Vegan Grilled Cheese Takes Honors at Contest

On April 28, the Grilled Cheese Invitational cooking contest awarded top honors to a vegan sandwich for the first time in its 10-year tradition. Gwendolyn Mathers, representing animal-welfare organization Compassion Over Killing, took home third place for The Aurora Borealis, a combination of mozzarella-flavored Daiya, Tofutti cream cheese, brandy-soaked peaches, and blueberry-strawberry reductions sandwiched between maple-margarine-fried slices of sourdough bread. Mathers, who also entered two savory sandwiches in the competition, is offering the recipe for her winning creation on COK’s blog. The GCI draws nearly 10,000 attendees to Los Angeles’ Rose Bowl every year.