Nearly every culture has a word or phrase for food that sets the tongue on fire. That’s because these foods create an endorphin release, they bring one’s palate to life, and they add an entirely new dimension to the culinary world. They may even test one’s mettle. Whatever the case, festivals, towns, entire commercial empires are dedicated to the taste of heat ... and so is the latest issue of the Vegan Culinary Experience. Inside this Free e-Magazine (yes, totally FREE, just go to the VCE website, and download it instantly), you’ll find recipes and articles featuring chiles, ginger, wasabi, and more chiles, with varying heat levels to accommodate most tastes. 

Chef Jason Wyrick, chief editor and founder of the Vegan Culinary Experience, wanted me to offer you a sample of what's inside this month's issue, so I chose the recipe for Horseradish Cheez. This dairy-free cheese alternative is dairy-free and soy-free, using a base of nuts and tahini, thickened with agar, and seasoned with a myriad of spices. I played it safe with this selection, which is listed in the "mild" recipe section. But heat-loving fans need not fear; Chef Jason has spicy recipe categories in the e-magazine that go all the way up to "Eat at Your Own Risk!"

Alisa Fleming ~ Earlier in the week I reviewed the Power of Fruit, an all-fruit (and much healthier) version of the Otter Pop. It inspired me to head to the kitchen and experiment on my own, especially since I had recently purchased my very first popsicle mold (which I subsequently broke the next day, but it was good while it lasted!).

While blending and freezing fruit may seem pretty obvious, the chilling process can actually lessen its sweet flavor just a bit. In other words, that just tender peach may actually taste a little more bitter than expected after a couple of hours in the deep freeze. The Power of Fruit uses white grape juice concentrate for that added touch of sweetness, an ingredient that I don’t usually have on hand. So I turned to two deliciously ripe fruits that have loads of their own natural sugars: watermelon and banana.

Here’s the insanely simple recipe I concocted:

Alisa Fleming ~ There is a new cookbook on the block, and it is filled with recipes that cater to those with dairy, wheat, oats, barley, soy, and corn allergies. The Food Allergy Cookbook offers 101 recipes with full color photographs, which range from every day needs to holiday meal plans.

Just some of the recipes that you will find in The Food Allergy Cookbook include: BBQ Chicken Legs, Sloppy Joes, Bosnian Style Stuffed Peppers (see below!), Chicken Soup with Dumplings, Chicken Pot Pie, Grand Marnier Cranberry Muffins, Apple Pear Quinoa Crisp, Fudge Brownies, Bread Sticks, and corn-free Korn Bread.

To give you a taste of this new cookbook, the authors have offered the sample recipe and photograph that you can see below. Truthfully, I had to Google Hungarian and Gypsy Peppers, the base ingredient of this recipe, since I had never heard of either. It seems they are a more pungent sweet pepper. I assume that you could substitute some in-season red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, though the dish probably won’t have quite the same spicy hint ...

This week GoodBelly is offering product coupons to Go Dairy Free viewers. The first 50 people to email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with their mailing address will receive a $.50 store coupon for Goodbelly products! This includes the entire GoodBelly Plus product line and the GoodBelly BigShots that I reviewed last month. Just put "GoodBelly Coupon Offer from Go Dairy Free" in the subject line!