Here are some terrific recipes to prepare for your mom and other guests on Mother’s Day:

Citrus and Greens Salad (From Vegans Know How to Party, by Chef Nancy Berkoff)
Serves 10

Salad:
8 cups mixed green salad (make a colorful combination of fresh baby lettuces, spinach, romaine, etc.)
2½ cups diced pink grapefruit and/or tangerine sections
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup finely shredded red cabbage
½ cup raisins or dried cranberries

Dressing:
½ cup peeled and seeded fresh tangerine sections
1½ cups peeled and seeded fresh orange sections
½ cup peeled and seeded sliced lemon
3 Tablespoons lime juice
¼ cup minced sweet onion
½ cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon orange juice concentrate
1 Tablespoon black pepper

Combine all salad ingredients in a large glass or plastic bowl. Cover and refrigerate.
Place all the dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor canister and process until just smooth. Place dressing in a glass or plastic container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Toss the chilled salad with the dressing right before serving.

Note: If fresh tangerines are not available, more oranges can be used.

Fruit Pizza (from Conveniently Vegan, by Debra Wasserman)
(Serves 4)

One 12-inch wide pita bread
1 cup unsweetened apple butter
1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
6 large strawberries, sliced
1 apple or pear – peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Spread apple butter over pita bread. Arrange slices of fruit on top of apple butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Serve as is, or heat pizza in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes and serve warm.

Note: You can substitute several small pita pockets for the large pita bread.

Festive Cashew Cookies (From Simply Vegan, by Debra Wasserman and Reed Mangels)
Makes 2 dozen

2 cups raw cashews
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup maple syrup
½ cup water
¼ cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Small jar fruit-only jam

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grind the raw cashews and rolled oats together in a food processor for a few minutes. Pour mixture into a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients, except the jam. Mix well.
Form 24 round balls and place them on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. With your thumb, form a small well in the center of each ball of cookie dough. Place a small amount of jam in each well.
Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Allow cookies to cool before removing them from the cookie sheet.

Conveniently Vegan, Simply Vegan, and Vegans Know How to Party are published by The Vegetarian Resource Group and can be purchased online here: http://www.vrg.org/catalog/

Honor your mom by giving her a gift subscription to Vegetarian Journal: http://www.vrg.org/member/