.

Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders is yet another musician to try her hand in the restaurant business. She recently opened the Italian-vegan eatery The VegiTerranean in Akron, Ohio, and I planned a recent road trip through the Buckeye State to include a stop at Chrissie's new restaurant (and a few other spots in the surprisingly vegan-friendly state, but more on those later).

Before you even walk in the door, you can tell that VegiTerranean isn't your stereotypical vegan restaurant. The floor-to-ceiling windows exposed a modern and sleek, yet comfortable, interior. And the food was just as impressive.

Risotto Stuffed Banana Peppers

To start off our lunch, my husband and I ordered hot Italian banana peppers filled with fresh herb risotto and soy mozzarella, which is topped with a fresh basil lime sauce. They were the largest banana peppers I've ever seen and some of the spiciest.

Vegan Caesar Salad

For my entrée, I ordered the classic vegan Caesar salad topped with caper berries, smoked dulse, house-made croutons, and rawmesan, and I added grilled vegan chicken. The smoked dulse adds a depth that is normally lacking in vegan Caesar salads.

Eggplant and Spinach Muffuletta

Justin had a hard time choosing between the many delicious sandwiches but finally settled on the roasted eggplant and spinach muffuletta, which is served with a Tuscan cole slaw. I know these items sound like typical lunch fare, and in a way they are, but what sets The VegiTerranean apart is that it takes common Italian-inspired dishes and prepare them very, very well. Surprisingly well.

You may not see Chrissie at the restaurant—I didn't—but if you're ever in the Akron area, I suggest popping into The VegiTerranean for a delicious lunch or dinner.

I have long stalked the Dragonfly Neo-V Web site to read its seasonal menus and day dream about eating there. Almost immediately, the restaurant made its way onto my "places to eat" list, and unfortunately, it stayed there for many years. Last Friday, I was finally able to cross it off.

After a nine-hour trip from Atlanta to Columbus—a pit stop on our way to Youngstown, Ohio—Justin and I rolled into Columbus for our first meal at Dragonfly Neo-V. Upon walking in the door, we were immediately greeted by a friendly and attentive staff who made the previous hour we spent in traffic disappear from our memories immediately.

We selected our appetizer, hon shemeji mushrooms served calamari style, but before the plate arrived, we were surprised by an amuse-bouche from the chef—a bite of pasta that tasted of the sea and sesame.

The mushrooms arrived shortly after and were unlike any type I have tried before. They had a chewy texture that wasn't lost under the crunchy coating on the outside or the tomato stew that rested beneath the mushrooms. It's one of the most delicious appetizers I have ever tried.

As we do in many restaurants, Justin and I ordered two entrées to share. One was the poached French trumpet mushroom risotto, which had a rich and intense flavor.

The other was handmade gnocchi served with barnier olives, confit garlic, roasted pepper, and a lentil purée. I wasn't blown away by the first bite of the gnocchi alone, but I quickly realized that I was eating it all wrong. Each bite needed a piece of every element on the plate in order to fully enjoy the dish.

For dessert—because you can't skip dessert at a restaurant you've been waiting years to visit—we decided to share the apple empanadas, served with a side of apple sorbet and a lavender gimlet to wash it all down. The empanadas had one of the most perfect pastry crusts I have ever seen, and the tartness of the sorbet balanced out the cream sauce on the empanadas.

Every dish we enjoyed at Dragonfly was spot on. The chef doesn't serve fussy or fancy. Instead, the focus is on cooking natural ingredients (and seasoning them) perfectly and layering flavors to create a more complex dish. I now realize it's a shame that I've waited years to visit this restaurant, and I hope it won't be many years before I return.

If you won't be in the Columbus area any time soon, then check out DragonFlyNeoV.com to learn more about the restaurant's cookbook. According to the site, it will be out next year.

To wrap up my series on Ohio road-trip eats, I'll leave you with a delicious and adorable little dessert. The morning after eating at Dragonfly Neo-V in Columbus, I made a stop at another one of the city's vegan-food businesses, Pattycake Bakery. There, I found this raw, individual-size strawberry cheesecake that is as delicious as it is cute.

Mini Strawberry 'Cheesecakes'

If you're in the Columbus area, be sure to stop in for a cookie or muffin or one of Pattycake's other great desserts. And if you're not, no worries: According to the Pattycake Web site, online ordering is coming soon.

We're looking for the best faux chicken sandwich in North America, and we need your help! As much as I would love to travel the continent to explore the plethora of faux meats on the menus of restaurants, diners, and even fast-food joints, my schedule simply won't allow it. That's where you come in.

Do you know of a local restaurant that serves up a faux chicken sandwich that's to die for? If so, tell us the name of the restaurant and why it's the best by leaving a comment below. We'll use all the information that you give us here to help compile our list of the top faux chicken sandwiches in North America.

Not everyone is lucky enough to live near a restaurant that serves faux chicken sandwiches, but that doesn't mean that you have to miss out on all the delicious flavor. Try store-bought faux chicken, or you can order it from one of the great online vegan grocers.

Thanks for your help!

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.

New York City is known for great restaurants, and vegetarian restaurants are no exception. You could borough-hop for a week and never eat at the same place twice if you didn't want to. And one of the restaurants that you might find yourself revisiting is Chef Amanda Cohen's Dirt Candy, where the focus is on vegetables—and where everything on the menu is available as vegan or vegetarian.

I'm happy to announce that Amanda has been named "Chef of the Month" for October and has given us a little insight to her food background and philosophy. Check out our Q&A with Amanda below, and be sure not to miss her recipes at the end of the post.

Chef of the Month: Amanda Cohen

Where did you train to become a chef?
The Natural Gourmet.

What type of cuisine do you focus on?
Well, I've cooked vegetarian, vegan, raw, and meat, but Dirt Candy is where I get to do what I love: vegetarian cooking.

Do you have a favorite cooking method?
My philosophy is: whatever works. Everything at Dirt Candy comes in a vegan and a non-vegan version, and I really like skipping back and forth between vegan and vegetarian cooking. Vegan cooking is challenging in a way that's a lot of fun. It wakes your brain up. And I actually think that the Orange Tofu we serve is better vegan (we use coconut milk in the sauce instead of butter).

What are your favorite ingredients to work with?
Right now, what I'm really into are potatoes. And even though beet season is wrapping up, I'll probably stay obsessed with them until the year's last beet is pulled up out of the dirt.

What are the most important elements in cooking great vegetarian cuisine?
Vegetarian food should be about what you can eat, not what you can't. Aping the "protein, sauce, side of veg" format of the standard meat dish just reminds omnivorous diners of what they're not eating, and it doesn't do justice to vegetables, fruits, grains, and all the other fun stuff we get to play with. To me, breaking the "meat replacement" mold is the most important element in cooking great vegetarian food.

What is the key to getting meat-eaters to enjoy vegetarian food?
One of the things I'm most proud of is how many committed carnivores have been dragged into Dirt Candy against their will by friends or significant others and have come up to me afterwards and said how much they loved it. I think the key is that you have to have fun, but you also have to take it seriously. You have to have fun because that's what eating out is about. The more fun you have in the kitchen, the more fun your customers are going to have. On the other hand, you have to take what you do seriously. You have to be able to cook as well as any classically trained French chef, and you have to be willing to have your food compared to restaurants that "cheat" by putting bacon on everything.

What, in your opinion, does the future of plant-based cuisine hold?
I think the challenge to all of us is that we have to be better. Vegetarian chefs are like the Ginger Rogers to the omnivore chef's Fred Astaire: Our job is harder because we have to do everything they do, only backwards and in high heels. We have to work twice as hard for half the respect. Despite this, we desperately need to engage with the mainstream food world, because it's not enough to preach to the choir anymore. Chefs and owners, myself included, need to step up our game. We need to become the 4.0 GPA overachievers of food.

And there is a huge opportunity here. Most omnivore chefs would rather spend their time playing with pork belly and offal because that's the kind of "rock and roll" cooking the food press currently celebrates. Vegetables are considered unworthy of their attention. Which means that young, hungry chefs who want to make a mark and who are really passionate about vegetables have a wide-open field in which to play. Vegetables are like the Wild West of cooking right now—there are no rules. Every day in my kitchen I feel like I'm on the best downhill plunge of the coolest roller coaster ever built.

In your opinion, what vegetarian dish or type of food is most frequently prepared poorly and why?
I think dishes with some kind of meat replacement like seitan or tempeh or mock meat usually wind up tasting pretty boring because they often use a mishmash of techniques and unpleasant-to-work-with products. And that's really too bad. Mock meats come out of the Chinese temple cooking tradition, and when you have Chinese vegetarian food done right it's mind-blowingly good.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only eat one kind of ethnic food, what would it be?
Indian. It has the world's oldest and best vegetarian food tradition, and it's one of the world's greatest cuisines to boot—and to my shame I know too little about it.

Can you give us one great cooking tip for aspiring vegetarian chefs?
If you're aspiring to work in a professional kitchen, work on your technique. Find the toughest, busiest restaurant you can and get a job on their line. Show up for work every day. Stay for at least a year. By the time your year is up, you'll either realize that working in a professional kitchen isn't for you and you'll move on to something that makes you happier, or you'll be on your way to having an indestructible technique that'll make you a ninja master in the kitchen.

For the home cook: fearless experimentation. Find the ethnic grocery stores in your neighborhood and buy copies of Linda Bladholm's The Asian Grocery Store Demystified. She's got one for Asian grocery stores, one for Indian grocery stores, and one for Mexican grocery stores. Take the books with you when you shop. Buy things you've never tried. There are so many awesome vegetarian traditions around the world that you can steal from, you'll never get bored. Then get one good knife (and learn how to sharpen it), one good pan, and the world will be your oyster (mushroom).

What are some ingredients that you recommend vegetarians and vegans have in their kitchens to cook with?
Splurge on good oils. Truffle oil, almond oil, hazelnut oil, or pistachio oil are all really nice ways to finish off a dish. You can drizzle them over just about anything, cooked or raw, and they add an extra, savory dimension.

Recipes

•Sweet Carrot Risotto

•Carrot Dumplings

•Carrot Ribbons

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!