Kathie & Hoda's Chocolate Cake & Vanilla Frosting

Accidentally vegan boxed cake mix is one of life's simple pleasures. Could baking get any simpler?!
Here it is with BLACK BEANS. Health! Fiber! Dark gooey deliciousness!

For the icing we have creamy, fatty (the good kind) avocado - thick and vanilla. Joy's detailed recipe is on her website

A sincere thank you to NBC's Today Show for these always clever, outside-the-box recipes.

Kathie & Hoda's Black Forest Cake

How about a 4-ingredient CAKE that's dairy free, egg free and fat free, using only ONE pan?
Behold Cathy Mitchell, cookbook author of Dump Cakes, to make it happen for us.
Use any flavor soda, any flavor cake mix she says. Oh, I will. The dessert possibilities are endless. (A ton of prepared cake box mixes are accidentally vegan, just read through those ingredients!)
How much does Cathy's laugh make you miss her better half from those grill infomercials? That dude with glasses? Love him.
A hugely sincere thank you to Today for the glorious hour that is Kathie Lee & Hoda - and the glorious cooking segments they bring!

p.s. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 30 to 40 minutes or until cake is set. Cool 15 minutes.

Jenna Bush's Chocolate Cups

Of all the desserts, this was Jenna Bush's #1 favorite pick. And she is not messing around either (see 1:04).

So while the discounted, 50% off, picked-over chocolates from (insert recent holiday here) seduce you at the store, keep calm and carry on home to make these vegan Reese's peanut butter cups.

p.s. Natalie Morales says they're "divine" 

Thank you NBC & Melissa King from Dallas for sharing these frozen chocolate banana almond butter cups!

Jamie & Ryan's Smash Salad

Cooking demos are usually missing this button at the end: Ryan Seacrest telling Jamie Oliver to feed him. Love.
& I say this sometimes when posting a salad clip, but really, truly, you've never ever made a salad like this before.
Thanks to the Olympics & NBC for making this beautiful smorgasbord possible!

Martha's Brittle & Bark

If Martha Stewart handed you her homemade peanut brittle or orange pistachio chocolate bark(!), would you ever guess they were vegan?! Or would you be too busy wondering why Martha Stewart is giving you anything? 

Thanks so much to NBC's Today Show for the gift that is Martha's accidentally vegan holiday gift ideas!

Joy's Creamy Soup

Just in case you needed one more reason to love Willie Geist.
Plus not only is this secret ingredient creamy - it's packed with protein. More than your old school cream of tomato soup can say about itself.
Thanks to NBC's Today Show & Joy Bauer for the hot and healthy tips!

Giada's Chocolates

The #1 question Giada De Laurentiis gets asked is "how do you stay so slim?" - so she wrote a cookbook called "Feel Good Food" to tell us! A great secret for someone with a sweet tooth? Vegan desserts.
Chocolate Fig Bites, Bon-Bons, Truffles, whatever you want to call these babies, get 'em in your belly.
So many thanks to NBC, Kathie Lee & dairy-free Hoda for bringing us Giada's vegan recipe!

Ina's Caponata

What's more fun? Watching Ina cook with a 6'4 giant OR seeing her transform an astronomical amount of sweet and savory ingredients into the best caponata ever? Forget it; we can have BOTH. Together. At once.

Giada's Bolognese

The food processor trick seems like a smart way to get that texture out of the veg, huh?
Meaty mushrooms and red wine sure don't hurt either...