Bianca Phillips has been piddlin’ around her mama’s and granny’s kitchens since she was knee-high to a grasshopper (that’s Southern speak for “really little”). She hasn’t had any fancy culinary training, but she’s a firm believer that great Southern chefs learn to cook from the soul. The Arkansas native and current resident of Memphis, Tennessee grew up not too far from the muddy banks of the Mississippi River. That meant cornbread, butter beans, collard greens, and Paula Deen.

The 7-year vegan, 17-year vegetarian is dedicated to veganizing soul food and country classics. She has a background in journalism and works as an associate editor at the Memphis Flyer, an alternative news-weekly. Bianca blogs about her daily vegan eats on her Vegan Crunk food blog, vegancrunk.blogspot.com. She’s also the mother of eight fur babies—six cats and two big ol’ mutts.

For more on Bianca, check out her blog: http://vegancrunk.blogspot.com