Independence Day is a day to gather around the grill, in your backyard or here, in the Washington area, on the National Mall, and stuff yourself to the gills before ending the day with a spectacular display of fireworks. Whatever you are planning to do, I have for you today a recipe that you will absolutely love. My vegan Boston Baked Beans. Something magical happens to beans when baked. For instance, in this Greek Gigantes recipe, a flavorsome dish of lima beans baked in a rich tomato sauce, the beans become crusty on top and sweeten in flavor....

You might also enjoy these recipes for vegan French stews: mushroom ragout and mushroom bourguignon. What about those French, huh? Cheese and wine do not make them fat. They give us French fries and crème brûlée and while the rest of us morph into couch potatoes, they stroll down their classy arondissements with the Eiffel Tower for a backdrop, looking chic and magnifique as can be. They can even sit down in a restaurant, order the Cassoulet, a dish layered with four or five different kinds of meat, and glide out with not a single ounce of animal fat clinging to their flawless waistlines....

I have for you today a cake that’s incredibly close to my heart–and perhaps loved by anyone who ever stepped into one of Bombay’s quaint but disappearing Irani restaurants. A vegan Mawa Cake. A Mawa Cake is a soft, tender and delicious cardamom-scented cake with a texture not unlike that of a pound cake, except perhaps a little denser. That texture, as important to the uniqueness of this cake as its unforgettable flavor and richness, comes from the use of mawa, a reduction of milk....

You might also like these recipes for Parsi spiced potatoes and vegan “eggs” and Indian spiced tofu casserole. The Parsis are a small community embedded within India’s multi-ethnic fabric, but their impact on the country’s cuisine–as well as India’s, and even the world’s, cultural and economic landscape–has been flamboyant and outsized (think Freddie Mercury and the Tata family). Over the years I’ve shared vegan versions of the somewhat meat-, fish- and egg-centric foods created by Parsis that are beloved across India, including vegan Tofu “Prawn” Patia....

You might also like these recipes for vegan chocolate cupcakes and vegan brownies. I wanted to share a very special dessert with you on this very special day. And these vegan Pots de Creme are the perfect little treats to show someone you love just how much they mean to you. They are rich and smooth and creamy and the chocolate and vanilla– another match made in heaven – marry together perfectly....

One-dish dinners like this cheezy vegan Mexican black bean casserole are my favorites to make and eat. Another meal I make often, especially during the cooler months, is a vegan hot tamale pie. In the southwestern Tex-Mex tradition of smothering a bean chili with other tasty foods, much like this vegan frito pie or these vegan chili fries, a tamale pie tops a yummy chili with a layer of cornbread....