Springtime in Mississippi

Of course, it's not really springtime in Mississippi, but try telling that to the flowers! I'll be posting a new recipe soon, but in the meantime, I thought you might enjoy a look at the local color.



This is one of my "Katrina survivor" spider lilies. After the hurricane, huge pine trees littered my parents' yard, and I went down to help with the clean-up. We found lots of bulbs right underneath one of the massive trunks, and I took a few home with me and planted them in my back yard. Not all of them survived, but a few sprang up the next year and continue to bloom every fall.



My father developed this azalea, which he named Southern Summer Rose. It's supposed to bloom twice, in the summer and winter, but I find that it blooms at various times throughout the year.



This hibiscus was a gift from a neighbor. The neighbor has since moved, but the hibiscus keeps going.



Finally our bougainvillea is blooming! We had a hot, dry summer, and it just never bloomed. Now that our days are cooler and we're getting some rain, it's decided it's safe to show some color.



It was such a beautiful day today that we ate lunch on a blanket in the grass. Jazzy was happy that her humans were spending more time outside for a change.

Thanks to everyone who left comments on my last post. I appreciate all of your concern. Things are looking up around here, and as you can see, I decided to literally stop and smell the roses. (Darn--I forgot to get a photo of the rose!)

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Gold Rush Chili

I apologize for my absence from blogging for the last week, but it's hard to write about cooking when you haven't been doing any. We've been going through a family crisis (not serious, just time-consuming) that began last Friday, and since then, the whole family has been completely exhausted, both mentally and physically, and no one has been up for cooking, so we've been eating take-out and packaged foods--neither great food nor healthy food. When you're that tired, you don't really care what you put in your stomach. To give you an idea of how bad it's been, here are the past few days' dinners:

Friday--Papa John's pizza (veggie, no cheese--vegan)
Saturday--Taco Bell (bean burritos, no cheese--vegan)
Sunday--Gimme Lean sausage burgers (E and I) and Tofu Pups with canned chili (D)
Monday--Red beans (from a can) and rice (I actually cooked the brown rice!)

What's really sad is that we had plans last Friday to join our local veg meet-up group at Cool Al's for the best veggie burgers in the world but had to cancel. Oh, the joys of parenthood! (Sorry to be mysterious, but E has threatened to disown me if I breathe a word about what happened on my blog; suffice it to say that the situation, while still time-consuming, is under control.)

Until last night, I hadn't really cooked anything since my omelette last Thursday morning. But I was determined to make the time to cook us a healthy meal, and I'd been planning this chili for about two weeks. It's actually a very easy recipe, once you prepare the butternut squash.



I used to avoid recipes with chopped, uncooked winter squash because it seemed like so much work to peel and chop it. But I've found it's very easy to handle if you first cut the squash into sections and then use a serrated peeler to remove the skin. First, slice off the stem at the top. Then, cut the squash in half crosswise, just at the base of the "neck." Then stand each half upright and slice it in half vertically. Use a grapefruit spoon to scrape out the seeds in the cavity sections, and then cut them in half again. Peel each section, using the peeler or a good paring knife. Then chop into cubes.



Gold Rush Chili
(printer-friendly version)

I used a canned, organic blend of pinto, kidney, and black beans, but you can use any kind of beans you like in this mild but richly flavored chili. If you're using home-cooked beans, use about 3 cups.

This makes a very thick chili. Cook over low heat and try not to add any extra water unless absolutely necessary.

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon mild chili powder
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
1/8-1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (or to taste)
2 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 15-ounce cans beans (see note above), drained
3 green onion, sliced (for garnish)

Prepare the butternut squash (see discussion above), and set it aside. Heat a large, non-stick pot over medium-high heat, and add the onion and bell pepper. Sauté until the onion is translucent and the pepper is soft, about 7-9 minutes. (You may add a little water to prevent sticking.) Add the garlic and sauté for 2 more minutes.

Add all the seasonings, and stir well to coat the vegetables. Stir in the tomatoes (and their juice), water, squash, salt, and pepper. Cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.

Add the beans, and adjust the seasonings, if necessary. Cover and cook until the squash is tender but not falling apart (about 40 minutes). Serve in bowls, garnished with green onions.

Makes 6 servings. Each contains 284 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (3% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 64g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 825mg Sodium; 12g Fiber.

Serving suggestion: I like to serve this with plenty of steamed vegetables (broccoli and cauliflower) or a large green salad and some baked tortilla chips or crackers for added crunch.

Kid-friendly note: E opted to take the leftovers for lunch today, so this one gets a thumbs-up from her.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Vegan Omelette for One

I'm not a big breakfast eater. In fact, ordinarily I skip breakfast and don't even miss it. But I've been trying to change my ways since finding out that people who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight than people who skip it. In addition to speeding up your metabolism, eating breakfast has also been shown to improve your memory, and as someone whose metabolism has been sluggish longer than I can remember, I've decided that I need to become a breakfast person.

The trouble is, whenever I eat the normal breakfast foods, I'm immediately hungry for more. If I eat oatmeal, cereal, potatoes, or even fruit first thing in the morning, I'm ready to eat lunch by 10:00. And again at 12:00! Eating something rich in protein doesn't seem to have the same effect, so I've been trying to eat breakfasts that balance carbs with protein. Often these breakfasts lean toward the untraditional: edamame, chickpeas, even leftover chili or lentil soup. But this morning I had a craving for an omelette, a vegan omelette, and boy am I glad I did. It turned out to be one of the most delicious--and most filling--breakfasts I've had in a long time.

If you're a fan of my Mini Crustless Quiches, you'll love this recipe because I based it on that one. But unlike the quiches, this omelette takes literally minutes to prepare, if you already have a filling made. Fillings can be as simple as beans and salsa or as elaborate as veggeroni, pizza sauce, and soy cheese. You will be amazed at how the outside sets up while the inside is flavorful and moist.



Vegan Omelette for One
(printer-friendly version)

It's essential to use a truly non-stick skillet to make the omelet come out of the pan intact. Be sure to oil it and have it hot before you pour the batter into the pan. If the unfortunate happens and your omelet sticks, open-faced omelettes taste good, too!

Also: You may double this recipe but you must divide the batter in half and cook it as two separate omelets. If you try to cook too much at one time, your omelet will not cook properly.

6 ounces (1/2 package) Mori-nu lite silken tofu (or regular extra-firm silken tofu)
1 tablespoon soymilk
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon potato starch or cornstarch
1 teaspoon tahini
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 pinch chipotle pepper or smoked paprika (optional)

Also needed:
Omelette filling of choice (have filling warm or at room temperature)

Blend together all ingredients until smooth. (I use a Magic Bullet blender, but you may use any small blender or hand blender. To use a larger blender, you may have to make a double batch.)

Spray a large non-stick skillet with olive oil and heat on medium-high until very hot. Pour the batter into the center of the skillet in a circular pattern about 6-8 inches across, and use a spoon or spatula to smooth over the top. Place your filling ingredients over the batter, and reduce the heat to low.



Cover and cook for about 2-4 minutes, checking often to see if it's done. When the edges have dried out, lift a small section with a spatula and check to see that the omelette is set. It will be golden in color, but not browned. When it's ready, loosen the omelette by sliding the spatula under it from each direction, and then fold one side over the other.



Cook for about one more minute. Carefully lift or slide it onto a plate and serve hot.



I wanted to include vegetables in my breakfast, so I filled my omelette with fresh spinach and mushrooms that I had sautéed beforehand and topped it with a little of the chipotle remoulade leftover from Monday's black-eyed pea cakes. Mmmmm. It was out of this world!

Makes one serving. Without filling, this provides 157 Calories (kcal); 4g Total Fat; (22% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 687mg Sodium; 2g Fiber.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

E Cooks: Banana-Coconut Bars

The bananas were growing more spotty and fragrant by the hour, and my daughter E was experiencing a rare social slump (in other words, she was at home). I'm not a believer in signs from the universe, but I can spot a good opportunity when I see one, so I knew that if I was going to get E into the kitchen to cook something with me, this was the time. Lately she's been completely uninterested in helping me with any dish that involves eggplant, black-eyed peas, or any other vegetable (what a surprise), but I thought that if I could offer her something sweet to cook, she'd jump at the chance.

But for some reason, when I said "banana-coconut bars," she said "Yuck!" Maybe it was the word "bar," but I had to coax her into the kitchen with promises of her photo on the blog. (Unlike her mother, who has been known to dive under tables to avoid being photographed, E sees a camera and practically throws herself in front of it.) Whatever reluctance she had quickly dissolved as she decreed that I was allowed to do nothing, she would do it all. Well, everything except fetch ingredients and clean up afterward--I could do that!



Before we started, I found a recipe that looked easy enough and made a few changes to reduce the fat, sugar, and sodium. Waikiki Banana Bars came highly rated, and they were already vegan, a definite plus. So I substituted silken tofu for the shortening and tried to take them in a more tropical direction by using coconut and rum.

I was really surprised at the way the bars turned out. The banana, vanilla, coconut, rum, and cinnamon combine to create a totally new kind of taste, something I really can't describe. But they were good. D raved about them, and more importantly, E came very close to admitting she was wrong. Oh, she liked them--loved them, in fact--but she claims it was only because of her cooking expertise that they came out so delicious. Sheesh, what a prima donna!



Banana-Coconut Bars
(printer-friendly version)

These bars are dense and chewy, and they have a tendency to be tough on the outer edges of the pan, so be careful not to overstir the batter, which causes fat-free baked goods to toughen up, or to overbake them.

1/4 cup silken tofu, lite or regular
3/4 cup brown sugar or Sucanat
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon rum (or 1/2 teaspoon rum extract)
2 large bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sweetened flake coconut

For topping:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F and oil or spray a 13x9-inch baking dish.

Mash or blend the tofu until smooth. Add the sugar and blend with a fork until creamy. Add the vanilla, rum, and mashed bananas, and stir well.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the coconut. Make a well in the middle and pour in the banana mixture. Stir only enough to moisten the flour (over-stirring makes them tough). Pour into the baking dish and put into the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

Remove from the oven and while warm, cut into bars. Sprinkle the mixture of powdered sugar and cinnamon over the bars, reserving some to sprinkle onto the serving platter. Remove each bar and put it on the platter.

Enjoy warm or at room temperature. Leftovers make a great, quick breakfast.

Makes 12 nice-sized bars. Each contains 135 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (7% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 30g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 234mg Sodium; 1g Fiber.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Black-Eyed Pea Cakes

What can I say? Ever since I saw KathyF's Black Bean and Rice Cakes with Chipotle Remoulade and Roasted Corn Salsa I've been craving that remoulade sauce, lusting after the whole gorgeous dish, really. At the same time, I've had it in mind to create a version of these black-eyed pea cakes that I once had in Savannah or Charleston, I can't remember which (two beautiful cities I always get confused), so I thought why not attempt a vegan version of the cakes and serve them with Kathy's remoulade. That turned out to be an excellent idea. In fact, it was probably a meal-saving idea because, though the black-eyed pea cakes were good, they were a little on the drab side and definitely benefited from the spicy richness that is Chipotle Remoulade.

The cakes are sort of a combination of corn bread and black-eyed peas, crunchy on the outside, but moist and punctuated with whole black-eyed peas inside. If you like your food spicy, you're definitely going to want to serve them with either the remoulade sauce or a spicy cocktail sauce. But if you've got a tender tongue, try them with tartar sauce or my daughter's first choice, ketchup. (She inherited her taste buds from her grandparents!)



Black-Eyed Pea Cakes
(printer-friendly version)

I baked these two different ways, some on a baking sheet and some in a large, straight-sided silicone muffin pan, and the taste was the same, though the ones in the muffin pan had a more uniform shape. If you spray the silicone cups with a little oil, the cakes will just fall out when they're done.

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (15 ounce) cans blackeyed peas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup Greek-style soy yogurt, silken tofu, or soy cream cheese
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon cornstarch (or arrowroot)
1-2 teaspoons hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon Liquid Smoke (optional)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup flour (I used white whole wheat; gluten-free flour mix may be used)

Spray a non-stick skillet lightly with olive oil and sauté the onion until it softens. Add the garlic, and cook for one minute more. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and add 1 can of black-eyed peas and all remaining ingredients EXCEPT cornmeal and flour. Process until smooth.

Pour the mixture into a medium-sized mixing bowl and stir in the other can of black-eyed peas. Add the cornmeal and flour, and stir until blended.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate while you preheat the oven to 400F. Allow the mixture to chill for about 15 minutes.

To make more rounded cakes (as shown), use a muffin pan. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of batter into each oiled cup of the pan and smooth the top. (They will not rise like muffins and will not fill the muffin cups.)

To make them as patties on a cooking sheet, spoon about 3 tablespoons of batter onto an oiled baking sheet or silicone mat. Use a spoon to shape into a patty about 2 1/2 inches across. Repeat with remaining batter.

Place cakes in oven and cook until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 20-30 minutes. (Cakes cooked on baking sheets may take less time than popovers.) Serve hot with chipotle remoulade, spicy cocktail sauce, tartar sauce, etc.

Makes 12-14 cakes. Each black-eyed pea cake contains approximately 106 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (5% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; trace Cholesterol; 344mg Sodium; 4g Fiber.




I'm labeling the black-eyed pea recipe TBR, my code for a recipe that is "to be revised" because it isn't quite up to my standards. But my husband and I agree that we're going to be using the chipotle remoulade a lot from now on, on everything from "Crab" Cakes to TLT Sandwiches. I foresee it becoming our go-to condiment. Be sure you check out the recipe and also take a look at Kathy's Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Chipotle Remoulade, which is also sure to inspire cravings.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Greek-Style Soy Yogurt or Soy Yogurt Cheese

My new favorite food! Or maybe it's an old favorite?

Ilva combines it with wine-simmered peaches. Heidi uses it to make frozen yogurt. And just about everyone is using it to make Tzatziki.

Normally I just ignore non-vegan ingredients in recipes, but lately I've started to notice so many mentions of Greek-style yogurt that I decided to do a little research into exactly what it is and whether there's a vegan equivalent. What I found out was that it's basically yogurt that has been strained. Well, excuse me, but isn't that what we referred to in the 80's as "yogurt cheese"? Way back in the dark ages before I became vegan, one of my favorite bagel spreads was herbed yogurt cheese. You simply took yogurt, put it into a cheesecloth-lined strainer, let it drain until it was a spreadable consistency, and then mixed it with whatever herbs and spices you liked. Of course, back then French Onion Dip was all the rage, so that's what mine usually came out tasting like.

After doing a little more research, I've decided that the main difference between Greek-style yogurt and yogurt cheese is the amount of time you allow it to drain and, therefore, the thickness and dryness of the end-product. According to this site, which explains how to make Greek yogurt from scratch, you're supposed to let it drain for about 2 hours. Another article suggests letting it drain overnight. Most recipes indicate that the amount of yogurt will be reduced by about half.

On the other hand, most recipes for making yogurt cheese, also known as labneh, specify a longer draining time, even as long as 1 to 2 days. The main objective is to let it drain until it is the consistency of a soft cream cheese, so the draining time depends a lot on the consistency of the yogurt you start with. You should wind up with one-third to one-fourth the amount of yogurt cheese as yogurt, so if you start with 3 cups of yogurt, expect around 1 cup of yogurt cheese after draining.

Armed with all of this knowledge--and a couple of "gold" coffee filters--I recently started making Greek soy yogurt. The first step is to make my own soy yogurt. As I've mentioned before, the only plain soy yogurt I can buy here is Whole Soy, and it's so sweet that it might as well be the vanilla flavor. Besides tasting better, homemade soy yogurt costs less than half the price of store-bought.



I've found that if I know I'll be straining the yogurt, I can skip the step of adding a thickener, such as agar, when I make it. This speeds up the process of making soy yogurt, but the downside is that I wind up with less Greek yogurt or yogurt cheese than when I use the thickener because more water (whey) is lost. So I do recommend using a thickener, but if you're in a hurry, you can get by without one.

After the yogurt is made and has incubated until it's to the tartness I like (anywhere from 8 to 20 hours), I let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Then, I set a cone-shaped gold coffee filter in something that will hold it upright and catch the water that drains out and line it with a paper coffee filter or with two layers of cheesecloth, as shown. (If you don't have cone-shaped filters, you can line a mesh strainer or colander with cheesecloth or even purchase a special yogurt-cheese maker.) I pour or spoon the yogurt into the filter, place it in the refrigerator, and cover the top loosely. In the photo above, I started with unthickened yogurt, so the water started draining immediately. (I took this photo about a minute after pouring the yogurt into the filter, and the whey just poured out.) If the cup that the water is draining into is not very deep, be sure to empty it into another cup from time to time. Save the whey, though; it's full of nutrients and can be added to smoothies and soups or used to replace water in baked goods. (I've also watered my plants with it, but I don't recommend that.)



Here's what the yogurt looks like after about 6 hours. When it reaches the consistency you like, remove it from the cheesecloth and store it in a covered container. If you want, you can press out more water by twisting it in the cheesecloth, but I find this unnecessary unless I'm making a very dry yogurt cheese.



Here's how thick the finished Greek-style yogurt is. I took photos of this spoon of yogurt for about 3 minutes, and it never once dripped off the spoon!




I find that Greek-style soy yogurt, besides being thicker than regular, has a slightly sweeter taste. Perhaps it's because the flavor is more concentrated, or maybe it's that some of the bitterness is removed with the whey. I like it plain as a low-fat spread on breads, but my current favorite use of it is to serve it with agave nectar and a sprinkling of granola, a lower-fat, vegan version of the traditional Greek dessert that uses honey and walnuts.

But it has so many more uses. Give it a try in shrikhand, an aromatic Indian dessert. Veganize this Mini Tomato Pesto Torte. I'm making a batch now that I have earmarked for a version of these delicious-sounding stuffed mushrooms. You can even fry it or fill crepes with it. In its thickest form it works as a replacement for cream cheese and in its thinner form it can replace sour cream in almost any recipe (I'm planning on making a cheesecake with it soon). The possibilities are endless, so get straining!

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Whole Wheat Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Olives from Nava Atlas

Wow! I'm overwhelmed by the number of people who left a comment in hopes of winning a copy of Vegan Express! In all, there were 231 guesses, 67 of which were correct. Congratulations to those of you who recognized my style (or possibly the serving dish, which has appeared here before holding Spicy Grapefruit Coleslaw). There were so many responses that I feel bad that I'm offering only one book, but don't despair if you didn't win; I'll be holding other contests as the publication date nears, so you may win a copy yet.

The answer, if you haven't guessed it from the title above, was the pasta dish. Though I also photographed the chocolate cake (which had the most amazing frosting), my photo of it is in the book but not on the cover. You'll have to buy (or win!) the book in order to get the recipes for the cake and kababs.

It took a while to copy all the names of the 67 correct guessers to paper, cut them apart, and fold them up. Here to announce the winner of the free book is my daughter E, who helped with the folding and picked the winning ballot:



Congratulations to Linda! I'll be pre-ordering your book as soon as you send me your address.

But here's a special treat for everyone: Nava has graciously allowed me to post the full photo of the pasta dish as well as the recipe. Though I loved all of the recipes I made from the book, this one was one of my favorites (note the eggplant and Kalamata olives--two ingredients I love). I used a light colored spelt pasta, which was absolutely delicious, but rice pasta would make a great gluten-free substitute. I hope you enjoy this preview of the book!



Whole Wheat Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Olives
6 servings
From the forthcoming Vegan Express: Featuring 160 Recipes for Quick, Delicious, and Healthy Meals by Nava Atlas (Broadway Books, NY)

This recipe may stretch out to 40 minutes or so, due to preheating and roasting, but it’s so yummy, I think it’s worth it. I hope you will, too.

8 to 10 ounces penne or spirals, preferably whole wheat or spelt
1 long, narrow Japanese eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (see note)
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
4 cups small broccoli florets (or one 16-ounce bag fresh precut florets)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1/3 cup sliced oil-cured sun-dried tomatoes, 2 tablespoons
of their oil reserved
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1/4 cup finely minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, or more to taste, optional
Dried red pepper flakes to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil the bottom of a large roasting pan.

2. Combine the eggplant and bell pepper in a mixing bowl. Drizzle with half of the oil, then stir together and transfer to the roasting pan.

3. Combine the broccoli, onion, and garlic in the same mixing bowl and drizzle with the remaining oil. Transfer to the roasting pan and gently mix with the other vegetables, then place in the heated oven.

4. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then cook the pasta at a rapid simmer until al dente, then drain.

5. Roast the vegetables for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes, or until nicely but not overly browned. Remove from the oven, then transfer the vegetable mixture to a large pasta bowl.

6. Add the dried tomatoes, olives, parsley, and balsamic vinegar and stir together with the vegetables.

7. Add the cooked pasta to the vegetable mixture and toss together with the reserved oil from the dried tomatoes. Add balsamic vinegar to taste if desired, then season with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Serve at once.

Calories: 310 Total fat: 13 g Protein: 9 g Carbohydrates: 43 g Fiber: 8 g Sodium: 300 mg
Note: Substitute 1 smallish eggplant, quartered lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick.

Menu suggestion:

Make a salad of mixed greens, red beans or chickpeas, pickled beets, and sliced carrots, dressed any way you prefer. Complete the meal with a crusty fresh whole grain bread.

---

Just a reminder that Nava previously posted the recipe and photo for her Sweet and White Potato Salad with Mixed Greens, also from Vegan Express. Be sure to check it out if you missed it.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food

Vegan Express

[Update: Thanks for the amazing number of votes! A winner has been picked and will be announced soon.]

I'm so excited! Nava Atlas' latest cookbook, Vegan Express, is now available for pre-order from Amazon! Why am I so worked up? Well, besides the mouth-watering recipes, there are the 8 pages of color photos...which I took! One of my photos even made it to the cover. Any guesses as to which one of the three (shown above) it is?

How about we make it a contest? I'll take the names of everyone who guesses correctly, put them in a box, and have E draw one name out. The winner will get one pre-ordered copy of the book! The contest ends at midnight on Friday, so get your answers in quickly. Only one answer per person, please, and you must be willing to send me your name and address if you win. (And if you're posting as anonymous, be sure to leave your name in your comment.)

The choices are:
A--pasta
B--cake
C--kababs

Hint: If you go to Amazon, you can click on the photo of the book to see a bigger version.

The winner will be announced on Saturday. Let the comments begin!

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food