In the land of cheese curds, brats and Tater Tot hotdish, there is a new sheriff in town. The Minnesota State Fair is including in its annual cooking competition a Vegan Main Dish category. So put down those deep fried Twinkies on a stick and run over and get a glimpse at history in the making. Or better yet, enter a dish to win!

Florence Brammer helped campaign for the category to be added to the competition this year. For the several hundred thousand fair-goers, Brammer is hoping that this will raise awareness to the concept of vegan entrées and to the plight of factory farm raised animals. She is personally offering a prize to the winner- a copy of "The Vegan Table" by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

The deadline for online registration is 4:30pm, August 9th. Registration is free! Go to state fair website to register. No late entries will be accepted, so skip, prance, or sashay your way down to the (virtual) registration booth.

When entering keep in mind that salads are not accepted since the goal is to provide a complete protein, just as non-vegan dishes do. The dishes will be judged based on four categories: Appearance, Ease of Preparation, Taste and Texture, with Taste being the most heavily weighted category and Ease of Preparation second.

Recipes should include 12 ingredients or fewer. This does not include cooking oil, garnish, salt, pepper and water.

Entries must be delivered to the fairgrounds on Sunday, August 21, in a disposable container.

To enter you must be 14 years or older, and a Minnesota resident. Professional chefs are not allowed. For complete rules download this PDF, then look for category #1111.

Please take this awesome opportunity to bring delicious vegan food to state fair-goers, as well as showing the fair administrators that there is a strong vegan community that will stand behind this new category!