Bay Area Vegetarians

These menus could work for Valentine’s Day, for a birthday, or for an “outreach” meal that you make for a meat-eater. For each course I have included one very easy idea and a more complicated recipe, so you can play around with the final menu depending on how much you like to cook. I’ve also included some VegCooking.com recipes so that you can check out that website–it’s a great resource.

Menu 1, Easy
Salsa and Squash butter
Sweet potato fries, greens and BBQ tofu or Riblets
Pumpkin cheesecake and/or sweet nibbles

Menu 2, Medium
Stuffed mushrooms on greens
Polenta, tomato sauce, and garlic bread
Chocolate pecan pie and/or Satsuma’s and Asian pears

MENU 1 RECIPES

Salsas: Purchase some of the high quality, fresh salsas that are everywhere these days. One tomato-based and spicy, one avocado-based and mild. Serve with light corn chips (the white ones, not the blue ones) and fresh vegetables: Jicama, cucumber, and endive.

Squash Butter

The rich sweetness of this spread compliments the spicy salsa and savory avocado. You can make this 2-3 days ahead of time.

1 whole roasted butternut squash

(Just pop the whole thing in the oven and cook until tender and golden brown.)
2 Tb tahini or almond butter (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tb miso (optional)

The squash is done when you can easily poke a knife into it. Let it cool, then scoop out the seeds and remove the skin.

Puree all ingredients in a food processor until silky smooth.

Optional flavors to play with: Cinnamon, curry, orange, cayenne pepper, roasted garlic.

Sweet Potato Fries:
http://vegcooking.com/recipeshow.asp?RequestID=1001

BBQ:

• Buy your favorite sauce, pour over tofu, and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees (turning at least once).
• Buy GardenBurger BBQ Riblets, heat and serve. Discard box before guests arrive. My mother just served these to her fellow teachers in Anchorage, Alaska–where everyone has moose meat in their freezer–and they disappeared in 4 minutes.
• Make from scratch:
  http://vegcooking.com/recipeshow.asp?RequestID=545

Greens:

Ask George from Bay Area Vegetarians. He makes the best greens ever. But if George is busy, you can make:

2 large bunches fresh greens–collards, kale, and/or chard.
Or 1 bag pre-chopped greens
½ cup water or veggie stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tb balsamic vinegar
1 Tb tamari or soy sauce, OR salt and pepper to taste.

Wash the greens and put them in a big pot with the water still on them.

Add the garlic, water, vinegar and soy sauce.

Cook on High until the liquid is boiling, then turn down to a simmer and cook gently (stirring often) until the greens are wilted and tender. Anywhere from 5-10 minutes, depending on your tastes and the greens you’re using.

Season to taste and serve hot.

Optional: 1 cup pumpkin seeds. George brought collards with pumpkin seeds to the last BAVEG Vegan Food Party and they were delish.

Pumpkin Cheesecake:

12 oz. firm silken tofu, puréed
8 oz. nondairy cream cheese (try Tofutti brand)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 prepared graham cracker crust

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Purée all the ingredients (except the pie crust) in a food processor. Pour the filling into the graham cracker crust and bake for 50 minutes.

Allow to cool for 30 minutes, cover with plastic wrap or the top of the pie container, and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight before serving.

MENU 2 RECIPES

Stuffed mushrooms on greens

The mushrooms:
http://vegcooking.com/recipeshow.asp?RequestID=847&Search=mushrooms

You can substitute nutritional yeast for the vegan parmesan.

Serve the hot mushrooms on a bed of baby spinach, drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Polenta with Tomato Sauce
(ready to eat right away)

2 cups polenta
8 cups water
1 Tb salt
1 Tb pepper
½ cup nutritional yeast

2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
¼ cup dried herbs: basil, oregano, thyme, parsley
2 Tb extra virgin olive oil

1 Jar vegan tomato sauce (or make your own!)
Optional: Add sautéed greens, peppers, onions, and/or mushrooms to the sauce.

• Bring the water, garlic and dried herbs to a boil in a large sauce pot.
• Slowly and carefully whisk in the polenta
• Turn the heat to simmer and stir occasionally, using a whisk.
• Heat your tomato sauce, add your veggies if you choose.
• Add the salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, olive oil and any fresh herbs to the polenta.
• Serve the tomato sauce over the soft polenta, in big bowls. Add a big salad, or some steamed fresh veggies, and you’ve got a great meal — filling, delicious, and very nutritious!

If you’re including whole-grain bread in your diet, you could make some garlic bread as a special extra: Simply spread soft roasted garlic over fresh bread, then toast to a golden brown, or make:

Garlic Bread Spread
(this makes a lot, but it keeps for weeks in the fridge)

2 cups softened Earth Balance (1 small tub)
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
½ cup fresh chopped garlic

1/3 cup dried garlic
¼ cup mixed dried Italian herbs
2 Tb salt
1 Tb pepper
½ cup nutritional yeast

Mix well. Chill. Spread on bread and toast.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

1 pre-made whole wheat, vegan pie crust (found in freezer sections)
or make your own, I recommend Meredith McCartney’s book “Sweet and Natural” for excellent vegan baking recipes.

2 cups pecans
1 cup maple syrup
1 Tb vanilla
¼ tsp salt

2 Tb arrowroot
1/3 cup soymilk
1 cup melted vegan chocolate chips

• Stir the maple, pecans, vanilla, and salt together.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the arrowroot and soymilk.
• Add to the maple mixture.
• Whisk in the melted chocolate.
• Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. You must let cool before serving–it will firm up, but it needs about 6 hours to do that.

Other dessert ideas that will work for either menu, and save you time in the kitchen:

• Slice some very good sourdough bread, sprinkle with vegan chocolate chips, and put in a 200 degree oven for 7 minutes. Sound odd? Just think of when you used to eat warm, fresh chocolate croissants back in the 80’s when they were all the rage…
• Little bowls of good dark chocolate chips (Dagoba, Sunspire, etc), toasted almonds, raw walnuts, cinnamon almonds and slices of good fresh seasonal fruit.
• Dates and almonds
• Dates, almonds, Satsuma tangerines and Asian pears
• Mango slices, papaya slices, dates and walnuts
• Almonds or good apples with vegan chocolate-covered espresso beans and mint tea

These may sound overly simple, but your guests will be impressed with the uniqueness of the combinations and the refreshing break from a heavy baked dessert. And there’s no risk of messing up a recipe! Sometimes little nibbles like this are just the right ending to a rich meal (like BBQ or polenta).

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 1st, 2006 at 1:20 pm and is filed under Heart Smart Cooking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.