Vietnamese Ziti

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: OK, you caught us. The ziti is Italian, not Vietnamese. The spring rolls, one of which you see at left in its pre-rolled glory, were Vietnamese, but since there's no really smooth way of combining the ideas of spring rolls and baked ziti, well, we came up with the brilliant solution of Vietnamese Ziti. Filled with sauteed tofu, shredded carrot, sliced cucumber, and rice vermicelli, the spring rolls were a perfectly light accompaniment to the extra-super-rich baked ziti. Swimming in marinara and two, count 'em!, varieties of homemade, non-dairy cheese, this magnanimous main course was better than any non-vegan baked ziti we've ever had.

The Goods: It's not actually that Elizabeth is suffering from some sort of cultural-culinary identity crisis—she's happily swathed in green clothes and Irish pride today, while her Italian half felt right at home when the baked ziti came out of the oven—it's that we're testing recipes! Yes! That means that both of these awesome dishes will be yours to make once the May+June issue of VegNews comes out next month. Until then, we have a litte St. Patrick's Day giveaway going on to tide you over. Happy Vietnamese-Italian St. Patty's Day!