In the dying words of Spock to Kirk in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: “I have been… and always shall be… your friend. Live long… and prosper.”

That’s how most vegans feel about animals. Sweet, doe-eyed cows; curious, fluttering chickens; and playful, intelligent pigs: just some of the billions of animals who are raised and slaughtered every year for food. For years, vegans have found ways around this by finding ways to substitute meat and dairy products in our meals while reaping the benefits of a healthier diet. It’s been proven for years that a meat-based diet is directly linked to the three greatest killers in the United States—heart disease, diabetes, and obesity-linked diseases. Recently, food technology finally caught up to our imaginations and created mock meats that made compassionate versions of classic dishes even closer to the originals we remember. These recipes prove that going vegan has nothing to do with sacrifice… in fact, no one needs to sacrifice at all.

CRABBY CAKES

Until I lived in Virginia, I wasn’t aware of what can only be called the Chesapeake Bay Crab Cake Phenomenon. It’s impossible to ignore all the crab-themed items littering every store along this coastline. Aprons, cereal bowls, utensils of any kind, Beanie Babies, lollipops, mechanical claws for picking up things less than 2 feet away… whatever the kitschy knickknack, you can find one with a smiling cartoon crab on it, eager to be eaten. Disturbing doesn’t even begin to describe it. It’s like those BBQ joints with the happy pig on the sign. In what bizarre mind does that make sense? This recipe will help you put all that aside and just enjoy this classic mid-Atlantic dish. Don’t forget to make a batch of Vegan Tartar Sauce (see here).

MAKES 6 TO 7 CRAB CAKES

2 slices whole wheat bread

cup Vegenaise

1 tablespoon Ener-G egg replacer (just the powder, not made per the instructions on the box)

1 teaspoon ground mustard

¼ teaspoon crushed sea salt

teaspoon lemon pepper

¼ teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning

2 green onions, chopped

¾ cup Match vegan crab

¼ cup dry bread crumbs (we used Old Bay Dip & Crisp Seasoned Bread Crumbs for a little extra flavor)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Put your slices of whole wheat bread in a blender or food processor until they’re nothing but crumbs.

In a bowl, whisk together the Vegenaise and Ener-G egg replacer. Stir in the whole wheat bread crumbs you just made, ground mustard, salt, lemon pepper, Creole seasoning, green onions, and vegan crab. Shape the mixture into 6 to 7 patties about the size of your palms. Put your dry bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. Coat each patty with dry bread crumbs.

In your infamous little cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, place the patties in the skillet. This is important: don’t crowd your patties. They’ll stick together or break apart if you bump them while flipping the other patties—so give them room. Cook the patties till they are golden brown on each side.

CHICKEN-FREE POTPIE

This is one of the first dinners I made for Dan when we moved in together. Although years have passed since then, and we’ve had literally hundreds of meals together, he still loves this dinner the most. Whenever I make it, it takes us back to when we were still pretty new to this whole “being more than friends” thing and had that new-love rush.^* Ever combine a little romantic nostalgia with a solid “love of your life” situation? It’s pretty great. I recommend it. I’m also pretty sure this recipe is what convinced Dan to give me a forever home.

MAKES 4 PERSONAL PIES OR 1 LARGE PIE

POTPIE FILLING

2 to 3 small red potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

Dash of liquid smoke

2 cups of your favorite vegan chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

1 batch All-American Vegan Gravy (here)

3 celery stalks, chopped

1 cup frozen green beans

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

WHOLE WHEAT PIECRUST

2 cups whole wheat flour, plus more to flour surfaces

1 teaspoon crushed pink Himalayan salt

Images cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the red potatoes for 45 minutes. Once baked, cut them into small cubes. Hold them with an oven mitt so you don’t burn your fingers.

Now make your dough for the crust. In a medium bowl, mix the flour and salt. Cut the shortening in; then use a pastry blender to mix. You want your dough to become little clumps that look like small peas. Sprinkle in the cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, using a large fork to mix. You want the dough to be moist but not wet.

With your hands, roll the dough into a ball inside the bowl. On a floured surface, roll your dough ball out with a floured roller. Try to keep the crust even; you don’t want some areas to be thinner than others. Gently roll the flattened dough up into plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes.

Now prepare the filling. In your beloved cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil and liquid smoke over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, cook the vegan chicken in the skillet until it is golden brown and has crispy edges. Remove from the heat and set aside on a plate.

In the same skillet, make your All-American Vegan Gravy. Heat until it thickens and starts to boil.

Stir in the celery, green beans, potato cubes, vegan chicken, and peas and carrots, and turn the heat down to a simmer.

Once your dough has chilled, remove it from the fridge and unroll it. You want the dough to be firm but still pliable, so if it’s crumbly when you remove it from the fridge, press the cracks to fix them and then let it warm a little until it’s more pliable.

Place your pie or casserole dishes upside down on the crust to give you a guide to cut around. Leave an extra ½ to 1 inch around the edges to seal the pies. Once each crust top is cut, cut a small X or hole in the center. I like to use a mini heart-shaped cookie cutter.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Fill your casserole dishes three-quarters of the way with the vegan chicken and gravy filling mixture; then carefully place the crust on top. Gently press the dough around the edges of the dishes to seal the top. You can put a bit more vegan chicken and gravy filling mix in the dishes if you’re okay with some potential overflow.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. You’ll want to pull the pies out of the oven once the edges of your crust are a golden brown. Let your pies cool for around 10 minutes and then serve with a side of love songs. We recommend a nice Journey power ballad.

BEER-BATTERED MARINATED TOFU

Sometimes you get just what you need. The other morning I woke up and thought: “I’d love to watch a detective story that has something to do with submarines while I drink my coffee today.” And you know what? I stumbled across a random episode of a CSI-type of show with Mark Harmon as a Navy FBI/police-type person who… guess what? Solved the Mystery of the Sailor Swap on a submarine! The next day I woke up and thought: “I think I need more Richard Dreyfuss movies in my life.” And Jaws was on! Yes, I know, it’s like an X-File. That night, I needed to come up with a new plan for dinner because my vegan chicken wasn’t defrosted… and there she was. A forgotten little package of extrafirm tofu hiding behind some celery and a bag of baby carrots. She waved and said, “Remember me? You were going to make me into vegan fish sticks!” I smiled and thought, “I can do better than that, my little friend.” Beer-Battered Marinated Tofu, you are my dream date. Don’t forget the Vegan Tartar Sauce here.

MAKES 6 FILLETS

2 packets miso soup, made per the packet instructions

1 package extrafirm tofu, drained and pressed

1¼ teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

4 cups olive oil (you need enough to submerge your tofu fillets when you fry them)

3 to 4 tablespoons vegan Bisquick mix

½ cup stout beer

1 tablespoon applesauce

½ teaspoon lemon pepper

½ teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning

Chill your prepared miso soup in the fridge until it reaches at least room temperature.

Cut your block of tofu into 6 triangle slices with a serrated knife to create a “fish” texture to the sides. These are your fillets.

Mix your chilled miso soup and vegan Worcestershire sauce in a casserole dish that’s large enough to hold the fillets, but not so large you won’t be able to cover the fillets with the miso marinade. Put your fillets in the marinade and let them hang out for 10 to 15 minutes, turning a few times to make sure they get an even flavor.

Heat your olive oil in a 4-quart Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat.

In a shallow dish, put 3 to 4 tablespoons of Bisquick mix.

In a medium-size bowl, mix the beer, applesauce, lemon pepper, and Creole seasoning with a hand mixer until smooth. If the mixture is too pasty, you can add a dash of beer, but not more than 1 tablespoon.

Once your see your oil start to bubble, it’s time to deep-fry your fillets.

Breading your fillets can lead to a big mess, but here’s a trick to keep your bowls from getting contaminated. Pick one hand to be powder and one to be batter. Using your powder hand, put one of the fillets into the Bisquick mix, and using only that hand, cover the fillet with Bisquick. You want to tap it a bit to get a good cover, and make sure you get the sides.

Then, still with your powder hand, remove the fillet from the Bisquick mix and put it into the beer batter. Be careful not to get any beer batter on your powder hand.

Now, using your batter hand, flip and cover the fillet with a healthy amount of beer batter. Not healthy as in good for you; healthy as in “That girl’s got a healthy backside.”

Now, using a slotted spoon, remove your beer-battered fillet and place it, very carefully, in the hot oil. Be careful to not let your fillet touch the side of the pot. Fry the fillet for no more than 5 minutes.

Using your slotted spoon, remove your fillet. Be careful to not break your crusty, golden-delicious batter when you’re pulling your fillet out. Place on a plate with some paper towels to soak up any extra oil.

Before you fry your next fillet, use your slotted spoon to remove any bits of fried batter that have fallen off the previous fillet, so they don’t stick to the next one.

Repeat this process for each fillet and enjoy the rest of your beer until you’re all done.

Serve with Vegan Tartar Sauce (here), and maybe some corn on the cob… maybe some more beer. Just enjoy.

BIG EASY JAMBALAYA

Readers of our blog will know that we spent our honeymoon in New Orleans. While Cajun cuisine isn’t known for being traditionally vegan-friendly, we ate like royalty on that trip, enjoying some of the best meals of our lives. We got the inside scoop on why New Orleans has such a wealth of vegan food from the bartender of a locals-only drinking establishment that never closes (literally—he showed us how there was no functioning lock on the front door). Apparently, it’s not the tourists demanding all those vegan options at pubs and restaurants around the Big Easy—it’s the new generation of young, hip service employees drawn to the city as its post-Katrina tourism industry began to develop. These “new locals” came looking to become a part of a great American city’s rebirth, and they brought their love of vegan food with them. We brought ours, too. This jambalaya is inspired by that experience.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

3 tablespoons olive oil

Dash of liquid smoke

1 cup Match vegan Italian sausage, rolled into meatball-ish chunks, or 1 package Tofurky Italian Sausages, cut into coins

1 red onion, diced

½ cup vegan shrimp, defrosted (we recommend May Wah shrimp balls cut into fourths)

2 tomatoes, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

½ tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1½ cups Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth, made per the instructions on the package

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning

¼ teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

2 pinches of chili powder

1 cup tomato sauce

2 splashes of your favorite beer

¼ teaspoon red wine

Louisiana hot sauce (we used 3 dashes)

2 cups cooked brown rice

In your cast-iron skillet beaux or frying pan, heat the olive oil and liquid smoke over medium heat. Brown the vegan Italian sausage and red onion in the heated oil. Once the sausage is crispy and the onions are tender, remove them from the heated skillet and set aside.

Then throw the vegan shrimp, tomatoes, bell pepper, parsley, broth, thyme, Cajun seasoning, Bragg’s, chili powder, tomato sauce, beer, red wine, hot sauce to taste, and brown rice into your skillet, mix, and simmer until it starts to boil. While you’re waiting for it to boil, stir the jambalaya to keep it from sticking to the sides. Once it starts to boil, mix in the sausage and onions. Remove from heat immediately.

Serve with a tall glass of sweet tea or a cold beer.

BUFFALO TOFU STEAKS

This classic chicken preparation is the best thing to come out of Buffalo, New York, since Mark Twain. If you grew up with those winters, you’d crave something hot and spicy too. Since classic Buffalo wings are about as far from being vegan as you can get (I mean, you’ve literally got a bone in your mouth), vegans seem to relish making our own Buffalo-style recipes. These Buffalo tofu “steaks” are great as snacks for the big game and demand an ice-cold beer to wash them down with.

MAKES 4 STEAKS

Olive oil cooking spray

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons hot sauce

2 (16-ounce) packages extrafirm tofu, each block cut into 4 pieces (steaks)

BUFFALO HOT SAUCE

2 tablespoons molasses

1 teaspoon garlic powder

¼ cup margarine

1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce

½ cup hot sauce (vinegar based to get the real bite)

1 (14-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon bourbon

2 dashes of liquid smoke

¼ teaspoon chili powder

1 tablespoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Spray a glass baking dish with olive oil cooking spray. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil and hot sauce. Brush your tofu steaks with the olive oil mixture and place in the glass baking dish so that they don’t touch. Bake for 5 minutes. Flip the tofu steaks and brush them with another coating of the olive oil mixture. Put back into the oven and bake for another 5 minutes.

In a small saucepan, whisk together all the sauce ingredients and heat over medium heat. Once the sauce begins to bubble, reduce the heat to a simmer. Pour 1 cup of Buffalo Hot Sauce over the tofu steaks after they’ve baked for 10 minutes. Flip them a few times to make sure they get an even coating. Put the tofu steaks back in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes; then flip them over and put them back into the oven for another 10 to 20 minutes. Pull them out when they have a nice coating and crispy edges. Save the rest of the Buffalo Hot Sauce to drizzle over the top of the steaks to make them saucier.

AVOCADO AND TEQUILA STEAKLESS TACOS

Is anything better than avocado? Nothing immediately comes to mind. Avocados hold a special place in the heart of vegans everywhere—not just in California—because they hit those fatty, creamy palate notes that people generally identify with fancy cheeses. Olives can serve a similar purpose. The avocado is a great example of how while mock meats and cheeses are wonderful, sometimes you can replace the flavors and textures of meat and cheeses with other “natural” foods. Of course, these tacos have avocados and mock meats—the best of both worlds. Plus tequila. What more could you possibly want?

MAKES 8 TACOS

2 large Roma tomatoes, diced

½ red onion, diced

1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and chopped

cup whole-kernel corn (either defrosted frozen or from a can)

8 tablespoons lime juice

½ teaspoon crushed pink Himalayan salt

1 batch Salsa Verde (here)

1½ teaspoons tequila

1 fresh jalapeño, chopped

1 tablespoon cumin

2 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

2 teaspoons hot sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 packages Gardein beefless tips or beef seitan, defrosted

8 (6-inch) corn tortillas

In a mixing bowl, mix the tomatoes, onions, avocado, corn, 4 tablespoons of the lime juice, and salt with a large spoon. Cover with foil and put in the fridge to chill out a little bit while you make the rest of your meal.

Make your Salsa Verde and put it in the fridge next to the avocado mixture to hang out with the mix above.

Put the remaining 4 tablespoons lime juice, tequila, jalapeño, cumin, Bragg’s, hot sauce, and garlic in a large mixing bowl and blend with a whisk. Pour this mixture into a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag and reshake to keep it blended. Add the vegan beef to the bag, seal the bag, and shake to cover the vegan beef completely.

Turn on the broiler or set the oven to broil. Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegan beef from the marinade. Place the vegan beef on a rack in a broiler pan. Place the beef 4 to 6 inches from the heat and broil for about 10 minutes, or until the beef gets lightly crisped edges. Be sure to turn your vegan beef at least once to make sure it cooks evenly. When you pull your vegan beef from the broiler, let it cool slightly so that you can eat your tacos without burning your face off.

Warm the tortillas in the oven as directed on the package. Serve your vegan beef, avocado mixture, and Salsa Verde in separate bowls with your warm tortillas and let folks make ‘em as they eat ‘em.

VEGAN SHRIMP SCAMPI

They might not be the cutest vegan shrimp on the market, but May Wah shrimp balls are, in my opinion, the best. They’re bite-size, don’t get mushy, and have the perfect subtle fishy flavor and texture. Really, the only thing I’d change about this product is the name—shrimp balls.

MAKES 2 TO 4 SERVINGS

1 package whole wheat spaghetti or angel hair pasta

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup vegan shrimp, defrosted (we recommend May Wah shrimp balls cut in half)

1 teaspoon margarine

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, plus a little extra for garnish

3 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon crushed sea salt

2 green onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon dry white wine

Vegan Parmesan, nutritional yeast, and freshly ground black peppercorns to sprinkle over the top

Make the pasta per the instructions on the package.

In your cast-iron skillet or deepest frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the vegan shrimp and turn it with a spatula until your vegan shrimp is completely coated. Once your vegan shrimp reaches the desired tenderness, add the margarine, parsley, lemon juice, salt, green onions, garlic, and white wine. Mix with the vegan shrimp until the green onions are caramelized and the margarine melts.

Serve the vegan shrimp and sauce over your pasta. Sprinkle vegan Parmesan and nutritional yeast over the top, followed by chopped parsley and ground black pepper.

ARTICHOKE NEWBURG

You may have never heard of Lobster Newburg, but it doesn’t really matter, because Artichoke Newburg is great in a way that’ll make you forget that this dish was initially intended to include those lovely crustaceans.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

¼ cup margarine

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

½ teaspoon ground mustard seed

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns

¼ teaspoon nutritional yeast

2 cups soy milk

2 (14-ounce) cans artichoke hearts, drained

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

cup raw baby spinach leaves

2 tablespoons sherry

6 cups cooked brown rice

6 lemon wedges

In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, melt your margarine over medium heat. Once your margarine is completely melted, use a whisk to blend in the flour, Bragg’s, mustard seed, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and nutritional yeast. It will make a thick paste. Then whisk in the soy milk until smooth. Remove from the heat once it begins to bubble.

Add artichoke hearts, beans, spinach, and sherry and heat to a boil. Cover and simmer for no more than 1 minute.

Serve over rice with lemon wedges to squeeze over the top.

CHAMPAGNE AND HAZELNUT RISOTTO WITH VEGAN CHICKEN

This is a superfancy, supereasy dinner that anyone can use to turn any night into a romantic date night—or maybe just a special treat for yourself kind of night. Whatever your relationship status is, this dish also gives you an excuse to open a bottle of champagne—which in and of itself is reason to celebrate.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

Olive oil cooking spray

2 cups vegan chicken, defrosted and cut into strips (we recommend Gardein Chick’n Scallopini)

2 tablespoons margarine

1 red onion, diced

1 cup uncooked Arborio or risotto rice

1½ cups champagne

2 cups Better Than Bouillon vegan chicken broth, made per the instructions on the package

1 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons herbes de Provence

1 cup raw baby spinach leaves

1 tablespoon crushed hazelnuts

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

½ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns

Chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Spray a glass baking dish with olive oil cooking spray. Arrange your vegan chicken in the glass dish in an even layer. Spray another coating of olive oil cooking spray over the vegan chicken. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and crispy.

In your favorite Dutch oven or large saucepan, melt the margarine over medium heat. Once your margarine is melted, toss in the red onion and mix. Cook until your onion is tender. Toss in the rice and mix. Pour in ½ cup of the champagne and mix. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently. Once your champagne is absorbed, add ½ cup of the broth. Continue to cook uncovered, stirring frequently. Once the broth is absorbed, add another ½ cup of broth, continuing to cook and stir frequently. I think you see where this is going. You’re going to repeat this process until you’re out of broth. Then switch to the remaining champagne and continue the cooking and stirring. Be sure to use a spatula to scrape the sides of your Dutch oven a few times to keep any rice from sticking and to mix in that flavorful film that can form on the sides. In the end, your rice should be tender and creamy.

Once your rice is cooked, mix in the garlic, herbes de Provence, spinach, hazelnuts, nutritional yeast, and black pepper. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

COCONUT VEGAN SHRIMP KEBABS

For some reason I can’t help but think this would be a great date-night recipe. You could split a bottle of San Pellegrino and get all sticky fingered while you make the kebabs. Then later, after you wash your hands, you can eat the vegan shrimp off the skewers while you sit in the shade somewhere and discuss what books you’re reading or movies you’ve seen… all pretty good “date” things.

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Olive oil cooking spray

¼ cup whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar

¼ teaspoon crushed sea salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon applesauce

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 cup shredded coconut

2 cups vegan shrimp, defrosted (we suggest using shrimp balls from May Wah)

2 tablespoons margarine, melted

This is a messy process.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray a rack from the broiler with olive oil cooking spray.

In a shallow bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, salt, and cayenne pepper. In another shallow bowl, whisk together the applesauce and lime juice. In a third shallow bowl, place your coconut.

Coat each vegan shrimp with the applesauce mixture, then the flour, then more applesauce mixture, and then your coconut. Thread your coated vegan shrimp onto a skewer. Once your skewer is full, place it on the oven rack and start another skewer until you’re out of vegan shrimp. The applesauce will get cloudy with the flour mix, and that’s okay—the last ones will actually be better than the first. Drizzle your skewers with the melted margarine.

Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until the coconut is golden brown. Check on them often to make sure they don’t burn; they cook fast!

You’ll probably want to make some Herbed Lemon Butter Sauce to go with the kebabs. You can find that here.

ITALIAN MOCK MEATS EXTRAVAGANZA

This recipe is the vegan version of those heaping plates of meat you might see passed around giant Italian family gatherings in the movies. That’s why you’ll want to serve this with a nice salad or a couple of vegetable side dishes.

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

HERB AND LEMON MARINADE

½ cup olive oil

4 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

½ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons dry white wine

Dash of liquid smoke

MOCK MEATS

1 (14-ounce) package Tofurky Italian sausages or Field Roast Italian sausages, defrosted

2 cups of your favorite vegan chicken, defrosted

1 (9-ounce) package Gardein beefless tips or beef seitan, defrosted

1 red onion, sliced

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the Herb and Lemon Marinade.

Brush a large glass lasagna dish with Herb and Lemon Marinade. Place your vegan sausages, chicken, and beef in an even layer and brush with Herb and Lemon Marinade. Cover your mock meat with a layer of red onion slices and then drizzle the Herb and Lemon Marinade over the top of the onions. Bake for 10 minutes. Pull your dish out and drizzle with more Herb and Lemon Marinade.

Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the onions are tender and the mock meat is a light golden brown with crispy edges. Drizzle a little Herb and Lemon Marinade over the mock meat before serving with a side of A.1. steak sauce.

CHERRY COLA VEGAN CHICKEN WINGS

This sauce is liquid bliss. ‘Nuff said.

MAKES 8 TO 10 WINGS

CHERRY COLA BBQ SAUCE

1 cup cherry cola

¾ cup cherry preserves

Images teaspoon ground mustard

½ teaspoon ground ginger

3 teaspoons hot sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

Dash of liquid smoke

1 cup ketchup (I can’t stress this enough: read your labels and use one that has actual tomatoes in it)

WINGS

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

Dash of liquid smoke

8 to 10 Vegan chicken wings or 2 to 2 ½ cups vegan chicken on skewers, defrosted

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Put all your Cherry Cola BBQ Sauce ingredients in one bowl and blend with a handheld electric mixer until smooth. We left a few large cherry chunks in there because they’re delicious.

To prepare the wings, mix the olive oil and liquid smoke in a bowl. Brush a large glass baking dish with smoky olive oil. Place your vegan chicken wings in the dish so that they aren’t touching and brush with olive oil. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until your vegan chicken wings start to turn a light golden brown.

Using oven mitts so you don’t burn your fingers, dip and roll your vegan chicken wings in the Cherry Cola BBQ Sauce one at a time till you get a thick, even coating on all your wings. Place back in the baking dish. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the Cherry Cola BBQ Sauce makes a nice glaze over the vegan chicken wings.

Serve with the rest of the Cherry Cola BBQ Sauce on the side to dip your wings and fingers in.

SPICY THAI VEGAN CHICKEN WINGS

Are they messy to eat? Yeah, a little bit. Are they hard to make? Not at all. Are they superspicy? Yeah, they have a kick to them. Are they amazing? Oh yes!

MAKES 10 WINGS

¼ cup sherry

¼ cup Bragg’s liquid aminos

¼ cup agave nectar

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons chili sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons grated lime peel

4 green onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

10 Vegan chicken wings or 2 cups of vegan chicken on skewers, defrosted

Olive oil cooking spray

In a large glass dish or bowl, whisk together the sherry, Bragg’s, agave nectar, cilantro, chili sauce, lime juice, lime peel, green onions, and garlic until well blended. Toss in the defrosted vegan chicken wings, and make sure the vegan chicken is completely covered in the sauce/marinade, using a spoon to turn and coat it. Marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature. Depending on how shallow your dish is, you may want to flip the vegan chicken a few times to makes sure one side doesn’t get more flavor than another.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Spray a glass baking dish large enough to hold your wings with olive oil cooking spray. Place the marinated vegan chicken in the dish. Try to make sure the pieces aren’t touching. Pour 1 tablespoon of the sauce/marinade over each wing. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Flip the vegan chicken wings once halfway through baking.

When you serve, put the leftover sauce/marinade in a dish for dipping your wings in. The fresh cilantro, green onions, lime juice, and spiciness are really spectacular, and the sauce adds a bit more jus. It’s messy, but so worth it.

SESAME CHICKEN WINGS

This vegan version of a Chinese-food classic has a bit of a kick to it.

MAKES 10 WINGS

4 tablespoons raw sesame seeds

1 red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Dash of liquid smoke

4 teaspoons Bragg’s liquid aminos

2½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ginger paste

¼ cup sesame oil

2 tablespoons water

10 Vegan chicken wings or 2½ cups vegan chicken on skewers, defrosted

1 batch Sesame Hoisin Sauce (here)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl, use an electric handheld mixer to blend the sesame seeds, onion, garlic, liquid smoke, Bragg’s, red pepper flakes, cloves, cardamom, ginger paste, sesame oil, and water to make your sesame coating. Coat your vegan chicken wings in the sesame coating one at a time and place them on the rack of your roasting pan. Once they are all coated, brush the extra over the top of the vegan chicken wings.

Put your rack in the oven and roast for 30 to 40 minutes. Baste the vegan chicken a few times while it’s cooking, using the sauce that has dripped into the pan. If your sauce reduces too much, add a tablespoon or two of water to keep the sauce liquid enough to baste with. Once your vegan chicken wings are a beautiful golden brown, pull them out of the oven and let them cool until you can handle them with your fingers.

Serve warm with Sesame Hoisin Sauce and some broccoli, because everyone could eat more vegetables.

RANCH AND CORN FLAKES CHICKEN FINGERS

Ranch dressing is the best-selling salad dressing in America, which is discouragingly unsurprising. A plate of vegetables loaded with ranch dressing is as much a “salad” as a taco salad from Chili’s. Sure, it’s got veggies in it—but it’s also got about 300 calories and 30 grams of fat. Yikes. All that being said—it sure is delicious. These chicken fingers will give you that yummy ranch flavor without totally blowing your calorie allocation for the day on a salad dressing.

MAKE 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

½ cup soy milk

¼ teaspoon tahini

¾ cup corn flakes cereal

¾ cup Bisquick mix

½ teaspoon lemon pepper

¼ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon dried dill weed

2 cups of your favorite vegan chicken, defrosted and cut into strips the length of your index finger

Olive oil cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Pour the soy milk and tahini in a shallow bowl and whisk until blended. Mix the corn flakes cereal, Bisquick mix, lemon pepper, onion powder, and dill weed in a large resealable plastic bag. One piece at a time, take your vegan chicken and dip it into the soy milk mixture, flipping it a few times until it is completely covered—especially in the little nooks and folds. Then drop the coated vegan chicken into the corn flakes bag and shake. If you find that your coating isn’t sticking, gently press it onto the vegan chicken. Carefully remove your vegan chicken so that the coating doesn’t fall off.

Spray a glass baking dish with olive oil cooking spray. Place your vegan chicken pieces in the glass baking dish so that they don’t touch. Once you’ve coated all your vegan chicken, spray another even coating of olive oil cooking spray over the vegan chicken in the baking dish. Bake for 5 minutes and then flip the vegan chicken. Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the vegan chicken is golden brown.

THYME AND POMEGRANATE VEGAN CHICKEN

Pomegranates were revered by many ancient and classical cultures—including the Egyptians, Greeks, and Persians—for their exotic beauty and decadent flavor. Which made the pomegranate juice fad of the early aughts all the more vexing. Is there nothing sacred that we can’t package, brand, advertise, and overcharge for? But the plus side of that cultural moment was the arrival of pomegranates in grocery stores en masse. Which worked out great for us—we love pomegranates and they’re great for us—and you.

You’ll be unable to resist this savory-sweet chicken pomegranate dish the way Persephone was unable to resist those pomegranate seeds in Hades—but we promise you won’t need to spend six months in the underworld every year.

MAKES 2 TO 4 SERVINGS

Olive oil cooking spray

2 cups vegan chicken, defrosted (we recommend Gardein Chick’n Scallopini)

½ red onion, sliced

2 tablespoons margarine

2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons tomato paste

½ cup dry white wine

2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (save a few sprigs to place on top)

½ cup Better Than Bouillon vegan chicken broth, made per the instructions on the package

½ cup pomegranate juice

2 teaspoons packed brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Spray a glass baking dish with olive oil cooking spray and then toss your vegan chicken in and lay the red onion in an even layer over the top. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when your vegan chicken is a soft golden brown.

In a saucepan, heat the margarine over medium heat until it melts. Whisk in the flour and onion powder until a smooth paste forms. Add the garlic, tomato paste, wine, thyme, broth, and pomegranate juice. Use your whisk to blend in the flour. Once your sauce begins to bubble, add the brown sugar and whisk again. The brown sugar should melt into your sauce to make it more syrupy. Cover and simmer for 2 minutes.

Serve your vegan chicken with 2 to 3 tablespoons of sauce, a few sprigs of fresh thyme over the top, and a nice glass of white wine.

HERB-ROASTED CHICKEN AND VEGETABLES

Want to hear something absurdly pretentious? I adore the French countryside. In 2005, I was taking the train from London to Paris, when I did something that could have been really stupid considering my limited French. I had just met with the gals at Cosmo UK about their “Nice Girls Fake It” campaign announcing that their magazine would be fur-free and was on my way to Paris. I had blocked off the day for travel and for figuring out the Metro in Paris. It was my “day off.” Instead, I jumped off the train in one of those random yet charming towns on the way to Paris. I rented a locker for my stuff and walked around a town center that could fit inside any American mini-mall, with my galoshes and an umbrella. I ate a baguette and some compote de pommes (applesauce) with a pot of tea in a café full of mismatched chairs and chipped dishes. I know you’re wondering why I’m boring you with this. Well, it’s because the old guys sitting next to me at the café playing backgammon shared a small pot of something that looked just like this dish.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

4 red potatoes, cut into chunks about the size of the vegan chicken

1 cup sliced carrots

½ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

¼ teaspoon nutritional yeast

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon lemon pepper

1 tablespoon herbes de Provence

Pinch of celery seed

Juice and 1 teaspoon zest from 1 lemon

1 cup of your favorite vegan chicken, defrosted

1 cup green beans

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Boil the potatoes and carrots till they are tender but not quite cooked. Drain and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, Bragg’s, nutritional yeast, garlic, garlic powder, lemon pepper, herbes de Provence, and celery seed. Grate 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon peel into the oil mixture. Then cut the lemon and add to the oil mixture as much juice as you can get from the lemon.

In a large bowl, mix the vegan chicken, potatoes, carrots, and green beans. Pour the oil mixture over the vegan chicken and vegetables and stir gently to coat your vegetables, but be careful to not mash your potatoes.

Put the mixture in a small oven-safe casserole dish or Dutch oven. Roast uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes. You’ll want to pull it out when the top is golden. When you serve it, be sure to scoop an extra spoonful of the oil mixture from the bottom of the pot and pour it over your food.

You’re going to want to eat this with some bread so you can mop up the extra garlicky-lemony-herby oil. Just trust me.

TEMPEH TACOS

I never really cared for tempeh until I was in college. I think I had one too many lazy tempeh Reuben sandwiches—you know the one where they don’t even cook the tempeh; they just put it in a sandwich with some mustard and call it good? That’s enough to discourage even the most hopeful vegan. That’s why when my college roommate Libbe told me she was making tempeh tacos for a birthday party, I was polite but disapproving… and ultimately wrong. I wish I could remember Libbe’s original tempeh taco recipe to share with you all, but it’s been a long time, and since then I’ve branched out on my own. If you’re like me and weren’t born with an innate love of tempeh, I hope you’ll give this recipe a chance. It’ll change your life forever.

MAKES 6 TO 8 TACOS

1 (8-ounce) package tempeh

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup Mexican-spiced diced tomatoes

1 fresh jalapeño, diced

2 to 4 teaspoons chili powder (depends on how hot you want it)

3 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons lime juice

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon minced chipotle pepper

¼ cup Bragg’s liquid aminos

½ red onion, diced

½ green bell pepper, diced

2 tablespoons water

Crushed pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black peppercorns

Olive oil cooking spray

Dash of liquid smoke

6 to 8 hard taco shells

½ cup shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

1 batch Dan’s Guacamole (here)

Chopped cilantro, sliced black olives, and salsa for toppings

Crumble your tempeh into a large mixing bowl. Then, using a large spoon, mix in the garlic, tomatoes, jalapeño, chili powder, cumin, lime juice, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, chipotle pepper, and Bragg’s. Once your tempeh is completely mixed into the spices, mix in the onion and pepper. Then drizzle the water 1 tablespoon at a time into your mix while stirring your ingredients continuously. Taste a little bit of your tempeh and add salt and pepper to taste.

Spray your favorite cast-iron skillet or frying pan with a heavy coating of olive oil cooking spray, and then heat over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, toss in the tempeh mixture and liquid smoke. Flip your tempeh-vegetable mixture a few times so that it browns evenly. You’ll know it’s ready when your vegetables are tender and your tempeh has crispy edges. It should take about 10 minutes.

While your tempeh is cooking, heat your taco shells slightly in the oven following the directions on the package.

Once your taco shells are warm, fill them with the tempeh and vegetable mixture. Top with vegan cheese and set aside so your vegan cheese can melt slightly.

Dress your tacos with Dan’s Guacamole, cilantro, black olives, and salsa, or personalize them with your favorite toppings, and be sure to stock up on Mexican beer and Dr Pepper.^*

SHRIMPY KEBABS WITH FRESH HERBS

Generally you don’t think of kebabs as being particularly fancy. They’re delicious and summery and barbecue-y and all sorts of wonderful things… but fancy isn’t usually one of them. But it’s funny how the simple act of replacing your standard bamboo skewer with a fresh sprig of rosemary will fancify an otherwise straightforward kebab significantly.

MAKES 10 KEBABS

LEMON AND ROSEMARY MARINADE

10 sprigs rosemary, cut to 6 inches long

½ cup lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons dry white wine

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns

¼ teaspoon onion powder

Pinch of celery seed

KEBABS

20 large whole fresh basil leaves

20 pieces vegan shrimp, defrosted (we recommend May Wah shrimp balls)

1 zucchini, sliced

10 cherry tomatoes

10 whole cloves garlic

1 (15-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained (make sure your can has at least 10 hearts)

10 white mushrooms, cut in half

2 tablespoons olive oil

10 fresh lemon wedges

Strip the needles and leaves from your rosemary sprigs, leaving about ½ inch of leaves at the tip. Chop your rosemary leaves and toss them in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining marinade ingredients to the mixing bowl, and blend with a whisk.

To assemble the kebabs, wrap 1 basil leaf around each piece of vegan shrimp. Using a metal skewer, poke holes all the way through your vegan shrimp, zucchini slices, cherry tomatoes, garlic cloves, artichoke hearts, and mushrooms. When you poke through your vegan shrimp, make sure to go through the basil leaves as well, so that they stay on the kebab. Thread your ingredients onto the rosemary sprigs using the holes you made with the skewers.

Place your completed kebabs in a shallow glass baking dish and pour the marinade over the top. Cover and marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Brush the olive oil over your infamously awesome cast-iron grill skillet. This is one of those skillets with ridges that raise your food so that some of the juices run off and you get those cool grill lines. If you don’t have one, you can use a regular old cast-iron skillet or frying pan, but I recommend getting a grill skillet—they’re wonderful.

Heat your oiled skillet over medium heat. Once your oil is hot, place a few of your kebobs in the skillet at a time. Evenly space them so that they aren’t touching. Let one side cook for no more than 2 minutes and then flip and cook the other side for no more than 1 minute.

Be sure to lightly brush your skillet after each batch of kebabs to keep them from sticking. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over the top and some white wine. Perhaps use this recipe as an excuse to dust off your ascot and monocle.

MINI POT ROAST PIES

Fact: no food is cuter than miniaturized vegan comfort-food classics. This dish combines wonderful, savory, “beefy” flavors with ““buttery”” puff pastry and one of our very favorite vegetables—peas. We’ve never had the luxury of living in an area with access to good fresh peas (yet), so we use frozen peas a lot. In a world where so many people don’t get enough vegetables in their diet, we encourage people to eat as many vegetables as they can, even if they are frozen. This recipe is a great way to do that.

MAKES 4 PIES

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine

1 (9-ounce) package Gardein beefless tips or beef seitan, defrosted

2 shallots, diced

6 to 8 small red potatoes, cut into small cubes

¼ cup frozen peas

¼ cup frozen green beans

3 baby carrots, sliced

¼ cup baby portobello mushroom caps, sliced

1 cup Better Than Bouillon vegan beef broth, made per the instructions on the package

¼ teaspoon horseradish

½ teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon whole wheat flour, plus extra for flouring a surface

1 package puff pastry sheets

Olive oil cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Heat your olive oil and red wine in your cast-iron skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Once your oil is hot, toss in your vegan beef and shallots. Cook until your vegan beef is evenly browned and has crispy edges and your shallots are tender. Then remove your vegan beef from the skillet. Toss your potatoes into the skillet to cook. Brown for a minute and then use your spatula to flip them a few times so they cook evenly.

After 3 minutes, toss in the peas, green beans, carrots, mushrooms, broth, horseradish, Bragg’s, nutritional yeast, vegan Worcestershire sauce, and flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until the nutritional yeast and flour are blended and become a light gravy with the broth. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Fill 4 (12-ounce) ramekins ½ of the way with the vegetables and gravy. Place one-quarter of the vegan beef in the top of each ramekin.

Dust your workspace with flour and slightly roll out a sheet of puff pastry dough so that the creases and folds don’t show. Then spray your puff pastry with a light coating of olive oil cooking spray and fold the pastry sheet in half. Using a 4-inch biscuit cutter, cut 4 circles out of the puff pastry. Place 1 circle on the top of each ramekin. Spray the pastry circle with another light coating of olive oil cooking spray and then bake for 10 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden brown and fluffy.

CORNED BEEFLESS BRISKET AND CABBAGE

This traditional Irish-American meal was one of my favorites back when I was a meaty little eater. I loved this dinner. This was a classic dish that I both looked forward to and dreaded veganizing, because I had such fond memories of it from my youth. I worried it would be impossible to redo this meal vegan-style in any meaningful way. This all could have gone very wrong—but it didn’t. In fact, it was a nice reminder of a dish I haven’t had in like 20 years. Does it taste just like the meaty version? I would say 70 percent—which is enough to capture the spirit of the dish and make a great dinner this St. Patrick’s Day.

MAKES 2 TO 4 SERVINGS

1 (9-ounce) package Gardein beefless tips or beef seitan, defrosted

1 tablespoon white wine

3 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos

1 tablespoon dill pickle brine (that’s the juice in the pickle jar)

Dash of liquid smoke

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon onion powder

4 tablespoons pickling spices

1 teaspoon olive oil

6 cups Better Than Bouillon vegan beef broth, made per the instructions on the package

1 head cabbage, quartered

6 red potatoes, halved

1 red onion, sliced

Crushed pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black peppercorns

Malt or balsamic vinegar to add a little bite to the cabbage and potatoes

Put the vegan beef, white wine, 1 tablespoon of the Bragg’s, the dill pickle brine, liquid smoke, garlic, onion powder, 2 tablespoons of the pickling spices, and the olive oil in an airtight container and shake to mix. Then put it into the fridge and let it marinate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Put the broth in a large stewpot and heat on high. Once it begins to boil, toss in the cabbage, potatoes, ½ of the red onion, 2 tablespoons of the pickling spices and 2 tablespoons of the Bragg’s. Cover and boil until the potatoes are tender.

While they are boiling, place your pickled vegan beef in a glass dish with the marinade and put the remaining ½ red onion over the top. Bake the vegan beef and red onion for 10 minutes. Very carefully, take the glass dish from the oven and pour the marinade out of the dish. Bake for another 20 minutes. You want to remove it when the vegan beef and onions have been browned—so keep an eye on them.

Serve your potatoes and cabbage with a slotted spoon from the stewpot with salt, pepper, and vinegar to taste.

If it’s St. Patrick’s Day, maybe enjoy it with one of those beers with a few drops of green food coloring in it. But don’t be surprised if your teeth turn green. Everything comes with a price.

VEGAN BACON CHEESE MEAT LOAFS

You maybe be wondering—what makes Betty Goes Vegan different from other vegan cookbooks? I think it’s recipes like this one. Dinners you never knew you wanted till you gave ‘em a shot one night and realized it can be fun to play the housewife. I recommend serving these with some Ranch Mashed Potatoes (here) and a green salad. Okay, I’m going to rephrase that. Please eat this recipe with a green salad. I’m begging you.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

2 to 4 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup plain bread crumbs (be sure to read your label to make sure they are vegan)

½ red onion, chopped

1 teaspoon vegan bacon bits

Dash of liquid smoke

½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil

½ teaspoon ground mustard seed

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh parsley

½ teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

¼ teaspoon rubbed sage

1 cup Match vegan ground beef or Lightlife Gimme Lean vegan ground beef, defrosted

Olive oil cooking spray

3 tablespoons A.1. steak sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

cup shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

In your food processor, blend the garbanzo beans, 2 tablespoons of the Bragg’s, the olive oil, and the garlic until smooth. Move the garbanzo bean mixture to a large mixing bowl and, using a large spoon, mix in the bread crumbs, onion, vegan bacon bits, liquid smoke, basil, mustard seed, parsley, oregano, and sage until blended. Using your hands, mix in the vegan beef until the mixture becomes a smooth paste. If it’s a little dry, add more Bragg’s, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray it with a light coating of olive oil. Separate your vegan beef mix into 6 equal loaves. Place them on the cookie sheet.

Whisk together the steak sauce and brown sugar. Brush your glaze over the tops of the loaves. Sprinkle vegan cheese over the tops of the loaves, and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the loaves are solid and the vegan cheese is melted.

Serve with ketchup, mustard, and a side of pickles.

VEGAN BEEF AND QUINOA—STUFFED PEPPERS

I’ve been making these since before I had a blog and was a Shannon. It’s a timeless recipe, perfect for holiday meals—or anytime you want to sit down to dinner with five of your dearest.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups Match vegan ground beef or Lightlife Gimme Lean vegan ground beef, defrosted

¼ cup red onion, diced

2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth, made per the instructions on the package

1 cup cooked quinoa

¼ cup raw baby spinach leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons celery seeds

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

2 teaspoons Bragg’s liquid aminos

1½ teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons crushed raw cashews

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 large green or red bell peppers, cored and seeded, tops cut off

1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce

1 cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once your oil is hot, toss in your vegan beef and onion. Use a metal spatula to break your vegan beef into bite-size pieces. Cook until it is evenly browned and your onions are tender.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the broth, quinoa, spinach, parsley, celery seeds, thyme, Bragg’s, cumin, cashews, and garlic. Mix in the vegan beef and onions. Make sure to try to get as much of the olive oil from the skillet as possible into the quinoa mixture to keep it from getting dry.

Place your bell peppers in an 8-inch square baking dish. Fill your bell peppers with the quinoa mixture. Pour an even layer of pasta sauce over the top of the peppers. It’s okay if the sauce fills the baking dish. Sprinkle an even layer of vegan cheese over the tops of the peppers. Bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the vegan cheese melts.

NEW-STYLE VEGAN PORK CHOPS

I think we’ve taken this dish to a new level of “new style” by making it vegan. This is a classy dish that would be perfect for any special occasion but can also doll up a boring Wednesday.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Rice pilaf to serve with the chops

1 cup Match vegan pork, defrosted

1 cup Better than Bouillon vegetable broth, prepared using the instructions on the package

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

1 teaspoon agave nectar

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup chopped red onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns

¼ cup dry white wine

½ cup kalamata olives, pitted

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Make the rice pilaf per the instructions on the box.

Separate your vegan pork into “chops,” ¼ to ½ cup per chop. Form the vegan pork with your hands into patties smaller than your hand.

In a shallow bowl, combine the broth, lemon juice, Bragg’s, and agave nectar. Dip your chops into the broth mixture and count to 20. Place the dipped chops onto a dish and set them aside.

In your handy cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Place your chops in the heated oil and brown on both sides. Once you start to have a crispy “skin” on your chops, pour the rest of the broth mixture over the chops and add the red onion, garlic, black pepper, and white wine. Continue to flip the chops and mix the other ingredients. Let the chops simmer for around 15 minutes, or until the onions are tender. Toss in the kalamata olives, thyme, and parsley. Simmer another 5 minutes.

Serve over rice pilaf with a lovely cocktail and some witty remarks.

VEGAN VENISON WITH CRANBERRY AND WINE SAUCE

When many people think of venison, they think of deer meat, but the truth is that the title “venison” is given to almost all “wild game on four legs.” Venison can be caribou, or elk, or even moose, but is most commonly deer. Adorable, sweet, never-hurt-a-fly-unless-you-count-eating-the-flowers-out-of-your-yard deer. This is a special recipe for me because I got to make it for Dan’s family for Christmas dinner one year.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 cup red wine

2 cups Gardein beefless tips or beef seitan, defrosted

½ teaspoon crushed black peppercorns

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos

½ teaspoon dried basil

½ red onion, diced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

3 tablespoons apple jelly

1 tablespoon margarine

½ cup dried cranberries

In a small bowl whisk together the Dijon mustard and ½ cup of the red wine until blended. Place the vegan beef in a shallow glass bowl and pour the wine-mustard marinade over the top. Cover the dish and place in the fridge for 1 hour. During that time go in and flip the vegan beef a few times so it gets an even coating and the marinade doesn’t separate too much. If you don’t like spicy food, you may not want to let it sit for the full hour.

Remove the vegan beef, place it on a plate, and sprinkle it with black pepper. Keep your wine and mustard marinade to use later. In your kindred cast-iron skillet, heat the olive oil over medium to high heat. Brown the vegan beef in the skillet till it gets nice crisp edges. It will take around 5 minutes. Remove the vegan beef and place it back on its plate.

Don’t discard the oil from your skillet. Add the remaining ½ cup of red wine, the Bragg’s, basil, red onion, and parsley. Cook until the red onion is tender. Mix in the apple jelly and margarine. Once the jelly melts, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cranberries and vegan beef. When you’re adding the vegan beef, try to get the drippings from the plate into the sauce. Stir it all together.

When serving, place the vegan beef on the plate first and then ladle the cranberry wine sauce over the top.

JALAPEÑO CORN DOGS

I didn’t grow up in a corn-dog house. Until I was in junior high, I kind of thought they only existed on hot lunch menus at public schools. As a vegan adult I came to appreciate the campiness of mock meat on a stick, but any real affection didn’t come about till we hosted an American food–themed potluck. Our friend Ben brought corn dogs made from scratch with Tofurky kielbasas, and it was one of those Moses-on-the-mountaintop moments. One of those moments when Darth Vader says “I am your father” and you can’t help but be confused by how wonderfully improbable and awesome the world can be. Whether you love the prefab frozen corn dogs or are still trying to figure out the mysterious allure of mock meat on a stick… you should give this recipe a try. Search your feelings. You know it to be true…

MAKE 8 CORN DOGS

1 gallon vegetable frying oil

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons crushed pink Himalayan salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add less if you don’t like things spicy)

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns

½ teaspoon onion powder

Dash of cumin

1 fresh jalapeño, diced

1 can cream-style corn

1 tablespoon diced red onion

1½ cups soy milk

4 tablespoons cornstarch

8 vegan sausages, defrosted (we recommend Tofurky kielbasas)

Separate 8 bamboo chopsticks and clean any slivers or rough edges off.

Pour the oil into a large stewpot or Dutch oven and heat over high heat.

In a mixing bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cayenne pepper, black pepper, onion powder, and cumin with a large spoon until blended.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the jalapeño, corn, onion, and soy milk. Add the cornmeal mixture to the soy milk mixture and gently blend with your spoon only enough times to make the batter. There should be lumps, so don’t use the whisk. Set the batter aside and let the flavors hang out and get to know each other for about 10 minutes.

Spread the cornstarch in a shallow glass baking dish. Roll each vegan sausage in the cornstarch. Thread each vegan sausage onto a chopstick.

Find a drinking or pint glass deep enough to dip your vegan sausage in completely. Fill your glass with enough batter to completely submerge your vegan sausage. Immediately dip your cornstarch-covered vegan sausages into the batter and then gently place them in the hot oil. Refill the glass when you need to. Fry your corn dogs until the coating is golden brown. It shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes. With tongs, move your corn dogs to a cooling rack over paper towels. Let those dogs cool till you can touch them with your fingers.

Serve with mustard, ketchup, BBQ sauce, a beer or two, and some American pride.

TOFURKY DIVAN

This recipe is one of those dishes that most people experience as a leftover makeover after Thanksgiving. But here’s the thing: if you have any Tofurky left over after Thanksgiving, you’re doing it wrong. We recommend starting out with a brand-new defrosted whole Tofurky and a desire for greatness.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

1 whole Tofurky, defrosted

Olive oil cooking spray

¼ cup raw cashews

1 cup broccoli florets

¼ cup margarine

¼ cup whole wheat flour

¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg

1½ cups Better Than Bouillon vegan chicken broth, made per the instructions on the package

2 tablespoons dry white wine

½ cup almond milk

¼ cup nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon onion powder

Dash of liquid smoke

½ teaspoon tahini

French-fried onions for topping

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Cut one end off your Tofurky and use a soupspoon to remove the stuffing. Cut your Tofurky into pieces around ¼ inch thick. Spray an 11 x 7-inch glass baking dish with a light coating of olive oil cooking spray. Lay your Tofurky slices in the baking dish and spray another light coating over the top of the Tofurky. Bake for 15 minutes, or until your Tofurky is golden brown.

With a pastry blender over a cutting board, crush your cashews into small bits.

There are numerous types of steamers out there and most do a pretty good job. Steam your broccoli florets following the instructions that came with your particular kind of steamer.

In a Dutch oven or casserole dish with a lid, melt the margarine. Once it begins to bubble, whisk in the flour, cashews, and nutmeg. Once the flour and cashews begin to toast, pour in the broth, white wine, and almond milk and blend with a whisk. When your sauce is smooth, use your whisk to blend in the nutritional yeast, onion powder, liquid smoke, and tahini. Cover and simmer for 2 minutes.

Take your Tofurky out of the oven. Sprinkle your broccoli florets over the Tofurky slices, and pour your sauce evenly over the pan. Then sprinkle an even layer of French-fried onions over the top and bake for 10 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and the top of your casserole is golden brown.

QUICHE LORRAINE

The day I made this recipe, I was full of thrills and humming Doris Day songs for hours. I won’t lie—this is not my first dance around the floor with quiche. I make them a lot, and Dan loves them. In fact, this quiche was completely eaten by my love in a 24-hour period.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

WHOLE WHEAT CRUST

2 cups whole wheat flour (you’re going to want more to flour surfaces)

1 teaspoon crushed pink Himalayan salt

Images cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

FILLING

1 16-ounce package extrafirm tofu

1 tablespoon soy coffee creamer

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon whole wheat flour

½ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon miso paste

¼ teaspoon turmeric

¼ teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

¼ teaspoon paprika (you’ll need a little extra to sprinkle over the top)

Crushed pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black peppercorns

2 tablespoons olive oil

Dash of liquid smoke

1 5-ounce package vegan bacon or smoked tempeh

½ red onion, diced

½ cup shredded smoked cheddar Sheese or your favorite vegan cheese

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

First make the whole wheat crust. In a medium bowl, mix the flour and salt. Cut the shortening in and use a pastry blender to mix. You want your dough to become little clumps that look like small peas. Sprinkle in the cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, and use a large fork to mix. You want the dough to be moist but not wet.

With your hands, roll the dough into a ball inside the bowl. On a floured surface, with a floured roller, roll your dough ball out into rounds 2 inches larger than a 9-inch pie dish. Try to keep the crust even. You don’t want some areas to be thinner than others. Gently roll the flattened dough up into plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes. You want the dough to be firm but still pliable, so if it is crumbly when you remove it from the fridge, press any cracks to fix them and then let the dough warm a little until it is more pliable.

To make the filling, in a food processor, blend the tofu, soy coffee creamer, nutritional yeast, flour, onion powder, cumin, miso paste, turmeric, Bragg’s, and paprika until you get a smooth paste. Here’s where you can taste this blend and add the desired amount of salt and pepper.

In your very favorite and much-used cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil and a dash of liquid smoke over medium heat. Toss in your vegan bacon and cook until it is brown and crispy. Set the vegan bacon aside on a paper towel to soak up extra oil. Once it is warm enough to handle with your hands, dice your cooked vegan bacon into bits.

After your crust has chilled, unfold it into a 9-inch glass pie dish and press it firmly and evenly into the dish. Sprinkle half your vegan bacon pieces, half the red onion, and half the smoked vegan cheese into the crust. In a large bowl, mix the tofu blend, the remaining vegan bacon pieces, red onion, and smoked vegan cheese, and the thyme, parsley, and vegan mozzarella. Gently pour it into your crust. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the side of the bowl and get all the tofu blend. Then use it to spread your tofu blend evenly into the crust so that the quiche has a flat surface.

Bake your quiche for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to 325°F. Bake for another 30 minutes. You’ll want to remove your quiche when the top is golden brown and you can insert a toothpick and remove it cleanly from the center.

When you serve, you may want to sprinkle a little extra paprika over the top… it is lovely.

CREOLE VEGAN CHICKEN AND KALE QUICHE

In every marriage, there are things that one person brings to the union that become new family traditions. In ours, I’ve brought True Blood and an unexplainable addiction to Creole and Cajun cooking. Dan has embraced this part of my nature in a way that makes me wonder if maybe he was born with the same inexplicable anomaly in his DNA. I mean, if there’s one thing The X-Files has taught us, it’s that there’s more going on in this world than can be explained by science alone.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

WHOLE WHEAT CRUST

2 cups whole wheat flour (you’re going to want more to flour surfaces)

1 teaspoon crushed pink Himalayan salt

Images cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

FILLING

1 package extrafirm tofu

1½ teaspoons Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning

Dash of liquid smoke

2 tablespoons soy coffee creamer

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon miso paste

½ teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce

Crushed pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black peppercorns to taste

2 tablespoons margarine

½ cup bite-size defrosted vegan chicken pieces

1 clove garlic, minced

cup raw baby kale leaves

3 teaspoons vegan bacon bits

¼ cup shredded Daiya vegan pepperjack cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Prepare the crust first. In a medium bowl, mix the flour and salt. Cut the shortening in and then mix it in using a pastry blender. You want your dough to become little clumps that look like pebbles. Sprinkle in the cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, and then use a large fork to mix the dough. You want the dough to be moist but not wet.

With your hands, roll the dough into a ball inside the bowl. On a floured surface, with a floured roller, roll your dough ball out into rounds 2 inches larger than a 9-inch pie dish. Try to keep the crust even. Gently roll the flattened dough up in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes. You want the dough to be firm but still pliable, so if it is crumbly when you remove it from the fridge, press the cracks to fix them and then let the dough warm a little till it is more pliable.

To make the filling, in a food processor, blend the tofu, Creole seasoning, liquid smoke, soy coffee creamer, nutritional yeast, flour, miso paste, and hot sauce until you get a smooth paste. Here’s where you can taste this blend; if you want, add salt and pepper to taste.

In your cast-iron skillet or frying pan, melt your margarine over medium heat. Once your margarine is melted, toss in your vegan chicken and cook until the vegan chicken is golden brown and crispy. Then toss in your garlic and mix until your vegan chicken has a light coating. Toss the vegan chicken into a large mixing bowl with your kale and vegan bacon bits. Pour your tofu mixture into the bowl, and mix all your ingredients with a large wooden spoon until completely blended.

After your crust has chilled, unfold it into a 9-inch glass pie dish and press it firmly and evenly into the dish. Pour your vegan chicken and tofu blend into the crust. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the side of the bowl to get the entire tofu blend into the pie dish. Then use it to spread your tofu blend evenly into the crust. Makes sure it has a flat surface. Sprinkle your vegan cheese over the top in an even layer.

Bake your quiche for 10 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 325°F and bake for another 30 minutes. You’ll want to remove your quiche when the top is golden brown and you can insert a toothpick and remove it cleanly from the center.

CASSEROLES

Nothing says “Betty Crocker” like the tried-and-true casserole. It’s easy to prepare and simple to cook, and it feeds your whole family with leftovers. A casserole can be made to satisfy any palate preference, and you can even prepare it in advance and leave it out for your husband to stick in the oven if you’re not home—although this is usually the scene in the movie signaling that the marriage is in trouble.

Vegan casseroles have been around as long as vegans have. You can always throw some combination of veggies, tofu, pasta, and/or rice in a dish, bake it, and call it a casserole. And we’ve got nothing against that. But what we’ve got going on here are rock-star casseroles loaded with mock meats and vegan cheeses—in addition to a few of those old vegan standbys. Traditional vegan casseroles, along with traditional casseroles made vegan. The perfect combination.

VEGAN TUNA CASSEROLE

After years of food scientists around the world slaving away over hot plates in laboratories and spaceship kitchens, vegans now have numerous faux-fish choices—and many of them don’t even come close to resembling fish. Keeping this in mind, Dan and I invited several brave friends over to sample Tuna Casserole made with fish ham—a surprisingly delicious faux fish from May Wah. Our good buddy Kim brought over the fastest vegan Caesar salad this side of the Mississippi. We ate way more than we should have… even our friend Marta (another adamant faux-seafood dissenter) ate a big plate of it and liked it! We hope you like it too.

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

1½ cups elbow macaroni

3 tablespoons margarine

2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos

2 cups soy milk

4 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce, optional

Dash of liquid smoke

2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (most poultry seasonings are vegan, but some aren’t, so please read your label)

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Pinch of celery seed

½ teaspoon lemon pepper

2 cups frozen peas and carrots

2 cups shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

1½ cups vegan fish (We used fish ham from May Wah, but there are a lot to choose from. If you can’t get any, baked firm tofu would be a good substitute.)

About 2 cups French-fried onions for a topping

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cook and drain the macaroni as directed on the package.

In a large saucepan, melt the margarine over low heat. Whisk in the flour and Bragg’s until smooth. Then whisk in the soy milk until smooth. Heat to a boil and whisk in the nutritional yeast, Worcestershire sauce, if using, liquid smoke, poultry seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, celery seed, and lemon pepper.

Add the peas and carrots. Stir in the vegan cheese. Keep stirring slowly. You want the vegan cheese to melt and not stick to the sides. You also want to make sure the vegan cheese doesn’t clump. Once you have a thick, “cheesy” sauce, add the cooked macaroni and stir until the pasta is covered completely and evenly.

Cut the vegan fish into bite-size pieces.

Put a thin layer of the pasta mixture in an ungreased 2-quart casserole dish. Add a layer of vegan fish. Alternate the pasta mixture and vegan fish until you fill the dish. You want the pasta mixture on top, so keep that in mind when making your layers.

Bake your casserole for around 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, completely cover the top of the casserole with French-fried onions. Bake uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes. Pull the casserole out when the onions have browned to a darker golden.

GREEN CHILI LASAGNA

Okay, this lasagna isn’t totally green colored, per se. But it does have green vegetables in it and is a great way to recycle leftover chili into something completely new. That’s green too, right?

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

6 (8-inch) corn tortillas

¼ cup frozen corn, defrosted

2½ cups 5-Bean Chili (here)

2 cups shredded Daiya vegan cheddar or pepperjack cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (you might need a bit more to garnish)

¼ cup raw baby spinach leaves

¼ cup sliced white mushrooms

¼ cup Spanish green olives, pitted and sliced (save some to garnish with)

1 fresh jalapeño, diced, optional

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Heat your cast-iron skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Add one tortilla at a time to the skillet. Let it toast until it starts to get slightly scorched edges; then flip it and do the same on the second side. Repeat with all the tortillas.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the corn and chili.

Ladle a little of the chili into the bottom of an 8 x 8-inch glass baking dish, just enough to make a light coating. Place 2 tortillas in the bottom. Top with one-third of the chili mix and then a handful of vegan cheese. Then sprinkle on a layer of cilantro and spinach. Then layer on another third of the chili mix and another handful of vegan cheese. On top of that, sprinkle an even layer of mushrooms, green olives, and jalapeño. Place another layer of 2 tortillas, then the last of your chili and vegan cheese.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until your vegan cheese melts.

Garnish with some cilantro and olives. Just because it’s a leftover makeover doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be pretty.

CHEEZBURGER PIE

I can remember being a little eater and reading recipes on the sides of products for random things like Cornflake-Covered Pork Chops and Cheezy Corn Wiener Roast made from those mysterious “cheese food” substances that never made their way to my family’s kitchen. I grew up in a home where my mother wouldn’t allow us to eat food that she said “wasn’t really food.” So I’d read these recipes as if they were a sneak peek into what was on other dinner tables all over America, being served by non-Italian mothers who didn’t think Ragu tasted like ketchup (which it does). So one of the more exciting parts of writing this book was making some of these branded, cross-promotional concoctions, such as this true classic: the impossibly easy Cheezburger Pie! I wholeheartedly suggest giving it a try. It would be a great thing to bring to a potluck or BBQ—especially one with meatier guests.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Olive oil cooking spray

1 tablespoon olive oil

A few dashes of liquid smoke

4 Vegan burger patties, defrosted (we recommend Gardein Beefless Burger)

1 red onion, chopped

½ teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

cup shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese (you’ll want a little extra to sprinkle over the top)

½ cup Bisquick mix

1 cup soy milk

2 eggs’ worth of Ener-G egg replacer, made per the instructions on the package

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Spray a 9-inch glass pie plate with a light coating of olive oil cooking spray.

Heat the olive oil and liquid smoke in a cast-iron skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Once your skillet is hot, brown the vegan burger patties and red onion. Using the edge of your metal spatula, cut up your vegan burgers into bite-size pieces. Mix in the Bragg’s. Cook until your onion is translucent and the vegan burger clumps have crispy edges. Be sure to scrape up any vegan burger that is sticking to the skillet—those are the best parts.

Spread the vegan burger and onion in the pie plate. Sprinkle your vegan cheese over the vegan burger and onion pieces.

In a small bowl, mix the Bisquick, soy milk, and egg replacer with a wire whisk until blended. Sprinkle the nutritional yeast over the vegan burger pieces and vegan cheese, and then pour the Bisquick mix into the pie plate.

Sprinkle a little extra vegan cheese over the top. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until you can poke the center with a toothpick and have it come out clean.

I ate mine with a side of dill pickles. Dan ate his with mustard and ketchup. It is a cheeseburger, after all, and I have to admit—it was everything I always knew it would be!

THE VEGAN MEAT LOVER’S PIZZA CASSEROLE

As far as we can tell, any sort of food can be made into a pizza version of itself. Pizza burgers. Pizza tacos. Pizza soup. And so on. And if pizza casserole wasn’t Americana enough for you—we went ahead and made it a meat lover’s pizza casserole. Yeah. We did that.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

1 package rigatoni

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 (14-ounce) package Tofurky Italian sausages, Field Roast Italian sausages, or Match vegan Italian sausage, formed into small balls

½ (4-ounce) package Lightlife Smart Deli Pepperoni

2 tablespoons red wine

1 cup sliced white mushrooms

½ green bell pepper, diced

1 (2.25-ounce) can sliced black olives, drained

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1 (14-ounce) can Italian-flavored diced tomatoes

1 cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

Dried oregano, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and vegan Parmesan for toppings

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Prepare the pasta per the instructions on the box.

In your treasured cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. If you’re using Tofurky or Field Roast sausages, slice them into coins. Once your oil is warm, toss in the vegan sausage pieces and brown them until the edges become crispy. Remove from the skillet and set aside in a large mixing bowl. Then toss in your vegan pepperoni and brown until the edges become crispy. Remove the vegan pepperoni from the skillet and toss it into the mixing bowl with your vegan sausages. Add the red wine and mushrooms to the skillet and cook. You may want to add another teaspoon of olive oil if you feel like all the oil was used up in cooking the mock meats. Frequently toss the mushrooms in the skillet and cook them until tender. Then toss the cooked mushrooms in with the cooked mock meats.

Add the green bell pepper and black olives to the mixing bowl with the mushrooms and mock meats and mix with a large spoon.

In the same cherished cast-iron skillet, add the garlic, tomato paste, and diced tomatoes to the leftover red wine and olive oil. Stir and heat until the mixture begins to bubble. In the large mixing bowl, stir together the cooked pasta and the sauce from the skillet.

Fill your mini casserole dishes or one large casserole dish with your pasta and mock meat mix. Sprinkle a good amount of vegan cheese on top. If you’re like me and have a husband who doesn’t like mushrooms, you can split up the toppings and keep those undesirables out of some portions. We mark ours by placing cute little mushrooms on top of the section with mushrooms.

Once you’ve topped your casseroles with vegan cheese and marked which ones are which, bake them for 15 to 25 minutes. Pull them out once your vegan cheese is melted.

Top with oregano, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, or vegan Parmesan, or whatever you want. It’s your party.

TACO CASSEROLE

Another recipe straight from the Betty Crocker playbook: take one thing (tacos) and make it into another thing (a casserole). But the thing is—it works. You get the delicious flavor combinations that make taco night a winner in every house in this great land of ours, while making it is as easy as throwing a bunch of ingredients in a casserole dish. We do a little extra prep work in this recipe, because we want our version to be extra-delicious. But it’s recipes like this that really made me understand the magic of Betty Crocker.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

2 tablespoons olive oil

Dash of liquid smoke

1 cup Match vegan ground beef or Lightlife Gimme Lean vegan ground beef, defrosted

1 (14-ounce) can refried beans

1 batch DIY Salsa (here)

1 tablespoon cumin

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2½ cups tortilla chips

½ green bell pepper, chopped

5 green onions, chopped

2 ripe tomatoes, sliced

1 cup shredded Daiya vegan pepperjack cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

¼ cup black olives, pitted and sliced

1 cup romaine lettuce, shredded

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In your dedicated cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil and liquid smoke over medium heat. Once your oil is hot, toss in your vegan beef in small chunks. Cook your vegan beef, stirring occasionally, until crispy on the edges and browned. Mix in the refried beans, salsa, and spices and simmer while stirring occasionally.

In an ungreased 2-quart casserole, place 2 cups of the tortilla chips. Top evenly with the vegan beef and beans mixture. Spread out your bell pepper, onions, half the tomato slices, the vegan cheese, and the olives in even layers.

Bake uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the vegan cheese melts. Pull out of the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Top the baked casserole with the lettuce and the remaining tomato slices and tortilla chips.

DIABLO BEEFLESS LENTIL CHILI MAC

If you’re the kind of eater who loves our 3-Alarm Vegan Bacon Cheeseburger (here), then you’ll love this casserole. It’s all “beefy” and “cheesy” while sparing those poor cows. It also has that “smoky” and “salty” bacon flavor that makes hipsters and the hipsteresque crave it like Gollum does that evil ring—without harming any little piggies. And then on top of all that, it’s also spicy. The chipotle peppers create a deep, rich, smoky, warm spiciness that will make you glad you made some Limeade to go with it. You remembered the Limeade, right?

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

1 (16-ounce) box whole wheat macaroni

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 dashes of liquid smoke

1 cup Gardein beefless tips or beef seitan, defrosted

8 slices vegan bacon or smoked tempeh, diced

1 chipotle pepper (you can add more if you like it spicy)

1 small yellow bell pepper, diced

1 small orange bell pepper, diced

1 small red onion, diced

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15-ounce) can lentils, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon adobo sauce (a lot of chipotle peppers come canned in this sauce, you can use that)

¼ cup beer or nonalcoholic beer

1 can Mexican-flavored diced tomatoes

1 tomato, diced

2 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos

1 clove garlic, minced

3 dashes of hot sauce (more if you think you can handle it)

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 teaspoons lime juice

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons cumin

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

½ cup shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese (you might want a little extra to sprinkle over the top)

1 avocado, sliced

Make your macaroni per the instructions on the package.

While the macaroni is cooking, heat the olive oil and 2 dashes of liquid smoke in your cherished cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, toss in the vegan beef. Flip it a few times so the vegan beef gets an even cover of oil and liquid smoke. Toss in your vegan bacon pieces over your vegan beef and cook. Occasionally flip the vegan beef and vegan bacon and cook them until they are a nice even brown. Use a spatula to move the mock meat out of the skillet into a bowl. You want to keep as much oil as possible in the skillet.

Add the chipotle pepper and another dash of liquid smoke to the skillet. Warning: it will steam, but that’s why they call it “diablo.” You want to make sure that steam doesn’t get in your eyes. You might think I’m being sensitive, but trust me, it’ll Oedipus you, and not in a Freudian way.

While the pan is still steaming, toss in the bell peppers, onion, beans, lentils, adobo sauce, beer, tomatoes, Bragg’s, garlic, hot sauce, chili powder, and lime juice. Stir and cook until the peppers are tender. Then add the oregano, cumin, and cilantro. Stir and cook for no more than another minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in the vegan beef and vegan bacon.

Then, in a large bowl, combine the vegan cheese with your warm macaroni. You want the vegan cheese to start to melt slightly. To serve, put the pasta and vegan cheese mixture on a plate and ladle the chili over the pasta. Sprinkle a little vegan cheese over the top and add a few slices of fresh avocado. The avocado will mellow out the spices a bit.

THE INCREDIBLE GREEN MONSTAH CASSEROLE

So there’s no Green Monstah in Betty Crocker’s Big Red, but there is a spinach-bacon-chicken casserole that I started veganizing, and I just kept going. I couldn’t help myself. The casserole was very good on its own, but sometimes I see opportunities to work a little more kale or broccoli into my life and I just can’t stop. Call it poor impulse control. Call it leveling up. Whatever. This dish is the perfect example of Shannons Gone Wild.

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

1 (16-ounce) package whole wheat pasta shells, macaroni, or rigatoni

6 tablespoons margarine

3 tablespoons whole wheat flour

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

2 cups Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth, made per the directions on the package

1 tablespoon dry white wine

¾ cup almond milk

2 teaspoons Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning

1 tablespoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

2 dashes of liquid smoke

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup frozen peas

½ cup frozen green beans

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

¾ cup frozen broccoli

1 cup raw chopped kale

¾ cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes

6 slices vegan bacon or smoked tempeh, chopped

2 cups bite-size defrosted vegan chicken pieces

1 cup baby spinach leaves

Olive oil cooking spray

3 tablespoons vegan Parmesan

2 green onions, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cook and drain the pasta per the directions on the package.

In a large saucepan, melt the margarine over low heat. Whisk in the flour and nutritional yeast until completely blended. Gradually stir in the broth. Increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil, using your whisk to mix thoroughly. Whisk in the white wine, almond milk, Creole seasoning, Bragg’s, liquid smoke, black pepper, and garlic. Simmer for no longer than 1 minute.

In a large bowl, toss the pasta, peas, green beans, parsley, broccoli, kale, sun-dried tomatoes, bacon pieces, vegan chicken, and spinach. Pour in three-quarters of the sauce and gently mix with a spoon.

Spray a lasagna dish with olive oil cooking spray and fill with the vegetable-pasta mixture. Pour the remaining sauce over the top. Sprinkle the vegan Parmesan over the top and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove when the top is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.

Serve with green onions sprinkled over the top.

VEGAN BACON CHEESEBURGER POTATO PIE

Prepare to get ridiculous. Ridiculously awesome. This recipe is the perfect manifestation of the American ingenuity and resolve that turned a scrappy bunch of colonies into a superpower… and maybe led to us becoming the chubbiest nation too. Good thing we made ours vegan—and only for special occasions.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

1½ cups Match vegan ground beef or Lightlife Gimme Lean vegan ground beef, defrosted

½ cup plain bread crumbs

½ red onion, diced

¼ cup A.1. steak sauce

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos

Dash of liquid smoke

2 to 3 warm baked potatoes (enough to make 2 cups mashed)

½ cup Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth, made per the instructions on the package

3 tablespoons margarine

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon soy milk

1 teaspoon nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon vegan bacon bits

1 cup shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

1 small tomato, sliced

2 green onions, chopped

Sliced pickles and French-fried onions for toppings, optional

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

In a medium bowl, mix the vegan beef, bread crumbs, onion, steak sauce, mustard, Bragg’s, and liquid smoke. Press the mixture in the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate, like a piecrust. Bake for 5 minutes.

In a bowl, mash the potatoes with their skins.

In a Dutch oven or large stewpot, mix the mashed potatoes, broth, margarine, garlic, soy milk, and nutritional yeast. Heat over medium heat while continually stirring with a large spoon. Remove from the heat. Stir in the vegan bacon bits and ½ cup of the vegan cheese.

Remove the partially baked vegan beef crust from the oven. Spoon the mashed potatoes into the crust. Use a spatula to smooth out the top and make it even. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup vegan cheese over the top. Bake for 10 minutes longer, or until the vegan cheese is melted.

Remove the pie from the oven. Top with the tomato slices, green onions, sliced pickles, and French-friend onions, and any other fixings you like. Let cool around 10 minutes before serving.

The downside to this pie is that unless you let it cool, it doesn’t serve in nice clean slices like pie. It’s more like a casserole, but it’s still delicious… like crazy-good delicious.

LOVABLE JERK CASSEROLE

This casserole is named in honor of Percy, one of the feline Shannons. Sometimes he likes to cuddle on Dan’s chest as he watches TV on the couch, with his little face all nuzzled up under his dad’s chin. Other times he likes to bite my ankles. He’s a lovable jerk cat. This is a lovable jerk casserole. Enjoy.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

Olive oil cooking spray

2 teaspoons Bragg’s liquid aminos

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

¾ teaspoon allspice

Pinch of ground cinnamon

¾ teaspoon thyme leaves

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cups vegan chicken, defrosted

1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon olive oil

Dash of liquid smoke

1 large sweet potato, cubed

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed

¼ cup agave nectar

2 teaspoons ginger paste

½ cup lime juice

½ teaspoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons chopped green onion

3 cups cooked brown rice

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Spray an 8-inch glass baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.

In a small bowl, mix the Bragg’s, pumpkin pie spice, allspice, cinnamon, thyme, and cayenne pepper. Rub the mixture on all sides of the vegan chicken.

In everyone’s favorite cast-iron skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the liquid smoke over medium heat. Cook the vegan chicken in the oil until it’s a light golden brown with crispy edges.

In your baking dish, lay an even layer of sweet potatoes and top with the black beans. Top that with the vegan chicken. In a small bowl, mix the agave nectar, ginger paste, lime juice, and cornstarch; then pour it into the skillet. Heat to a boil, stirring constantly. Pour the sauce over the vegan chicken in the baking dish.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with green onion and serve with brown rice.

VEGAN BACON CHEESEBURGER HASH

One night, I made Vegan Bacon Cheeseburger Hash for my husband—and although we had the Hiroshima of epically passionate first kisses and our first year as an “us” was pretty dramatic, there’s another kind of love story that comes from our home, and the ongoing love affair that is our life together. One that doesn’t make me cry, or stay up till 3 a.m. watching cartoons and thinking of all the things I did wrong or choices I could have made differently. Yes, I’m comparing our marriage to this dinner. Somewhere in this skillet dish that combines two soul mates—bacon cheeseburgers and French fries—there’s something pretty special.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 dashes of liquid smoke

1 cup Match vegan ground beef or Lightlife Gimme Lean vegan ground beef or Tofurky ground beef

½ large red onion, diced

½ (32-ounce) bag frozen home fries, defrosted

2 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning

1 cup shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

Vegan bacon bits to sprinkle over the top

In your precious little cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and a dash of liquid smoke over medium heat. Once your oil is hot, add your vegan burger in small clumps. It’s okay to have some bits fall off the clumps. You’re going to want to fry your vegan burger up so that it’s lightly browned and has a crispy outside. With your spatula, transfer the vegan burger from the skillet to a bowl.

To the heated skillet, add another tablespoon of olive oil and another dash of liquid smoke. Toss in the onion and home fries. Brown those for around 5 minutes. Once they start to get little crispy edges, toss the vegan burger back in. Try to make sure you don’t lose too much oil in this process. Add the Bragg’s, tomatoes, parsley, and Creole seasoning. You’re going to want to let the mixture cook for 5 to 7 minutes, flipping it occasionally.

Turn the heat down to a simmer and toss your vegan cheese on top. Try to keep it on the vegan burger and home fries mixture and off the skillet. Don’t mix it in; just let it melt on top. It should take no more than 3 minutes to melt. Sprinkle vegan bacon bits over the top and serve with some pickles. You won’t need the ketchup; it’s already in there!

PANZANELLA BAKE

Panzanella is a classic Tuscan dish that is traditionally vegan already, without any interference from food meddlers like us. It’s a simple summer salad of tomatoes, chunks of bread, onions, and basil, with a basic oil and vinegar dressing. We’ve taken the concept of panzanella and fancied it up quite a bit, adding some protein and sticking it in the oven to make it a well-rounded and hearty meal. Italian traditionalists will surely scoff at us for doing this—but I doubt anyone that beholden to tradition has made it this far through this cookbook anyhow.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

2 cups chopped vegan chicken (we recommend Gardein Chick’n Scallopini)

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning, extra juice drained from the can

1 clove garlic, minced

2 portobello mushroom caps, sliced into strips

¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted

cup chopped green onions

1 cup Italian-seasoned croutons

¼ cup Fresh Herb Vinaigrette (here)

½ cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

½ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In an ungreased 11 x 7-inch baking dish, layer the vegan chicken, tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms, olives, green onions, and croutons. Drizzle with Fresh Herb Vinaigrette.

Cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle an even layer of vegan cheese over the top. Bake for about 10 minutes longer, or until your vegan cheese is melted. Sprinkle with basil.

PIZZAS

For years, “vegan pizza” was basically pizza without cheese. Which, on the one hand, was totally fine. A good crust, flavorful sauce, and tons of veggies make a hearty meal in their own right. But let’s face it: pizza has cheese. “Baked veggie-pile bread” is delicious—but it’s not pizza.

The main obstacle to real vegan pizza was the lack of a vegan cheese that melted properly. Sure, we had our Tofutti slices for veggie burgers, and our nutritional yeast “cheese” sauces for mac and cheese. But melty, stringy, cheese that made for a great pizza? No dice. It wasn’t that it was impossible—it just hadn’t been discovered yet. Even though we couldn’t prove it, we knew that it, like the Higgs boson particle of theoretical physics, was lurking out there somewhere—and that, once discovered, it would reveal to us the deepest secrets of the universe, like gazing into the eyes of God.

Enter Daiya vegan cheese. It 2009, it arrived in the vegan community like the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. The appeal was simple: it melted. Like, for real. And lo: real, authentic vegan pizza was now possible. From there, the door was opened to calzones, stromboli, and all of the other melty, “cheesy” recipes we’d been missing out on. A critical element of Betty Crocker’s repertoire is finally available to us—so let’s make the most of it!

MOCK MEAT LOVER’S PIZZA

You know, there’s really not much more to say than this: we are Mock Meat Lovers. We’ve both been vegan a pretty long time now and can remember when mock meat was a pasty, bland nightmare. I know a lot of vegans still hate mock meats today, because the first generation back in the day was just so very, very bad. But those days are gone. Technology has come so far, and today, with such a variety of delicious vegan products and substitutes available (even if only by mail order in some places), there’s no excuse to eat animals. So if you were one of those folks burned by one of those mock meat dinosaurs, you owe it to yourself to give these new products a try. You can live a cruelty-free life and still enjoy things like a vegan meat lover’s pizza.

MAKES 1 MEDIUM-SIZE PIZZA

Cornmeal for dusting your pizza stone or cookie sheet

Whole wheat flour for rolling out the dough

1 package premade whole wheat pizza dough (or you can use the recipe here)

½ cup pizza sauce

Handful of chopped fresh basil

2 handfuls of shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese

Handful of Lightlife Smart Deli pepperoni

cup Match vegan Italian sausage formed into flattened chunks a little smaller than your palm, or Tofurky Italian sausages cut into coins

1 Field Roast apple sage sausage, cut into coins

Handful of sliced white mushrooms

Handful of kalamata olives, pitted

Preheat the oven per the directions on the pizza crust package or to 425 °F. if you’re using the Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe here.

Dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet with cornmeal.

Flour a work surface and roll the pizza dough into a circle (around 13 inches in diameter). Move the dough very carefully to your pizza stone.

Spread the pizza sauce over the dough, leaving a ½-inch crust along the edge. Put the toppings on in this order: basil, thin layer of vegan cheese, pepperoni, thicker layer of vegan cheese, vegan sausage chunks, layer of vegan cheese, mushrooms, kalamata olives, and a final layer of vegan cheese.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegan cheese is melted. Let the pizza cool before you slice it up and share with the world!

PICO DE GALLO QUINOA STUFFING

POTPIE FILLING

WHOLE WHEAT PIECRUST

THE MOCK STARS

BUFFALO HOT SAUCE

HERB AND LEMON MARINADE

MOCK MEATS

CHERRY COLA BBQ SAUCE

WINGS

CHIPOTLE PEACH GLAZE

SKEWERS

LEMON AND ROSEMARY MARINADE

KEBABS

MEAT LOAF

GLAZE

WHOLE WHEAT CRUST

FILLING

WHOLE WHEAT CRUST

FILLING

WHOLE WHEAT CRUST

FILLING