Giving a party that keeps on giving

Felafels and tahini sauce from Dreena Burton

So. Do you cook too much food when company is coming? Do you always make way too much and end up eating leftovers all week? I do. There was only one instance that I can remember when I failed to make too much — or even enough, and I never let it happen again. It was awful. It happened when my first child was about a year old, and I had invited someone from our play group for dinner. At that time, whenever I took my baby to someone's house for dinner, I usually fed him at home, and brought some finger foods for him to eat rather than depending on our hosts to provide something he would like. He was used to eating much earlier than the typical starting times for company dinners. I didn't know that many people with babies so I was just learning the ropes. We hadn't had a lot of babies come to dinner at our house, but up until this point, everyone had done what I usually did.

Chocolate chip cake — my prettiest one yet.

We were vegetarians at the time, and for this particular dinner I was serving zucchini-crusted pizza from Moosewood Cookbook. I'll never forget this. I had considered making a double recipe, but decided that I should just calm down and make a normal amount of food for once. The recipe served four to six, and with four adults, and two babies who I assumed wouldn't be eating, there should be plenty. I probably didn't have an extra pan at the time anyway. As the pizza was finishing baking, our guest baby started getting a bit cranky, and her mom said she was probably hungry since it was way past her usual dinner time. Uh oh. When the pizza was done, the mom cut off a generous piece and gave it to the babe, who scarfed it down in a flash. Then the mom cut off another huge chunk and handed it over, explaining that her child was a voracious eater. More than 1/4 of the pizza was gone, and dinner hadn't even officially started. After the baby had a third piece I called my husband into the kitchen (sitcom style) and told him that he and I would be eating very little for dinner that night, and he could not take seconds of anything. The rest of the evening is gone from my memory, but the zucchini-crusted pizza incident will be with me forever as a warning to always have more than enough food for guests ... including babies.

Last weekend we hosted a dinner for 12 adults and two children, and trust me, there was enough food. In fact, I just finished the last of it yesterday — not counting the brownies and cookies that are still in the freezer. Of course I was worried that there wouldn't be enough, but as usual, there was.

I may have over-baked these a little, but they were (are) still delicious.

As I've mentioned before, I try to keep events like this 'simple' so I don't get stressed out, and I cook ahead when possible. The menu included: appetizers of hummus and tapenade (both brought by a guest), and spinach artichoke dip (from Glue and Glitter) with crackers, chips, carrot and celery sticks. The main menu included stuffed grape leaves (store-bought), felafels with tahini sauce (from Dreena Burton), roasted carrots and potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower, green salad, quinoa cooked with broth, harira soup, lentil soup, and mini pitas. And the desserts were chocolate chip cake, gluten-free brownies (from Oh She Glows), chewy ginger cookies and fruit salad (brought by a guest).

I made the cookies two days ahead, and put them into the freezer. The brownies were made the night before, and left uncovered overnight as suggested by Angela from Oh She Glows. (I made the gluten-free version, by the way, and if you need a great GF brownie recipe, this is it! The brownies freeze perfectly, too, and can be eaten right from the freezer. I should know.) The felafel mix and the harira (except for the noodles) were also made the day before the party.

All that was left of the 'taters and carrots when I remembered to snap a photo

Everything else was made the day of, and it was pretty easy to cut veggies for roasting, steam quinoa, throw salad into a bowl, toss stuffed grape leaves onto a platter. Heating the harira and adding noodles was simple, and making lentil soup with carrots and then puréeing it to creamy lusciousness in the Vitamix was no problem. The only part requiring effort was cooking the felafels at the last minute, and it wasn't so bad.

Leftover lentil soup jazzed up with aleppo pepper, scallions, coconut bacon, etc.

Why did I make two soups and two veggies and multiple desserts? There's that thing about wanting to be sure there was enough food, but also I had a group of diners with very diverse tastes, and I wanted to be sure to have foods that everyone would find appealing. I know that I present challenges to dinner hosts, and am very grateful when they accommodate me. I like to be sensitive to my guests, and make sure that when they come to my house, they have what they need. I always cook vegan food, but within that parameter, I try to make my guests feel welcome and happy. I plan for everyone!

Leftovers for dinner.

There was enough food at the party. (hahah) In fact, there was enough for lots of leftovers the whole week. Some of the leftovers were eaten as is, and others were used as part of new combinations, like a quinoa bowl with steamed broccoli, crisp felafels and tahini sauce. The lentil soup, kept simple and plain for the party, got spiced up. I love giving a party that keeps on giving. Don't you?

Flaxseed brownies (two versions)

© 2009 Andrea's easy vegan cooking

(We are on the road between Madison and Seattle. This post was written before we left is is posting automatically.)

I remember visiting my next door neighbor's house as a nine-year-old child and receiving a glass of orangeade. I'd never had orangeade before, and when I got home I told my mother of this wonderful discovery, and asked if she could please, please, please buy some. "Orangeade is nothing but a little orange juice diluted with water and sweetened with sugar. They add cheap ingredients, make an unhealthy drink and charge a lot of money for it. Why should I pay for something like that?" she said. She then suggested that if I really wanted orangeade I should make my own, using the real oj in the fridge. This was not what I wanted to hear. I was sure that if I did, it wouldn't taste as refreshing as the kind you could buy in a store.

Growing up, I never thought of my mother as a health food promoter. We ate a pretty standard meat-based diet. Except for fresh salad, which we had every night, our vegetables consisted mainly of canned peas and frozen green beans. But thinking back, when I was very young, we had very little junk food around the house. We didn't have candy, chips or soda on a regular basis. Those things might make an appearance as a special treat (TastyKake, anyone?), but I never developed much of a snacking habit or a sweet tooth. My mother had a strict and limited food budget and she spent her dollars on what she considered "real" food, so maybe that has something to do with why my sweet tooth is underdeveloped.

Nevertheless, every so often I can appreciate a really good dessert!

Recently I posted about the wonderful catered dinner we enjoyed with our veg meet-up group. It was a four course meal catered by Jen Gaber of Nutshell Catering, and we loved it. My recipe for edamame hummus was inspired by one of the appetizers, and now I have Jen's recipe for one of the desserts. These were very fudgy brownies and maybe the best brownies I've ever had. I altered the recipe slightly when I made these and needed more baking pan space than the original recipe called for. Don't be too alarmed by the ingredient quantities, this recipe makes brownies for a crowd. (Or maybe you REALLY like brownies and it's only enough for you! Could be.) I think I made about 40, using a 12" x 18" and about 3/4 of an 8" x 8" pan. They were cut more or less 2-1/2" square. I'm going to give you (with permission) the original recipe for very dense and fudgy brownies, and then my slightly altered one. I made changes to accommodate cost, texture, and ingredients on hand.


© 2009 Andrea's easy vegan cooking

Flaxseed brownies from Jen Gaber, Nutshell Catering

• 1 cup ground flaxseed
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup soy or rice milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
  
• 6 cups flour
  
• 1 cup cocoa powder
  
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• vegan dark chocolate chips
  

1. Mix the flaxseed, sugar, maple syrup, oil, milk, vanilla and espresso powder together in a large bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes.
2. After the wet ingredients have had their 10 minute sit, sift the flour, cocoa powder and sea salt into the wet ingredients and mix.
3. Spread into a lightly oiled 12" x 18" sheet pan.
4. Sprinkle with semi-sweet or bittersweet vegan chocolate chips.
5. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes.
   
6. Jen says, "I pull them out before they look entirely done, since the residual heat keeps cooking them, then they won't be dry."
7. Andrea says, "let them cool at least one hour before cutting. If you let them cool completely, the chocolate chips will harden and make a crunchy topping. If you cut while still warm, the chips will turn into frosting. Your choice. You can see in the photo what my choice was." :D
   

Notes and changes: When I made the brownies, I used one cup of maple syrup and 3/4 cup of agave syrup. I didn't have enough maple syrup on hand, and it seemed too expensive to use 2 cups, anyway. (I will probably reduce the maple syrup even farther next time I make these.) I also added one level tablespoon of baking powder with the flour and cocoa because I wanted a less dense, softer brownie. Because I expected the brownies to rise a bit, the 12 x 18 pan wasn't quite large enough, so I also used about 3/4 of an 8" square pan. Without the baking powder, they would probably be fine in the one large pan. I used white whole wheat flour and it worked great. (I actually meant to use whole wheat pastry flour but someone switched my bins and I didn't notice until all the flour was in!) I didn't have espresso powder so I used freeze-dried coffee crystals. I baked my brownies for 20 minutes but I think the big pan could have used at least five minutes more. The small pan was just right.

Flaxseed brownies (with changes)

• 1 cup ground flaxseed
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 3/4 cup agave
  
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup soy or rice milk
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
  
• 6 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
  
• 1 cup cocoa powder
  
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• vegan dark chocolate chips
  

1. Mix the flaxseed, sugar, maple syrup, oil, milk, vanilla and espresso powder together in a large bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes.
2. After the wet ingredients have had their 10 minute sit, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and sea salt into the wet ingredients and mix.
3. Spread into a lightly oiled 12" x 18" sheet pan. (see notes, above)
   
4. Sprinkle with semi-sweet or bittersweet vegan chocolate chips.
5. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes. (check at 20 minutes)
   (see notes, above)
   
6. Let them cool at least one hour before cutting. If you let them cool completely, the chocolate chips will harden and make a crunchy topping. If you cut while still warm, the chips will turn into frosting. Your choice.