Vegan Recipes Even a Meat Eater Can Love

The tofu "ricotta" has a wonderful creamy texture and boasts all the familiarity of the traditional lasagna that most of us grew up with.

Vegan Tofu Spinach Lasagna recipe

This vegan-friendly recipe for red velvet cake, complete with the buttercream frosting, is the perfect finish to any meal.

Vegan Red Velvet Cake with Buttercream Frosting recipe

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has created a comprehensive all-occasion vegan cookbook with The Vegan Table. The recipes are thoughtfully organized and cover everything from romantic dinners for two to holiday feasts to children’s parties – and pretty much everything in between. Whatever your occasion, this book offers not one, but four (one for each season) menus to make it a success.

The next three recipes come from Patrick-Goudreau's newest book.

This vegan spin on a traditional Maryland crab cake pays homage to recent efforts to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

Vegan Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes recipe

These little squares are both flaky and hearty. They can be served as a fun brunch starter or as a great main event with some greens and gravy.

Vegan Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs recipe

These fragrant and savory scones turn out a pretty orange color and are flecked with fresh rosemary. The olive-y notes from the olive oil are great, but canola oil can also be used instead.

Vegan Tomato Rosemary Scone recipe

In Vegan Brunch, Isa Chandra Moskowitz offers up animal-free versions of traditional and innovative brunch recipes alike. Featuring over 175 recipes from sweet to savory, Moskowitz transforms a meal that usually revolves around bacon and eggs into a vegan-friendly feast.

The Daily Green asked the author for three of her favorite recipes — check them out here.

Alicia writes: "These are delicious. Mochi waffles are fun and easy for everyday eating, but they're also great to offer guests. Serve with a bowl of steamed collards and some tempeh bacon or Smart Bacon, and you have a quick, fantastic brunch."

Mochi Waffles Drizzled with Lemon-Walnut-Rice Syrup Recipe

Alicia writes: "I adore couscous, and this is a wonderful way to prepare it. Not only is it tasty, it looks gorgeous on a big serving plate as the centerpiece of a meal. You can complement it with a simple salad or let it be the beginning of a feast that includes soup, hummus, and veggies. This recipe serves six, but you can halve it or just make a big batch and keep leftovers in the fridge."

Moroccan Couscous with Saffron Recipe

Alicia writes: "When my friend Liz first taught me how to make this pizza, she used an organic, sourdough spelt crust, but really any whole grain crust will do. This pizza is perfect for dinner parties or just a cozy night at home."

Radicchio Pizza with Truffle Oil Recipe

Alicia writes: "I've highlighted the bok choy version of this dish because it's so pretty, but this same recipe made with cabbage and leeks is just as delicious and worthy of equal attention. Christopher and I absolutely lived off cabbage and leeks for years. I beg you to try both versions. There's something about the combination of the flaxseed oil, the sour of the vinegar, the freshness of the green and the seeds... Oh my God."

Baby Bok Choy Drizzled with Ume Vinaigrette Recipe

Alicia writes: "Back in the day, I was obsessed with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Now I make this healthier version and they are way better. In fact, I think they are the most ridiculously delicious things in the entire world. Look for graham crackers that are naturally sweetened or low in sugar (Health Valley makes a good one), and store the leftover crackers or crumbs in an airtight container for future use."

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups Recipe

Read the 6 Principles of Alicia Silverstone's "Kind Diet".

In The Kind Diet, Alicia Silverstone extols the virtues of a plant-based diet. Way beyond animal welfare, the diet is a nutritious, delicious and fun way to eat. Lose weight, clear your skin and get "off-the-chart" energy -- by forgoing meat and dairy. "When was the last time doing something wonderful for yourself actually had amazing benefits for everyone else around you?" she asks. Try these recipes, and see what she's talking about.

These homemade bean burgers are small enough that two or three can fit into your lunch box.

Mini Veggie Burgers recipe

Try a Caribbean favorite, vegan style with a recipe for plantain wraps.

Plantain Wraps recipe

Try a twist on the traditional stromboli and make it vegan.

Vegetable Stromboli recipe

This Thai-inspired one-dish meal has it all: noodles, tofu, vegetables and even fruit, all sparkling with that complex sweet-sour-salty flavor.

Even if your school cafeteria or local deli doesn't have vegan options, that doesn't mean your family has to settle for less than the best at lunchtime. Jennifer McCann makes sure that vegans young and old are not stuck with the same ol' steamed veggies, her new international cookbook includes creative combinations of flavors to keep any vegan's taste buds excited. Vegan Lunch Box: Around the World provides 125 easy recipes and includes explanations on the region's cooking styles and dominant flavors. McCann also lists the various allergen information and variations to make it easy for anyone to modify the recipes. This cookbook is great for families aspiring to “spice” up their vegan lifestyle with recipes that range from Caribbean to Japanese.

McCann is also the author of Vegan Lunch Box and the creator of the Vegan Lunch Box blog.

Vegetarians and vegans can enjoy a delicious Easter dinner with this chickenless pine nut chicken, with lobsterless lobster mushroom buerre blanc sauce.

Quinoa, Avocado and Sweet Potato Timbale with Roasted Tomatillo Dressing Recipe

If there is such a title as a celebrity vegan chef, it would have to go to Tal Ronnen. Maybe you've seen Chef Ronnen on Oprah, or perhaps you scored an invite to Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's wedding or Arianna Huffington's party at the Democratic National Convention. If you did, you would have sampled Ronnen's vegan fare there. This chef cooks in a classic French style and he's a recovering steak lover so he's great at easing you into the vegan lifestyle, and his cookbook The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat does just that. Try his Quinoa, Avocado and Sweet Potato Timbale with Roasted Tomatillo Dressing and then let us know if you miss the meat.

When Oprah promotes a book it becomes a best seller, and when she loves a chef they become an international sensation, so the fact that Oprah has taken a shinning to Tal Ronnen and his book The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way you Eat is cause for celebration in the vegan world. Ronnen uses classic French cooking techniques to bring vegan dishes style and flare. Ronnen is a recovering steak lover, so for those of you not sure about this whole vegan mumbo-jumbo he starts off by "Busting the Top Five Vegan Myths." Interspersing charts, interviews with other chefs and important bits of info (like what Gardein is) among the recipes keep this cookbook lively and informative. With beautiful recipe images that will encourage your cooking and ingredient shots that will help you shop, you're ready to discover the joys of meatless meals.

This portobello salad has everything a vegan needs to feel healthy and happy: chickpeas, greens, avocado and mushrooms.

Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing recipe

This monster-size, New Orleans classic sandwich is drenched in a luscious multi-olive "salad" that — thanks to a long steep in the fridge — penetrates every succulent inch.

Roasted Eggplant and Spinach Muffuletta Sandwich recipe

Forget digging up a barbecue pit in your backyard. This chewy and succulent barbecue comes straight outta the oven. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Baked BBQ Tofu recipe

Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, collects more than a hundred of the top vegan recipes in a comprehensive and well-illustrated cookbook.

The next three recipes come from the pages of Veganomicon.

Caramel Pecan Bars are like a little sticky bar of southern hospitality. Enjoy this rich dessert in bite-sized bars, or in pie-sized slices.

Vegan Caramel Pecan Bars

From Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2009

Is there a person out there that doesn't love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate? Unlikely. These heavenly little peanut butter pillows have peanut butter centers and are coated with a chocolate cookie shell. Deliver them to your next dinner party, but remember to stash away your own supply at home because there won't be leftovers.

Peanut Butter Pillows Recipe

From Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2009

Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero share 100 vegan cookie recipes in Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. The book has a wide range of cookie styles from the classic chocolate chip (dairy-free, of course) to new and fun recipes like Key Lime Shortbread Rounds. Don't be fooled: Being vegan is no prerequisite for enjoying these!