Celebrating Pizza, Vegan-Style

At some point prior to committing to veganism, I, like many of my lacto-vegetarian and omnivorous friends at that time, had become very accustomed to smothering everything in cheese as an alternative to meat; a layer of gooey, greasy mess somehow seemed like the only way to make up for the absence of animal flesh.  Unsurprisingly, when I discovered that the only viable equivalent to vegan pizza was one without cheese, I had to take time to warm to the idea.  But my love for all things bread compensated for the lack of dairy-blob toppings just enough so that I quickly overcame that last craving threat.  And cheese-related regression is even less of a probably nowadays, thanks to some impressive, convincingly "melt-y" vegan cheese analogs.  They make for a tasty indulgence when I really just want a little somethin'-somethin' more from a pie than just bread, sauce, and veggies.

A mozarella-style Daiya-covered chunk of goodness.

It turns out that many vegans share the pizza love--enough so to establish Vegan Pizza Day, which falls on 29 January, 2011.  Called "a celebration of the most awesomest food ever," this looks to be a holiday of epic proportions.  It does, after all, have its own website, which vegan pizza connoisseurs and casual consumers alike could surely appreciate.  The fine folks at Vegan Pizza Day are even giving bloggers the chance to kick off this massive pizza party in style, so check out the Vegan Pizza Day site for more details!  Happy eating!