I have a few friends who own a macaroni and cheese restaurant in Oakland, CA called Homeroom. Now that I live in Seattle, I miss it dearly. While everything is delicious there, what stays with me is the memory of how creamy and delicious their vegan mac and cheese was. I couldn't believe it was dairy-free! I've been looking to duplicate the recipe at home and started searching online for some tips and tricks on achieving a creamy, cheesy dish without ... the cream. Or cheese. More

We're adding this to our list of pink and red foods for Valentine's Day: red beet gnocchi from Jodi of What's Cooking Good Looking. She uses beets instead of the traditional potato in this recipe, which give the gnocchi a beautiful deep pink color — perfect for Valentine's Day. (Her version is also gluten-free and can be made vegan, if you so choose!) More

Kelp powder is a relatively new addition to my pantry but it's quickly becoming a staple. Whether I'm making vegan-friendly soup, kimchi, mock fish sauce, or even popcorn or salad dressing, I'm loving this subtly salty, umami-rich ingredient. More

For a long time, the idea of eggplant made me slightly queasy. It was a weird vegetable — kind of soft, kind of bitter, unpredictably textured. I just couldn't wrap my head around it. So I avoided it for years. What I needed was a gateway to eggplant, an ambassador from the other side. Baba ghanoush, Papa Eggplant, as my Greek friend calls it, was what I needed. More

Occasionally I teach whole grain baking and breakfast classes. This past weekend, my students asked me what whole grain product I'm most excited about right now. The answer was pretty easy: quinoa flakes. More

Amanda Cohen owns Dirt Candy, a vegetarian, or more accurately a vegetable, restaurant in the East Village of New York. We already know that vegetarian food has moved far beyond its 1960's hippie reputation, but you may not know exactly how far unless you've experienced Ms. Cohen's bold, sassy, vegetable-focused food. Her cookbook, which quite fittingly is also a graphic novel, features Ms Cohen as a chef/ninja battling everything from bad contractors to kitchen injuries while trying to find a way to get more corn on her menu. More

I'm starting to see more references to coconut butter which leads me to wonder if this thick, unctuous, and occasionally brittle and crumbly stuff might be about to have its moment in the spotlight. It's already been discovered by the paleo and raw food people, but it seems to be making its way into more conventional recipes as well. What is coconut butter, and when and how should you use it? More

Last week we discussed why health articles so often get it wrong, but here's one resource that gets it right: Health News Review, a site where scientists and physicians take a hard look at health stories and let consumers know how they hold up. Wondering what experts really think of stories like "Berries May Cut Heart Attack Risk in Women, Study Says"?

Q: My roommate is allergic to corn, which while sometimes inconvenient, has been a great motivator to get us to learn to cook our own food. However, I have some recipes I'd like to try that contain cornstarch, like puddings and stir fry recipes. Are there other starches I can substitute?

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Now and then, a girl needs a little magic to get through and fly above it all. I have a couple of pretty gigantic projects going on right now, and while moving a mile a minute isn't my preferred way to live, it's been a reality. At times, I move so fast, I forget to eat and I get clumsy and frantic. That'll knock the wind right out of a lady's magic fairy wings. To make sure I stay on top of it all, I need a nourishing and energizing breakfast. More