Sometimes dreams come true.

Vegans are a clever and industrious people. Even after all these years, I continue to be impressed by the creativity and dedication vegans put into cruelty-free living. But even all that creativity can’t give us more hours in the day, and sometimes it’s nice not to have to make everything from scratch. One of the reasons we started this blog was to introduce new and old vegans to compassionate products they can use to cut corners on days when we just want to watch a bunch of Paul Rudd movies and enjoy a nice dinner with our favorite someone.

I grew up eating Italian and Mediterranean food. I can’t remember the first time I had an olive or feta cheese because I’m pretty sure it was around the time I got my first tooth. I’ve been one of those folks making their own vegan ‘feta’ using tofu and herbs for years–or just substituting tofu when I’m too lazy–but the truth has always been that tofu doesn’t really have the same texture as feta cheese. No matter what you do to it, it just isn’t gritty enough, for lack of a better word. So when Dan came home one night with a surprise he found at Whole Foods, I freaked the frak out!

This stuff is perfect vegan feta in every way! I have a huge vegan cheese crush on this stuff. No, it isn’t like the super pungent imported stuff you get at places like Dean & Deluca, but it really is like the stuff you’d find at like a pizza joint for their Greek Pizza–and the texture was spot on!

We decided to start out simple with our first test run, and to be honest it’s been freaking hot in Brooklyn. It’s made me dread baking, even though I have new kitchen gadgets I have been longing to take out for a spin. Remember the end of Point Break when Swayze heads out into this epic ’50 year storm’ at Bell’s Beach knowing he’s not coming back. That’s how I feel about our kitchen in this heat, but unfortunately I’m no Swayze. So we started with a chilly Greek Salad using the Greek Salad dressing recipe from The Betty Crocker Project‘s early days and an Artichoke Bruschetta recipe I found on Betty’s website.

Greek Salad

• 1 Head Romaine Lettuce (torn into large pieces)

• 1/2 Red Onion (diced)

• 1/4 Cup Pitted Kalamata Olives

• 1/4 Cup Pepperoncinis

• 1/4 Cup Baby Carrots

• 1/4 Cup Garbanzo Beans (drained, rinsed and soft)

• 1 Cucumber (sliced)

• 5 Cherry Tomatoes (sliced in half)

• 1/2 Package Vegan Feta made by Vegcuisine (cubed)

• 1 Batch Vegan Greek Salad Dressing

Toss all your ingredients in a large bowl and serve with Salad Dressing on the side.

Artichoke Bruschetta

• 2 Loaves French Bread Baguette (sliced into 1/2 inch slices)

• 1 large Tomato (diced)

• 1 Can Quartered Artichoke Hearts (drained)

• 2 teaspoons Fresh Thyme Leaves

• 1 Clove Garlic (minced)

• 1/4 teaspoon Lemon Pepper

• 1/4 Package Vegan Feta made by Vegcuisine (diced into little cubes)

• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil (you may need a little more)

Heat oven to 425.

Brush one side of your slices of Bread with Olive Oil and put on your pizza stone Oiled side up. Bake for 5 minutes until the edges are golden brown.

In a large bowl mix remaining ingredients except Vegan Feta. Spoon Tomato Mix onto toasted Baguette slices and sprinkle some Vegan Feta over the top. Serve warm and with a cold one of these.

You’ll notice we have a 1/4 of this package left… Please consider this your cliffhanger ending…