• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1 cup vegan beer
• 1 tablespoon spices (paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, etc.)
• 1 large eggplant
• oil for frying
• 1-2 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
• 2 tablespoon vegan hoisin sauce
• water
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 assistant- not to eat, to help :)

Cut your eggplant into LARGE dice, and place in a non-reactive colander. Salt well, and purge for at least 20 minutes.

In the meantime, make your batter: combine beer, flour, and your preferred spices. Add a little freshly ground pepper if you like. Whisk together with a fork, but don't stir too much or your lovely beer will go flat.

After purging the eggplant, brush off excess salt and press with a paper towel to get rid of the rest of the liquid. I microwave my eggplant for about 3 minutes just to pre-cook it, but I don't think that it's necessary.

Heat the oil in a deep fry-pan. Fry the eggplant in batches and drain on paper towels. (This may take a while because you don't want to do too much in the pan at one time, so this is why I get my boyfriend to help!) Get your helper to fry while you make the sauce (or vice-versa).

To make the sauce, GENTLY saute the garlic and ginger in the sesame oil. Put all ingredients together in a cold (small) fry-pan and bring up to heat. If anything starts to burn, or after it's slightly browned, add the hoisin and water to cover. Simmer for 5-10 minutes (adding more water if necessary), then add the soy sauce and scallions. Cook for about another minute, and cool slightly. It should thicken a bit.

Serve the fried eggplant with the sauce over top or as a dipping sauce.

Gelain Free Jello

• 20 cups Juice blend (frozen and reconstituted, not from concentrate or powder), like Pineapple Orange
• 4 to 6 tablespoon corn starch (Depending on how firm you want it)

Heat the juice blend until it gets reasonably hot on stove. Add the cornstarch and stir until it is blended. When it thickens to something like jelly put it in a dish. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours or until firm.

Serves: 10

Preparation time: 2-3 hours

Ultra-Fab Patty Melt

• 2 slices of red onion (rings separated)
• 1 vegan burger
• 1 slice vegan "cheese"
• 2 small slices rye vegan bread OR 1 large slice halved
• non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Get a small Teflon coated frying pan and add the olive oil. Heat the oil over medium high heat and add the red onion. Cook the onion until sweet and tender (approx 5 minutes) stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, spread the margarine on the rye vegan bread, just enough to coat lightly. Cook your burger in the microwave for 1 minute. When the onion is finished cooking, Make a sandwich out of all the ingredients with the "buttered" slices of vegan bread facing the outside. Grill the sandwich in the fry pan on both sides until they are golden toasty brown and the cheese is melted. Enjoy!!!

Serves: 1

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Thanks VegWeb!