Chef and co-owner Jason Hammel started Lula Cafe's seasonally driven, ever-changing breakfast sandwich series when the restaurant opened in 1999. Currently, the Royale features shaved layers of tender celery root and aged Parmesan with bright tomato conserva and creamy garlic bechamel topped with a signature sunny egg. A vinegar dressed frisee side salad with silky sweet peppers adds a tart and textured punch. Hammel once got mad at me when I asked him when he’d finally write a cookbook. Even if it only included recipes for some of the fan favorites of The Royale, I'd be satisfied. 2537 N. Kedzie Ave., 773-489-9554, www.lulacafe.com. — Louisa Chu

This savory lentil fritter looks like a doughnut with a texture akin to a Southern hush puppy. Good on its own or smeared with a dab of the accompanying coconut chutney, the vada begs to be dunked in the peppery sambar, a simple yet delicious vegetable stew that warms the soul on a wintry day. Uru-Swati, a popular vegetarian restaurant in West Rogers Park, offers two vada, the sambar and chutney for $5.95. Pair the vada with an order of paper masala dosa, a 2-foot-long thin rice and lentil crepe rolled around a filling of spiced potatoes ($8.95). Uru-Swati, 2629 W. Devon Ave. 773-381-1010. uruswati.us. -- Bill Daley

Standard Market is an upscale grocery store, complete with an in-house deli, prepped dinners to go, bakeries, butchers, a coffee shop, cheese cave and restaurant, Standard Market Grill. The Buddha Bowl at the grill is warm, comforting and bursting with flavor. Steaming brown rice is topped with stir-fried market vegetables, like yellow and red peppers, broccoli, kale, edamame, carrots and sugar snap peas. This is all drizzled with a sweet and savory peanut ginger glaze and garnished with toasted peanuts, green onions and sesame seeds. You can also add tofu, chicken, steak, or seared tuna or salmon to your bowl if you want to up the protein levels. But in all honesty, this generous portion doesn't really need it. $11, 1508 Aurora Ave., Naperville, 630-536-1620, standardmarketgrill.com -- Grace Wong

Sharing a kitchen with Mediterranean-inspired Ema, Rotisserie Ema is a casual self-service salad bar with plenty of options for meatless meals. On any given day, expect an array of roasted vegetables, grain salads and hummus options, like caramelized onion or roasted red pepper. Falafel orbs are impossibly crispy, with tender, flavorful interiors, while sauces like harissa and zhoug, a neon-green herb sauce of cilantro and parsley, contribute bold flavors to the rainbow of vegetable options. Priced by the pound. 74 W. Illinois St., 312-527-5586 — Joseph Hernandez

Dinner for two is made easy at this long-running Edgewater restaurant with its Taste of Ethiopia vegetarian sampler platter. Not only do you get taste-size portions of an array of dishes served on pizza-size rounds of injera, the spongy, subtly tart Ethiopian flatbread, but also each person gets two sambusas -- a triangular stuffed pastry offered with chopped vegetable or meat fillings. The vegetarian sampler is $33 for two; $17.50 for one. The vegetarian dishes offered are more mild than wild, but there are some spicy sparks, notably from the red lentils cooked in an assertive berbere sauce, and the falafellike chickpea dumplings in a smoldering stew. These dishes stand in neat contrast to two other faves, the mild yellow split peas cooked with onion, garlic and ginger, and the chopped collard greens with onion. Also on the platter are spoonfuls of tender sliced cabbage and carrots, a mildly flavored dish of cubed potatoes with carrots and a small salad of crisp lettuce and chopped tomato with a lemony dressing. While one gets folded pieces of injera bread to scoop up the various morsels, don’t forget to eat the edible plate; the injera underneath the food soaks up some of the delicious sauces and flavors as you eat. 6120 N. Broadway, 773-338-6100. (also in Rogers Park at 7537 N. Clark St., 773-764-2200) ethiopiandiamondrestaurants.com -- Bill Daley