Mother Talkers

suggestions for daughters 18th party-she's vegan

by Lee N

Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 02:09:37 PM PDT

I am throwing her an 18th birhtday. She's vegan, I am not.  Making it vegetarian honors her, but there will be a lot of people who probably have never had or seen some of this food.Looks like we will have over sixty people. I have put together a menu that I think is interesting and won't scream WEIRD >>>NO MEAT.

Here's what I have so far. I need another dish

1 Felafel. Right now unless I can find someone who will sell me the uncooked mix and not the sandwich, I will make from the fantastic food mix. I can buy small pita from Trader Joes and make hummus.
2 Veggie chilli. I make with black beans and use tvp, mushrooms,onions
and peppers. Will serve with soy cheese and regualr cheese.
3 Pesto...including whole wheat with soy cheese for dd4 Big salad
4 Breads..I make great challah, will have pitas and last night I made a bread that was 2/3's unbleached white and 1 cup of chick pea flour. I added a litle cumin and it was yummy...
Desserts

I keep trying to make vegan desserts that she likes. Most are awful. But I finally found a whole wheat carrot cake recipe that is decent. I will also have pound cake and fruit...

But I need another dish????

Tags: birthday, food (all tags)

Permalink | 23 comments

  • not sure about dessert (0 / 0)

    but here is a dish i used to make:

    yellow potatoes
    tempeh (the kind with seaweed in it is really good)
    portobello mushrooms
    tamari
    shallots
    garlic
    kale
    olive oil
    salt
    pepper

    mince garlic and shallots.
    chop up all other items (except for kale) in to decent sized chunks. in large baking pan, put 2/3ds of your garlic and shallots, all of your potatoes, and tempeh, a bit of salt and pepper, and coat all of this with olive oil. put into bake on 375.

    the use a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and the rest of your garlic and shallots to saute' the portobellos. add some tamari in with those once some of the water has cooked out of them. once those are browned, throw them in with the rest of the dish in the oven, stir, add some tamari, and possibly olive oil as needed.

    steam the kale and throw it over top of individual servings.

    sorry i do not have exact portion sizes on this one. i made it up and would just do it by sight/taste. hope this helps.

    i was vegan for many years. it is so kind and loving of you to go to the effort to honor your daughter's dietary choices. good luck!

    We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. - E.R. Murrow

    by lorin on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 02:41:34 PM PDT

  • king arthur flour has a chocolate cake recipe (0 / 0)

    which i used to use about 12 years ago- no eggs or dairy at all

    it used baking soda and vinegar for the leavening.  i'm not kidding

    the day you make it it tastes weird, but the next day it is FANTASTIC!

    i'll try to find it

    also, a really good salad dressing is tahini sauce- i used to make it w/ tahini paste, water, lemon juice, a little salt, and either garlic powder or a few smashed garlic cloves (shake it all up in a jar, then pick out the smashed garlic chunks)

    and i make vegetarian tacos w/ lentils instead of meat- soak and drain the lentils, then sautee a chopped onion in oil, and add the seasoning packet and water and cook it- i think a dry cup and 1/4 of lentils is the right amount for a dinner kit

    i've used other beans, but it really works best w/ lentils

    and while you're at trader joe's, you can buy guacomole if you don't want to make it from scratch- if you're not putting cheese on the tacos, guac makes them still be yummy

    i was vegan for three years, now i'm just vegetarian

    by thankgodforairamerica on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 04:02:37 PM PDT

  • i just thought of something else (0 / 0)

    an old boyfriend and i used to get gourmet, dairy free pizzas- i was vegan, he didn't eat cheese (but he ate meat) and the pizza guy thought we were nuts

    if you buy or make pizza dough, you could make spectacular veggie pizzas- sundried tomatoes, some of the pesto you're making, shrooms, eggplant...

    now i'm getting hungry.  and i miss rick.  oh, the memories.

    by thankgodforairamerica on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 04:05:34 PM PDT

  • found it (0 / 0)

    king arthur flour chocolate cake

    but don't eat it warm in the pan like they say- it really does taste weird

    i used to sprinkle powdered sugar on it and eat it the next day

    yum!!

    by thankgodforairamerica on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 04:09:09 PM PDT

    • bad link- sorry (0 / 0)

      from their website:

      King Arthur Flour's
      Original Cake-Pan Cake

      This wartime cake has survived the intervening years for several reasons: it contains no cholesterol, it can be put together right in the pan it's baked in, and it is a dark, moist and delicious chocolate cake, despite being only about 125 calories per serving. And, if you make it with canola oil, it also contains a minimum of saturated fat. Over the years, this has been one of King Arthur Flour's most requested recipes.

      1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
      1 cup sugar
      3 tablespoons cocoa
      1/2 teaspoon salt
      1 teaspoon baking soda
      1 teaspoon vanilla
      1 tablespoon vinegar
      6 tablespoons canola oil
      1 cup cold water (original recipe), coffee (next inspiration), milk (later inspiration), or 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup rum (latest inspiration)

      Preheat your oven to 350°F.

      Measure all the dry ingredients into an 8 or 9-inch round or square cake pan. Blend these together thoroughly with a fork and scoop out three holes, or indentations.

      Pour the vanilla into the first hole, the vinegar into the second, and the vegetable oil into the third.

      Take the cup of cold liquid (water, coffee, milk, etc.) and pour it directly over everything in the pan. Stir all the ingredients together with your fork until they are well blended.

      Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve right from the pan; warm from the oven, this Cake-Pan Cake is wonderful with a big glass of milk (skim, of course!)

      This recipe reprinted from The Baking Sheet Newsletter, Vol. II, No. 5, March 1991 issue.

      ©2008 The King Arthur Flour Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

      by thankgodforairamerica on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 04:25:14 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  • What about something like Pad Thai? (0 / 0)

    My 21 year old daughter is vegetarian but not vegan. She loves Pad Thai with tofu & makes it often. It isn't really hard & there are even mixes to help you out.
    Another favorite is spinach artichoke dip. She makes it & instead of chips or crackers she partially cooks some bowtie pasta.After the pasta is drained she fries it crisp & then sprinkles parmesan cheese lightly on them. The pasta makes a great scoop & there is vegan parmesan cheese. Here is a site with the vegan spinach artichoke recipe.
    http://vegan-licious.blogspot.com/...

    This site has a recipe for a chocolate pie that sounds good too.
    http://vegetarian.about.com/...

    Good luck! I know it can be tough to work around different food choices. She should have a great party.

    by alicetben on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 04:55:03 PM PDT

  • dessert ideas (0 / 0)

    Have you checked out the Post Punk Kitchen? Isa is a cupcake fanatic, so I'm sure that she has something that would work for you.  Good luck, and what a great mom you are for being so supportive of your daughter.

    by Mena on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 06:08:58 PM PDT

    • She has another book -- all cupcakes! (0 / 0)

      It's Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World -- a little book, but fully of very very easy and yummy totally vegan cupcake recipes!

      I've seen it at bookstores (Borders or Barnes and Noble) just in the Veggie section recently.

      Some of the cupcakes do come with elaborate decorations, but the basic recipes are really easy and good.

      -Cheryl

      by cbfly on Sun Mar 02, 2008 at 06:51:18 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  • great vegan chocolate pudding... (0 / 0)

    Chocolate Banana Pudding (Jude Blereau, WholeFoodCooking)
    3 1/2 tablespoons kudzu (49 gm) or arrowroot (thickener)
    2 tablespoons cocoa
    2 tablespoons rapadura sugar or maple syrup
    1 1/2 cup rice milk
    3/4 cup coconut milk
    1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
    2 bananas

    Add the kudzu or arrowroot, cocoa, rapadura sugar or maple syrup to a medium saucepan, with 1/2 cup rice milk and stir into a smooth slurry. Add the remaining 1 cup rice milk, coconut milk and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Place over a medium heat and just bring to the boil, stirring constantly until thick and smooth. Once you see the bubbles from the boil, give it a couple more stirs and remove from heat. Peel and cut the banana into small pieces and divide between small pots or bowls. Spoon the chocolate pudding over the bananas and serve, or let cool and serve later.

    by aussieyank on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 07:21:03 PM PDT

    • Also great: chocolate pudding with tofu base (0 / 0)

      It sounds weird, but it is FANTASTIC.

      Alton Brown's recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/...

      (make it with or without the pie crust)

      Mori-nu, which makes the boxed tofu, also has little packets that are basically cocoa powder and sugar that are premeasured to mix with the tofu and some water. I discovered these when I was dairy free, but I actually prefer it to "real" pudding made with dairy.

      by shenanigans on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 09:38:47 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  • some simple ideas (0 / 0)

    A good fresh fruit salad (a couple of cut up melons, grapes, strawberries) is always a big hit at every party.  

    Penne pasta with a simple tomato sauce holds up well and is familiar enough for everyone
    vegan chocolate is usually a hit too

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    by Caldreaming on Sun Mar 02, 2008 at 08:19:45 PM PDT

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