Cooks' Books by Lisa Messinger

"The Inspired Vegan: Seasonal Ingredients, Creative Recipes, Mouthwatering Menus" by Bryant Terry (Da Capo, $19).

If we're lucky, we've all been in love with a dining companion before. Have you ever, though, been in love with your food?

Whether you're vegan (eschewing all animal products) or not, this lucky state just might be yours to behold if you follow some of author Bryant Terry's intimate recipes in "The Inspired Vegan: Seasonal Ingredients, Creative Recipes, Mouthwatering Menus."

Take his stew of smoky tomatoes, roasted plantains and crumbled tempeh.

This is no fast food quickie. First you cook onion and a fat chipotle pepper you've finely diced in olive oil for 10 minutes, and then add 10 cloves of garlic that you've peeled and roughly chopped for 5 additional minutes. You are stirring to bond throughout.

Soon, you're adding your new specialty to a tomato puree you've whipped up and pouring it back into a saucepan for 10 minutes of further togetherness to cook it down to a thick consistency. Next to jump in are the stock and tempeh, causing a further thickening for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, you'll cozy up to, season and cook the plantains for 30 minutes. Then simmer them another five minutes, even after adding just the last touch of the fresh cilantro you just chopped.

Multiple these instructions by about 100 recipes and you'll see that it would be just about impossible not to get intimate with your food. This builds appreciation and skills that just can't be simulated in less intense ways.

Your additional payoff from Bryant, an award-winning chef who has penned "Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine" and "Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen," are charming full-course menus to share with your new loved ones (e.g., his inspired dishes) and with your longtime loved ones.

Bryant clearly believes that seasonal vegan eating should be a party every night. There are enticing cocktails to start every menu, as well as appetizers that no one will realize are vegan, like the Cajun-Creole spiced mixed nuts, candied cashews and bright-black fingerling potatoes with fresh plum-tomato ketchup. Desserts, such as the gingered black sesame seed brittle and rice wine-poached Asian pears, are de rigueur.

The atmosphere is further fueled by outstanding soundtrack suggestions for each menu, such as "Forty Lashes" by Wynton Marsalis from "Blood on the Fields." One thoughtful selection after another points out the plight of agricultural workers and slaves before them, combining effortlessly into the mix the "food justice activist" Terry notes he has always been.

COCONUT QUINOA

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup water

1 / 2 teaspoon (preferably coarse sea) salt

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 tablespoons dried coconut

Yields 4 to 6 servings.

In a medium-sized saucepan over high heat, combine the coconut milk with the water and 1 / 2 teaspoon of salt.

Bring to a boil. Add the quinoa and dried coconut and bring back to a boil. Immediately lower the heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and steam with the lid on for 5 minutes, then lightly fluff with a fork.

SMOKY TOMATOES, ROASTED PLANTAINS AND CRUMBLED TEMPEH

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup thinly sliced red onions

1 large chipotle canned chili, chopped finely (see note)

10 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

3 1 / 4 pounds ripe tomatoes, or 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained

2 bay leaves

4 cups homemade or store-bought vegetable stock

(Preferably coarse sea) salt, to taste

1 / 2 pound, which is 1 (8-ounce) package, tempeh, crumbled

2 ripe plantains, cut diagonally into 1 / 2-inch cubes

1 / 2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Yields 8 servings.

In a medium-sized saucepan, over high heat, combine 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the onions and chipotle, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Lower the heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for 5 more minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Transfer the mixture to a blender, add the tomatoes and puree until smooth. Pour back in the saucepan, add the bay leaves and stir constantly over medium heat until cooked down to a thick consistency, about 10 minutes. Stir in the vegetable stock and 1 teaspoon of salt, plus more to taste if necessary.

Add the tempeh, bring to a boil, cover the pot, lower the heat to low and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the stew has thickened somewhat.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the plantains, the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and 1 / 2 teaspoon of salt. Toss well. Transfer the plantains to a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes to ensure even cooking.

Carefully remove the bay leaves and transfer the roasted plantains to the stew. Add the cilantro and simmer for 5 more minutes.

Good served over coconut-flavored quinoa.

Note: Experts recommend wearing latex gloves when handling chilis and not touching your eyes during or afterward.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "After-Work Gourmet" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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