First Fancy Dinner

It feels like so long ago that I first embarked on my Vegan Adventure. It's only been 3 weeks, but already I feel like I have grown substantially from it, and it has certainly been fruitful (so to speak), full of many "Ah ha!" moments and vegan epiphanies.

I made my first full blown vegan dinner for my gracious Mom and Aunty two weekends ago. They were both shocked that no animals were harmed in the making of this delicious and moral meal. Here's the yummy low-down of our dinner menu:

- Garlicy Falafels

- Baked Plantaine Chips

- Silian Greens with Pine Nuts & Raisins

- Miner's Lettuce Salad

- Foccacia Bread dipped in Balsamic & Olive Oil

I'm not going to lie to you and pretend that I am some contemporary goddess who fell into the female realm of domesticity with ease and grace. For instance, making falafels, in and of itself, should not be a tricky task. But for someone who has never cooked much more than toast in her life, it proved to be a puzzle. It took me three tries to get falafels right!

Attempt #1: I added the vegetable stock to my falafel dough, not realizing that the recipe called for veg stock in order to soak the chickpeas in, and then to drain them from (ie. the veg stock was to be drained!) Soooo, attempt number one turned out to be a soupy mess.

Attempt #2: I used canned chickpeas this time instead of cooked, because that's all we had. I idiodically thought that if I added some veg stock powder straight to this falafel dough, it would be tastier. WRONG! It turned out so salty that our blood pressures were all probably dangerous high. Oops.

Attempt #3: Perfecto! Here's the scoop:

Garlicy Falafels*

Yields 2 dozen

Ingredients:

• Chick peas (2 cups dried, or 6 cups cooked/canned)
• Stock or water (5 cups)
• Whole wheat flour (1/2 cup)
• Garlic cloves (3 diced)
• Parsley (3 tablespoons chopped)
• Sea salt (1 tablespoon)
• Basil (1/4 cup)
• Olive oil (2 tablespoons [for lighter frying] or 3-5 cups [for deep-frying])

1. Cook the dried chick peas in stock or water (1 – 1.5 hours or so simmering in a covered pot). After they have been cooked, drain them and mash them well.

2. Add the rest if the ingredients to the mashed chick peas, except for the oil. The mixture will be medium-hard. You can try kneading it. Form 1-1/2” balls. You can roll them with your hands, then roll them onto some flour.

3. In a saucepan, heat the oil on high. The pan should be so hot that water droplets on the frying pan should sizzle. Either lightly fry the balls until they looked toasted and golden brown (you may need to flatten them a bit for this, as I did) or deep fry them in lots of oil until they are light brown. If you deep fry them, drain them on paper towels.

We dipped in the falafels in "Nayonaise" brand vegan mayonaise. Delicieux!

* from The Cookbook for People Who Love Animals


 

Sicilian Greens with Pine Nuts and Raisins*

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• Greens like collards, kale or bok choi (a stir-frying pan full)
• Pine nuts (2 tablespoons)
• Garlic cloves (3 peeled and chopped)
• Olive oil (1 tablespoon)
• Raisins (3 table spoons)
• Balsamic vinegar (2 tablespoons)

1. Dampen your greens in a bowl. Chop them in large chunks. 

2. Toast the pine nuts over medium heat on a dry skillet until golden. Shake the pan often to keep the pine nuts from burning.

3. Place the garlic and oil in a separate skillet and sauté over medium heat for 1 minute. Add dampened greens and stir, then cover the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the raisins and pine nuts and stir. Cover and cook for two minutes. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, cover, and continue to cook for 1 or 2 minutes longer.

** adapted from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

 

Baked Plantaine Chips***

Ingredients:

• Plantains (2 medium-large)
• Olive oil (1 1/2 tablespoons)
• Salt (1/4 teaspoon)

1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Trim the ends from plantains. Peel the plantains (I failed to do this) and toss them in a large bowl with the oil and salt. Lay them out on a greased baking pan. Bake the slices for 15 minutes then remove them from the oven. Place a few slices on a cutting board and press gently with the bottom of a glass. Turn them over and return them to the baking sheet. Gently paint them with some olive oil and sprinkle some more sea salt on them. Bake them for another 5 minutes, and voila!

 *** from RecipeZaar.com

Miner's Lettuce Salad

Pick some miner's lettuce and put it in a bowl. Voila!

Foccaccia Bread

Buy some foccaccia bread and warm it up in the oven. Cut into slices and serve with small plates of olive oil and balsamic. Bon appetit!