For something you don't cook, raw food is red hot.

And among the people helping to popularize the idea of raw food, there are few enjoying more success than Ani Phyo. She's the geek-girl-turned-healthy-living-entrepreneur behind SmartMonkey Foods, which bills itself as "the premier resource for vegan, raw, and living cuisine."

Phyo is also a familiar face to YouTube viewers, with a series of well-received raw cooking videos drawn from her raw food cooking show. And now -- with the publication of her new book, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen  -- Phyo has firmly established herself as a leading authority on the raw lifestyle.

We thought it would be fun to catch up with Ani during World Vegetarian Awareness Month. Click through for the low-down on going raw.

Almost everyone likes egg salad. It's a classic summer dish: cool, nutritious, and something which lends itself well to a variety of presentations.

But perhaps you're watching your cholesterol. Or maybe you have ethical concerns over the way laying hens are treated at factory egg farms. 

Enter Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and her recipe for Happy Hen Eggless Egg Salad. This egg-free variation on a classic recipe is no more difficult to make than regular egg salad. It's enough to make your local laying hen smile -- if she only had lips.

Click through for a full ingredient list and Colleen's step-by-step directions.

We're always happy to have vegetarian cooking expert Colleen Patrick-Goudreau on Lighter Footstep's pages. Colleen founded Compassionate Cooks out of her lifelong love for animals and her knack for flavorful, innovative vegetarian cooking. This article appears as part of our author exchange program with Green Options.

Cooking time: The total cooking time from the first addition of liquid to the rice to the completion of the risotto containing vegetables is typically about twenty-five minutes. But let your taste buds be the guide. Risotto is not as complicated as many think. It just requires some time at the stove. Use that time as an opportunity to engage in "cooking meditation." It really is very therapeutic!

Read on to get the recipe.

In my 15+ years of animal and vegetarian/vegan advocacy, I have answered countless questions -- some smart, some thoughtful, some antagonistic, some ridiculous, and some over and over and over. Some people seem to think that by virtue of being vegan you hold degrees in nutrition, philosophy, anthropology, animal husbandry, ecology, and the culinary arts and often proceed to cross-examine you on each of these topics. Every vegan or vegetarian has been on the receiving end of someone trying to find a flaw with your lifestyle choice, and it can be exhausting at times.

Luckily for me, I love communicating -- through talking (just ask my husband), writing (is anybody reading this?), and other means -- and I never get tired of expressing the joy that comes from living a life that reflects compassion, kindness, and non-violence toward others. I am amazed, however, at the questions that arise in people once they encounter a vegan. Questions are great; don't get me wrong. But, it's as if people don't start thinking about health, nutrition, and animal rights until someone says the word vegan or even vegetarian.

Our diet is full of corn: as a table vegetable, as a cereal, and -- most of all -- in the form of corn syrup sweeteners. But corn production is energy-intensive. Should we cut back?