Throw in some scrambled tofu, home-fried potatoes, whole grain muffins, apple-berry crisp and cooked oatmeal topped with raisins, cinnamon and unsweetened, shredded coconut, too.

That's how I and 600 other participants started each day at Vegetarian Summerfest, the annual meeting of the North American Vegetarian Society, held each year on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in Pennsylvania. After a five-year absence, I had the good fortune to attend last month as a speaker on diet and health.

The experience made me wonder why it had taken so long to return.

The rural setting, simple dorm room lodging and ultra-relaxed pace gives the experience a summer camp feel. Cooking demonstrations and educational sessions draw diverse crowds including young families, teens and adults, some well into their 80s.

But the highlight of the 34-year-old conference hasn't changed in all the years I've attended: The food is extraordinary, every bit of it a guilt-free, good-for-you indulgence. The meals are served cafeteria-style in the UPJ dining hall during the five-day event. They make up the most powerful educational tool I have ever encountered for anyone seeking a combination classroom and dining hall experience while trying to learn how to eat to support health.

Most of the foods contain fewer than five ingredients and would be simple to prepare at home. They include all-American classics such as strawberry shortcake (but served with nondairy ice cream and tofu-whipped topping) and cornbread, as well as international recipes from Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

We ate steamed millet with black bean or peanut sauce, Moroccan lentil soup, whole grain rolls, sweet potato smash and spinach pesto.

Meals contain no animal products, refined sugar, hydrogenated oils, artificial flavorings or colorings. Most of the ingredients are organic and minimally processed.

They're a nutritionist's dream.

Fresh fruit accompanied every meal: unlimited quantities of sliced watermelon, black and red plums and cantaloupe. Beverages included herbal tea, soy milk, rice milk and water.

The meals are an effective model to show how food that is good for you can be delicious and satisfying, too. A testament to that fact was the scene of several hundred people jockeying for a place in line to get steamed brown rice with braised tofu and mushroom gravy, chopped greens, pumpkin soup and spice cake with caramel frosting.

Like many others, I left Summerfest with a head full of ideas for new foods to make at home. But the greatest value of the experience was underscored one evening at dinner.

My husband and I found empty seats in the packed dining hall across from a family from a small town in Wisconsin. Summerfest first-timers.

The husband and wife were seated next to their 13-year-old daughter. She was in full Goth attire: hair dyed black, dark eye liner circling her eyes and black T-shirt emblazoned with the word "vegan." Supportive of their daughter's interest in attending the conference, the couple admitted their own diets favored brats and butter.

They smiled when I asked how they were doing with their meals. The food was good, they said. "I'm here with an open mind," the dad told us as he picked at a mixed green salad. I saw them again that week, walking to the Student Union for meals and attending the lectures.

Spending time with others who share a value for health-supporting foods can be a transformative experience, especially when it's a crowd of supportive, tolerant friends joyfully sharing time over good, health-sustaining food. Learning by such doing can educate in a way that reading about nutrition alone can't accomplish.

Closer to home, seek similar benefits by organizing healthy potluck dinners for your friends, or set up regular outings to ethnic or natural foods restaurants.

Look for ways to bring a little Summerfest into your life year-round.