Vegan cooking: Fire up cauldron for Halloween - Suzhou Dehydrated Garlic Inc.

Here are some fun vegan treats to serve up at your next ghoulish gathering.

Serve this green soup from your best cauldron.

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth or keep slightly chunky, if desired. Warm the soup in a pot. Garnish each serving with additional broccoli florets and cheese shreds, if desired.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and slice the yam and the potato. Bake slices on parchment paper in oven about 15 minutes or until soft. Cool. Using a sharp knife, cut yam slices into pumpkin faces. Using a scissors and a straw, cut eyes and jagged shape at the bottom of the potato ghosts.Heat 1 cup of water per packet of ramen noodles. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Add black beans and either seasoning packet or your own mix of seasoning: dehydrated onion flakes, garlic, etc. Add more water for a soup with more broth. Heat until warmed throughout.

Place soup in a large bowl and decorate with parsley, cucumber, yam pumpkins and potato ghosts or decorate individual servings.

One large apple makes about six "bites."

Slice each apple in half long way through the core, then slice each half into quarter-inch slices. Place almond slivers to look like teeth around the outside of each apple slice, near the apple peel. Place a spoonful of jam behind the almond slivers and top with another apple slice.

Break vegan graham crackers apart. Spread white vegan frosting in the middle and top with a small glob (about a half-teaspoon) of seedless raspberry or strawberry jam.

Place vegan dip in a bowl. Wash carrots well and trim to finger-sized pieces. Stick the carrots into the bowl of dip and place an almond slice on each tip. A little dip on the back of each slice helps the almond stick to the carrot.

Cook meatballs according to package directions. Cool slightly. Insert broken corn chips in sides of each meatball to form wings. Add eyes made from rice or bits of pimento or peppers. Serve meatballs with ketchup or other sauce.

Roll a sheet of puff pastry to quarter-inch thickness. Cut the pastry into thin strips. Wind strips around each kielbasa or hotdog to look like a mummy. Cook on a baking sheet at 400 degrees until puff pastry is lightly browned. Before serving, add olives for eyes. Serve with ketchup.One sheet of puff pastry makes about eight hotdogs.

Lightly oil baking pan. Spread hot rice on a square or round baking pan. Cool rice slightly then using your fingers, form the rice into the shape of a face. Use plant-based food for decorating, make a scary face.

Mash black beans in a large bowl. Add seasonings, if desired. Add oatmeal, one cup at a time, until mixture can be shaped. Decorate toes and stump with onion slices and ketchup. Bake until firm. Decorate with additional ketchup.

Saute vegan burger crumbles in a skillet. Add about a quarter-cup of the tomato sauce — enough to moisten the crumbles so that it sticks together. Add more sauce if needed. Add in the cheese and olives (if desired), reserving two olives for eyes.Dust a long piece of plastic wrap with flour. Form pizza dough into a long snake shape, then flatten it on the plastic wrap, using a rolling pin, to about 6 inches wide by 36 inches long. The length of the snake will be determined by how much pizza dough you use. The longer the snake, the more difficult it will become to roll!

Place the cooled burger mix down the middle of the snake. Don't overfill the snake or you’ll have a mess. Use the plastic wrap to help roll the pizza dough around the filling. Make an arrowhead shape at the top of the snake for the head and make a tapered tail.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the snake is cooked. Garnish the snake with a pepper or tomato tongue and olives for the eyes. Heat the remaining tomato sauce and serve with the snake.

Susan Alexander is food columnist for the Duluth News Tribune. She loves gardening, farmers markets and creating delicious meals consisting of whole grains, fresh vegetables and fruits.