resources.

Polenta Cups

Polenta, the Italian cornmeal dish that is increasing in popularity worldwide, has been incorporated into a new line of convenient meals-in-a-cup by Fantastic Foods, a natural foods company in Petaluma, California.

These new Polenta Cups have been inspired by regional restaurant recipes. Flavors include Mediterranean, Mexicana, Santa Fe, and Three Cheese. Each 1.8- to 1.9-ounce cup contains just three grams of fat, and ranges from 200 to 220 calories per serving. All-natural and all-vegetarian, Polenta Cups should be available in natural food stores at a suggested retail price of $1.29 per cup.

Vegetarian Dining-out Guide

Food served in restaurant and quick-service chains has become a regular part of the North American diet. But because these chains feature steaks, chicken, fish, and burgers as their primary fare, people following a plant-based diet often shy away from these restaurants.

Now comes Vegetarian Menu Items at Restaurant and Quick Service Chains, from the Vegetarian Resource Group. The 24-page guide offers a detailed look at the menus of 75 fast-food, casual-dining and family-style restaurant chains, describing the variety of vegetarian options each company offers. While the amount and detail of information provided varies from chain to chain, this booklet reveals a wide range of meat-free choices you probably didn't know existed, and some hidden meat ingredients in products you likely thought were vegetarian.

The booklet is available by sending $4 to the Vegetarian Resource Group, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203, or by calling [phone]. Orders can also be placed on the organization's website, www.vrg.org.

Meat-free Bouillon 

Home chefs can add flavor to basic vegetable dishes with Maggi Vegetarian Vegetable Bouillon cubes. Combining vegetables, natural flavors, and other ingredients, these cubes add zest to soups, stews, vegetables, pastas, gravies, rice, and many other dishes. Maggi Vegetarian Vegetable Bouillon contains no fat or cholesterol, and is only five calories per serving.

Maggi Bouillon products are distributed in more than 100 countries, with United States distribution handled by Nestle USA, Inc. Ask your local supermarket for information about availability.

Porkless Pizzas

Yves Cuisine's Veggie Pizza Pepperoni and Longalife's Not Pepperoni allow pepperoni lovers to enjoy their favorite pizza with much less guilt about what's happening to their arteries or waistlines. Both products come close to mimicking the taste of regular pepperoni, but do so with about one-third the number of calories, 10 to 20 fewer grams of fat, and four additional grams of dietary fiber per serving when compared with regular pepperoni.

Ask for both products in health food stores and supermarkets. For more information on where to purchase Yves Cuisine's Veggie Pizza Pepperoni, visit their website at www.yvesveggie.com. For information on Longalife's Not Pepperoni, call toll-free 888-574-5433. And for more on great pizzas, try some of our recipes starting on page 24 in this issue.