With a small budget, a few hours of preparation, and some late-night cooking, we put together a down-sized Top Chef potluck competition — save for the fame, sweating and nervous breakdowns.As potlucks were created in the nature of giving, it seems only right to want to share our recipes — and some tips on setting up the event — with fellow food lovers.

    In The Kind Diet, actress, activist, and committed conservationist Alicia Silverstone shares the insights that encouraged her to swear off meat and dairy forever, and outlines the spectacular benefits of adopting a plant-based diet, from effortless weight loss to clear skin, off-the-chart energy, and smooth digestion. She explains how meat, fish, milk, and cheese--the very foods we've been taught to regard as the cornerstone of good nutrition--are actually the culprits behind escalating rates of disease and the cause of dire, potentially permanent damage to our ecology.Yet going meat- and dairy-free doesn't mean suffering deprivation; to the contrary, The Kind Diet introduces irresistibly delicious food that satisfies on every level--it even includes amazing desserts to keep the most stubborn sweet tooth happy. Alicia also addresses the nutritional concerns faced by many who are new to a plant-based diet, and shows how to cover every nutritional base, from protein to calcium and beyond.Whether your goal is to drop a few pounds, boost your energy and metabolism, or simply save the world, Alicia provides the encouragement, the information, and the tools you need to make the transition to a plant-based diet deliciously empowering.

    In this new pocket bible, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall offers nifty and creative ideas to transform leftovers into irresistible meals. Hugh starts by giving practical advice for cooking on a weekly basis with leftovers in mind - helping to save money and avoid waste - and provides tips on how best to store your ingredients to make them last for as long as possible. Hugh then gives handy recipe templates that can be applied to all kinds of leftover ingredients, and provides simple and flexible recipes. He shows, for instance, how you can transform leftover meat into Chilli beef noodles, Stew enchiladas, Spicy chicken salad with peanut butter dressing; surplus root vegetables into Roast root hummus, Quick lentil and parsnip curry and Beetroot and caraway seed cake; spare eggs into Hazelnut remoulade and easy Macarons. He also gives ingenious ideas for Christmas leftovers, shows how to assemble a delicious meal in under ten minutes, and how to make simple store-cupboard suppers.With more than 100 recipes, gorgeous photographs and illustrations, this is the ultimate companion for everyone's kitchen - and you'll never be bored of leftovers again.

    Broad in scope, thorough in detail, this nutrition-conscious cookbook is a treasury of flavorful, authentic recipes and menus, complete with protein and calorie counts, serving suggestions, and friendly tips on how to make each meal a family favorite.

    She hosts a popular blog that is read by more than 30,000 a day. She's a 2008 Veggie Awards winner from VegNews magazine who has been featured on The Martha Stewart Show, AOL, and the hippest sites on the web, including BoingBoing.net and Etsy.com. Now she delights her blog fans, as well as millions of vegetarian and vegan enthusiasts, with this sophisticated four-color cookbook filled with original and the most beloved meals from her blog. From appetizers to desserts, breakfasts to dinners, as well as holiday- and company-worthy fare, Ulm proves that vegan food doesn't have to be bland food. It's her love (okay, her obsession!) of making vegan foods exciting that is evident in her creations—recipes that are as artistic as they are quirky. With 90 percent of her ingredients available at any grocery store, her recipes are doable for the average person, and range from comfort-food staples like whoopee pies, macaroni, and blueberry cobbler, to foods with a sophisticated flair like mojito cupcakes, daikon noodle salad, and flaky pizza purse tapas appetizers. Stunning photographs and step-by-step instructions make Vegan Yum Yum an essential resource for any vegan kitchen.

    Tooler Doolus’s Oven Spaghetti and Bobbie’s Lemon/Lime Jell-O Cake Supreme, Ernie Mickler has collected another whopping batch of the“most magnannygoshus” recipes of the Very Deepest South. Previously known as SINKIN SPELLS, HOT FLASHES, FITS AND CRAVINS, this collection has a new name and a new cover that calls to mind its best-selling brother, WHITE TRASH COOKING. Same good eatin’, though. With color photographs by the author.

    Add a dash of Spain, a chunk of Lebanon, a splash of Israel, and a hint of America. Blend until smooth and voila! You may end up with a well-mixed identity crisis, but happily you'll get Vicky Cohen and Ruth Fox, amazingly creative and food-mad sisters raised in Barcelona by Syrian-Lebanese Jewish parents. Since moving to the United States about twenty years ago, they have successfully married comforting Middle Eastern flavors with new healthy ingredients. Their site Mayihavethatrecipe.com features their award-winning recipes, and gorgeous food photography, and receives over 110,000 page views a month. In their debut cookbook, Cohen and Fox interpret 101 Middle Eastern dishes in an irresistible--and easy--collection of vegan recipes, creating tempting, healthy dishes that take readers and eaters beyond the conventional and recognizable Middle Eastern staples of baba ghanoush and baklava. Instead, they offer modern, lighter dishes bursting with flavor. Covering breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything in between--and complete with tips for what cooking staples and an introduction to some newer ingredients to keep in your pantry--these recipes are perfect for the health-conscious cook who loves the flavors of the Middle East.Written by experienced recipe developers and bloggers, the recipes are free of time-consuming or complicated techniques and are meant to be served on busy weeknights and during casual gatherings with friends. With simple tricks, like substituting spring roll wrappers or pita bread for from-scratch dough, they've made it easy to prepare delicious, exotic food without an all-day affair in the kitchen.

    Cook rapid weekday meals, watch slow-cooked ramens simmer and even learn the art of making gyoza - Feed Your Soul is packed with tips and ideas for bringing wagamama to your kitchen. Feed Your Soul encourages mindful cooking - taking the time to appreciate and enjoy creating and eating these dishes is key. Methods for preparing your own homemade ramen noodles, kimchee, sauces and stocks are shared, so your dishes can be created entirely by you. We can't always spare the time to make everything from scratch, so you'll also find speedy, nutritious and simple recipes, as well as ingredient swaps and hacks. Including the never-before-shared recipe for chicken katsu curry, the famous yaki soba and fiery bang bang cauliflower, the dishes are balanced and offer suggestions for alternatives should you not have all the ingredients at home, allowing you to be more sustainable and creative in the kitchen.With original food photography, evocative shots of Japanese food emporia and lifestyle shots of noodles, ramen and ingredients, Feed Your Soul is set to become the new classic wagamama cookbook.

    Step by step, Pirello guides you to an understanding of the causes of this country's major health problems and offers solutions that show how to create change, whether you are taking the first tentative steps toward healthier eating or are ready for a full- on commitment to embracing a completely plant-based diet and vegan lifestyle.Armed with the information and advice that Pirello has presented in her accessible signature style, which has already garnered tens of thousands of loyal fans for her books, shows, and articles, anyone will be able to take those first critical steps on the way to total health and wellness.As practical as it is inspirational, this book also features cooking techniques, advice for stocking a pantry, and more than 125 vegan recipes, including "makeovers" of family favorites.

    Monday to Friday it's hard to juggle the demands of work and family with eating healthily, and the weekends are full of temptations that undermine our best efforts to get our glow. Madeleine offers the answer in READY, STEADY, GLOW, a beautiful and accessible cookbook designed for real life. READY, STEADY, GLOW is a book of two halves offering weekday recipes that can be made in less than 30 minutes, alongside sumptuous show-stopping meals perfect for the weekend. All recipes are wheat- and sugar-free, bursting with flavour and nutritional value, and contain natural ingredients that can be found in your local supermarket. You'll be amazed by deceptively speedy breakfasts such as coconut and lime quinoa porridge with honey almond crumble; lunches on-the-go like courgette and halloumi frittatas with lemon poppy yoghurt; and fuss-free, fridge-fix dinners such as Goan chicken curry. At the weekend, you can unwind and de-stress as Madeleine provides sumptuous brunches perfect for lazy days, along with impressive mains and desserts, designed to be shared. You'll be feasting - not fasting - on food that tastes so good you'll forget the things you're cutting out.With Madeleine's expert yoga routine, trademark meal plans, inventive tricks for speedy preparation and specialist down-to-earth advice, READY STEADY, GLOW is all you need to eat well and be well, for life.