Who ever said Easter feasts required big, slow-roasted birds? The creative folks behind What the hell does a vegan eat, anyway? featured a gorgeous seitan roulade for their holiday entree.

Like good vegans, they made their own seitan, the old-fashioned way - no store-bought stuff for them! If you're feeling ambitious (and have some time on your hands), the seitan recipe is here.

After making and rolling out the seitan, it was filled with mushrooms and kale, rolled up, and baked for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. The best part? Instead of twine, they used these cute reusable silicone ties to secure the roulade while it baked. They added some mushroom gravy at the end, which looked great, but I'm sure it tastes delicious plain, as well. Although if you're not gonna eat gravy with Easter dinner, when are you gonna eat gravy? Just sayin', is all.

My dream is that these lovely people will welcome me into their home and adopt me and offer to cook for me every night. But until that happens, I'll just keep featuring their awesome recipes.

This photo on Apartment Therapy definitely called my name. "Elllllllen..." it whispered. "Bloooooggggg about meeeee...."

Making a mental note to lay off the hallucinogens, I decided to relay the recipe. Apartment Therapy offers it as a "low-fat, no cream" alternative to heavier, creamier pasta sauces, but I saw it as a great vegan option, and a welcome reprieve from pesto or marinara. AT uses butter and beef or chicken stock, but you could easily use Earth Balance or veggie/faux chicken stock, and omit the Parmesan, or use one of the many awesome soy or rice-based cheeses.

Check out the recipe after the jump.

If you are a mushroom lover, sometimes the specimens growing in your yard or in the nearby park look quite tasty. The problem is that it is difficult to determine exactly what kind of mushroom it may be - and since mistakes can be potentially fatal, it's not wise to experiment. This week, a Toronto man plucked a few mushrooms that looked harmless, only to end up hospitalized and in grave condition because they were poisonous.

The man's chances for recovery are uncertain.

The particular species of mushroom actually looks very similar to several nontoxic species, and health officials say that they did not realize that it was growing in the area. The director of Ontario's regional poison center said, "You fry them up, they taste great and the symptoms don't come for 12 hours. You may not connect it to the mushrooms, think it's just gastro [gastroenteritis] and think it'll get better. But it gets worse, and all the while it's eating away at your liver."

Play it safe and stick with the mushrooms for sale at local shops and markets, instead of taking chances with ones growing wild.

Mushroom caviar is a food that gets its name from a slight resemblance to real caviar, when in fact it is simply a type of dip or spread made with mushrooms - no fish eggs to be found. This version of the recipe was posted by Elise at Simply Recipes and I'm fairly certain I have never seen mushrooms look this good. The caviar is made by sauteeing finely chopped mushrooms with some butter, shallots and a bit of garlic, then topping it off before serving by mixing in some sour cream and toasted pinenuts. It is chilled before serving. Elise served hers with crackers, but I can't help by think that it would be at least as delicious with some sliced baguette pieces. Besides, you can pile more onto a slice of bread than you can onto a cracker, right?

Vegetarians might be feeling left out of our steak day celebration here at Slashfood, but there is definitely a work-around for those who don't eat red meat: portobello mushrooms. Portobellos, also called portabellas, are actually just the mature versions of brown cremini mushrooms. They are known for their size, which makes the more versatile than many smaller mushrooms. They have a juicy, meaty texture with just the right amount of chew to them. The mushrooms can be seasoned and grilled (broiled, baked, etc) much in the same way as steaks can be, too. To make a vegetarian steak with a mushroom, just clean it carefully, coat it with some olive/vegetable oil and a spice rub (or let it sit in a marinade for 30 minutes), then cook as desired until tender. I cook mushrooms this way frequently, grilling them or letting them cook under the broiler. Here are a few vegetarian recipes to get you started:

• Butternut Squash Risotto with Portobello Steak
• Balsamic Portobello Steaks
• Portabella Steak Burgers

[Image Williams-Sonoma]

This sandwich is a great, tasty way to use up leftover steak and it's very simple to make, mostly because I rely on prepared barbecue sauce. All you need to do is chop up some onion and mushrooms (white or portobello) into small pieces and saute in a pan with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper until they are tender. I use a few tablespoons of onion and about 1 cup of the mushrooms, sometimes a bit more, per sandwich, but the amount is completely flexible. Vary the amounts depending on the size of your rolls. While the mushrooms are cooking, shred up some leftover beef and add it to the mushrooms once they're tender. Stir in enough of your favorite barbecue sauce to moisten everything, cook until the mixture is heated through, and serve on a fresh roll or baguette. This sandwich can also be made with all mushrooms for a vegetarian alternative.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

In China, many products are produced at prices much lower than they are in other countries, but until recently, agriculture was not subject to the same type of mass industrialization. Now, it appears that China is muscling in on the truffle market, something that the French are not too happy about. France has a 45% share of the truffle market and their fungi cost an average of more than $500 per pound. Two new Chinese varieties of truffles cost more than 90% less - $28 per pound. The director of Yunri foods, a Chinese company that sells the truffles, said that they sell over 20 tons of truffles and mushrooms a year, mostly to the United States, United Kingdom and France.

A representative from the French Federation of Truffle Growers said that there were marked differences in the quality of the truffles, despite the fact that they look almost identical to the pricier Perigord variety. "It's a problem of aroma and of quality consistency." Truffle aficionados, predictably, state that the French version is unquestionably superior, but the real question is whether the average consumer would find the French truffles to be 90% better than the much less expensive Chinese ones.