Making the switch from an animal to a plant-based diet can be hard. Confusing. Sometimes, I'll admit, it's downright frustrating. Like when you're hovering in the refrigerator section of the supermarket, for example, scared to ask the unhelpful looking adolescent employee where the "seitan" is, sure he will think you are asking for Satan because you are wildly mispronouncing it. Or when you're gazing at a giant slab of tempeh on your kitchen counter, certain that it couldn't be less appetizing if it were, oh, a couple of cat whiskers wrapped in twine. Or maybe a past-expiry bit of salsa mold. You just might wish it were just a little simpler, you know? Bacon was so simple. And yet, bad for you. And very bad for the pigs.

That's why it's always fantastic to find new vegan blogs with delicious recipes (complete with pictures!) and tonight I discovered a few awesome ones I wanted to share. I've been making the same meals over and over, it seems -- toasted tomato sandwiches with avocado and veganaise, portobello mushroom burgers on ciabatta, pasta primavera and an awful lot of salads. I've been too optimistic about Spring to sit down and make more soup, but I was really craving something -- hearty, you know? Steak and potatoes, but without the steak, and no sour cream on the potatoes.

I am perpetually grateful for What Do I Know and her food blog and her recipe for leek-topped chipotle mashed potato stuffed portobello mushrooms that will leave my son and I drooling for weeks. It was hearty and delicious and fairly foolproof for a very mistake-oriented chef.

There are a number of other great vegetarian blogs on her sidebar, some that I'd never heard before. I'm going to try this seitan roulade with mushroom gravy next -- except it means I will just have to run the risk of being banned from Whole Foods. And I will probably have to devote myself to becoming a more patient cook. But yummy, plant based fare is probably worth it. If you're vegetarian, or just looking to cut down on the amount of meat your family consumes, the vegetarian food blogosphere is an invaluable resource.