• dinnerandbikes.com
• The poster for Dinner and Bikes, a traveling show of bike culture, vegan living and more. (Click to enlarge.)

The Dinner and Bikes road show has been swinging through the Southeast with a buffet of gourmet vegan food and tips on vegan food prep from Los Angeles chef Josh Ploeg, multimedia cycling talk from bicycle activist Elly Blue, and bike videos from filmmaker Joe Biel.

The April 29 tour stop at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film is free of charge, but you need reservations.

For a preview, read/watch Blue's wrap up in Grist magazine on last fall's tour. (Tucson is the best biking city? Really?) (And Houston is the next one? Get out of town!)

Since Nashville has bike issues, the discussion of local cycling concerns should be lively. If you're inspired, there's also a traveling bookstore of books, 'zines and video. (To get up to speed on issues, follow @ellyblue on Twitter.)

More info on the presenters, from the press release:

Here was the recommended lineup of items for a pantry makeover:

1 pound black beans
1 pound lentils
1 pound quinoa
2 pounds brown rice
3 (32-ounce) boxes vegetable broth
1 (32-ounce) box chicken broth
1 pound rolled oats
2 cans cannellini beans
2 pounds pasta
1 can black beans
1 jar unsweetened applesauce
1 (32 ounce) box nondairy beverage
1 (32 ounce) box almond milk
1 (5-ounce) can tuna
3 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 package no-oil sun-dried tomatoes
1 jar pasta sauce

Building blocks for pasta fazool, minestrone, bean and grain salads, lentil soup, black bean dip, oatmeal soda bread: I'm working with the list, but taking a few liberties too.

Vegan Creamy Tomato Soup is my first recipe, and it's creamy, slightly sweet from the tomato, and it warms you all the way down. So, yeah, maybe "eat better" was a pretty good resolution.

Check out the recipe after the jump.

Here's how BeHive describes itself on its Facebook page: "It’s a campaign for good. It’s an idea that advocates healthy lifestyle choices, community involvement, and sustainable environmental practices." Tonight's beneficiary is locally based charity Soles4Soles Inc., which provides shoes and micro-business programs for people in need around the world (and is the subject of a WPLN report this morning).

The buffet is just $10, and includes dishes like herb-crusted tempeh, shredded BBQ tofu, vegetable seitan stew, maple-glazed squash, cranberried jicama and apples, kale salad with mint tahini, and much more.

It's 4-9 p.m. tonight at The Wild Cow, 1896 Eastland Ave. Check out the event poster after the jump.

Vegin-In’s concept is convenient and healthy. For $80, you get 12 meals worth of food — if you do the math it works out to $6.67 a meal — that includes three entrees, four sides, a dessert and a soup with three to four servings in each dish. And it's actually even cheaper right now — $70 instead of $80 under a current introductory promotion.

There's also an a la carte option, available for pickup only at the Vegin-In kitchen near I-65 and Harding Place. Check the website for details.

Michelle Angarita runs the new Nashville location. She's both a chef and a registered dietitian.

Menu choices vary from week to week, but you look for tasty-sounding dishes like stir-fried seitan “duck” with veggies and brown rice, Caribbean quinoa salad with sweet plantains and raisins or applesauce cake with golden raisins and a maple glaze. Gluten-free options are available, too.

• Chef Kristi

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you owe it to yourself to check out My Veggie Chef — a healthy, delicious, all-vegan food service that provides both takeout and delivery service. Proprietor Kristi Agee has been tweaking her business model since cranking up the ovens several months ago: Currently, one option offers three fresh, chef-selected entrées, three side dishes, one soup, one salad and a complimentary treat of the week, all for $80 plus tax, and FREE delivery within a 20-mile radius of Nashville. Those dishes feed two to three people each. Conservatively, you can expect to get at least three complete meals for two people, featuring mostly seasonal local produce. It's a pretty great deal.

• Chef Lacey

And for those of you who would rather spend your Thanksgiving dinner talking turkey than eating turkey (OK, I stole that line from their website), Chef Kristi and her able assistant Chef Lacey are offering a delivered Thanksgiving meal! The entrée is baked seitan (or for a gluten-free option, baked tofu) and dressing, and there are four enticing sides (candied sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, garlic smashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, and roasted brussels sprouts with carrots and raisins), individual cranberry-apple pies (courtesy of Vegan Vee) and a special treat — banana oat bars. The dinner is $60 for two, $120 for four, and $180 for six. But orders must be placed by 6 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) night, Nov. 16. The meal will be delivered Tuesday, Nov. 22.

• Eric England
• Shiva and Mohammad Karimy

Shiva says Mo has been working for about six months to create a homemade veggie burger with zucchini, squash, lentils, garlic and Persian spices. (The Karimys are from Iran originally.) The burger is vegetarian, not vegan, because he uses a little organic milk to bind the vegetables into patty form.

For vegans, they are introducing their own version of falafel (the popular Middle Eastern snack that is something like a chickpea croquette), which Shiva says are made from scratch in the traditional way.

• Carly! Come back to Atlanta and eat us!

What’s a newly transplanted veggie-lover to do?

Having spent the last three years in Atlanta, I have to confess that I’ve been spoiled by really great vegan and vegetarian food. The Flying Biscuit has a tofu scramble so perfectly seasoned and veggie-stuffed that the restaurant's towering, buttery namesake seems like an afterthought. Sevananda, the grocery store in hip Little Five Points, has tons of delicious, shrink-wrapped vegan sandwiches, wraps and desserts to go. The World Peace Café offers a ridiculously good veggie Peace Burger, made from scratch, with thick sweet potato fries. R. Thomas stocks a sinfully sweet vegan hummingbird cake. Avid vegetarian restaurant connoisseur that I am, even I haven’t plumbed the depths of the veggie wealth in the ATL — but certainly not for lack of trying.

Maybe I’ve been overlooking your treasures, Nashville, but I have to confess that I keep returning to the Green Hills Whole Foods hot bar in lieu of a better option. I did find some fine vegetarian cuisine: the veggie burger at J. Alexander’s, the sandwiches at Fiddlecakes, the eggplant sandwich at Savarino’s. I even stumbled across a few baked vegan goods in the Belmont area, but it’s pretty hit-or-miss.

So tell me what I don’t know, Nashville: Where is the good vegan/vegetarian food?

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A little while back, Bites commenters had a rousing discussion in the comments as to their suggestions for a NCAA tournament-style 64 burger Bite Down to determine the best hamburger in town. Of course the timing stinks since I'm in the middle of a Lenten pescatarian period of meat denial.

So more timely would be my query: Who's got the best veggie burger in town?

I'm partial to Cheeseburger Charley's black bean burger and the beet burger at Pied Piper Eatery. I've got a long month ahead of me, so please offer your guidance in the comments. Thanks in advance!