Guess Who's Coming to Dinner....Vegans !!

Tell many a home cook that your are bringing vegans to dinner and they will run screaming from the kitchen. Personally I love a good challenge in the kitchen, I don't flinch at vegan or gluten-free or any other specific dietary choices, bring them on !!

Last weekend we had my friend and her husband over for dinner, the food was to be vegan and lots of it as they are both very physically active.

For those of you unclear on the concept, vegans choose a diet that is all plant based, no flesh, dairy or eggs. Some do it for health reasons, others as part of their belief system.

These days there are cookbooks and restaurants abound that cater to vegans, at least on both coasts ;-)

While I am an avid omnivore it was easy for me to look back through this blog to find tasty recipes to use for this feast.

Here is my menu.

Drinks: Grapefruit Lemonade, these days I use whatever citrus I have on hand.
             Muddle Mint Lime Soda, I used my lime simple syrup, a few sprigs of mashed spear mint and sparkling water

First Course: Fresh Spring Rolls to which I added a baked tofu purchased at the store.
                     Chickpea Soup, since I was doing a curried roasted veggie dish as part of the main course I switched it up a bit using my Moroccan spice mix and in place of the tomatoes, I used some of my roasted bell peppers from the freezer.

Half the fun of this kind of meal are the condiments or "food toys" as I like to call them. From left to right: two kinds of fruit chutney, sliced lemon and limes, fresh spearmint sprigs, peanut sauce and a soy citrus ginger sauce ( I need to document that one next time I make it, so I can post it;-). We used them both for the first course and the main course.

Main Course: Massage Kale Salad with oranges and finely chopped fennel bulb.
                      Quinoa and Millet, which I toasted first. I used 1 cup of quinoa ( a mix of red and yellow) and 1/2 cup millet. Cook in three cups of water in your rice cooker.

                   

Roasted Curried Vegetables.

I used butternut squash, carrots and three kinds of potatoes(Trader Joe's sells them in a mesh bag together).

I cut them into rather large similar size chunks, toss them with a tablespoon of olive oil and a couple tablespoons of freshly made curry spice. The fresh curry spice is the secret to this recipe, I use the same curry spice in a baked chicken dish I have been making lately.

Place the vegetables in a foil covered and oiled baking dish, cover with more foil and bake at 350 F for 1-2 hours, checking after one hour for doneness, you want them to be very soft.

Here's what the plate looked like when Jim went back for seconds, I forgot to get a photo the first time.

Dessert !! I made the chocolate vegan cupcakes with the chocolate ganache, added a strawberry buttercream frosting to make them fancy and some fresh strawberries. They were the perfect ending to to the meal along with coffee and tea.

No one went to bed hungry !! And there was plenty of protein in the spring rolls( tofu), the bean soup, the peanut sauce and quinoa/millet.

 I will admit this was an over the top feast and had a lot of steps to prepare. I did as much as I could ahead of time and you can certainly simplify your menu.   The most important thing is to have fun with the challenge. While I won't give up my omnivorous ways, I do love lots of these plant based recipes and use them frequently in my daily meals.

For more wonderful vegan fare, check out my friend, Laurie's food blog.

Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream

Tis' the season here at Strawberry Fields Forever, USA... did you know that a third of  this country's strawberries are grown right here along the central California coast.

This time of year I buy three cartons of fresh berries every Saturday at the farmer's market. While I eat most of them straight up, I decided to try making strawberry ice cream the other day.

It was so good I had to share it.

I use the basic techniques from my peppermint ice cream recipe.

Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cup fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and chopped

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cup whole milk

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1) Chop the strawberries in a food processor, you should get about 1 1/2 cup of puree.

2) Refrigerate this puree until later.

3) Combine cream and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until almost boiling, stirring for 5 to 8 minutes, then reduce the heat to low. 

4) In a bowl add the egg yolks, sugar and the extract and mix together well. This mixture will be very thick, just keep whisking it or you could even use an electric hand mixer.

5) Add four tablespoons of the hot milk/cream , one tablespoon at a time, stirring each tablespoon in fully. This helps to warm up the egg/sugar mixture so the egg yolks don't cook when you add it to the hot cream.

6) Cook over low heat until slightly thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes. The ice cream will coat the back of the spoon.

7)  Cool the ice cream base completely in the fridge, overnight preferably.

8) Just before freezing, combine 1 cup of strawberry puree with the ice cream base, mix well.

9) Freeze for 20- 25 minutes.

10) Remove the ice cream into a bowl for further freezing. Swirl in the remaining half cup of strawberry puree.

Allow to harden before serving, about 2-4 hours.

The desert not dessert...

This past week we have been on a Camping Adventure to the desert, those capital letters are there for a reason...you will find out more soon and yes I will talk some about food, specifically camping food.

Did you know that the presence of joshua trees like the one in the photo above, define the Mojave desert as a land mass ??

Anyway, we started our trip at Carrizo Plains National Monument, it is known for it's great wildflower displays and great wildlife. Due to the lack of rain this year, there were no flowers. We did see pronghorn antelope on our drive in and we camped under a tree of great horned owls, who serenaded us all night.

Joshua Tree National Park was our first night of real desert camping.

Since it was the last weekend of spring break, all the campsites in the park itself were full. We did check them out the next day and while they were in a more picturesque setting they very so close to each other it would have not suited us as well.
We ended up it this rather barren RV park, it did have flush toilets, a cute little pond and a gorgeous sunset.

We spent a lovely day exploring Joshua Tree. There were some very big rocks.

And some very beautiful blooming cactus.

That afternoon we headed to Anza Borrego desert. We had not made plans to camp there until the next day so decided to treat ourselves to a night at the Borrego Springs Resort. It was quite a treat !! The swimming pool felt great after all that hot desert hiking. We enjoyed dinner on the patio of their restaurant and hot showers are always welcome on an extended camping trip ;-)

We met Genna the next day in the park. Hanging out with her always means lots of cool reptiles.

Don't try this at home ( or anywhere else), Genna is a trained professional with a permit to touch these critters !!

Just as the joshua tree defines the Mojave, the tall flowering ocotillo define the Colorado desert land mass.

As we settled into our camp in the heat of the day, a park ranger came by to warn us of an impending sandstorm, and a high wind advisory. She told us there would be hurricane force winds gusting to 80 to 90 mph. We have NEVER had a ranger warn us about weather, EVER, in all our years of camping. She did say we should be fine, as our campground was in a protected valley and we were planning to sleep in our camper ( Genna sleeps in her car).
We decided on an early dinner, then some night exploring. The wind was beginning to pick up as we went to bed. We could hear it blowing that night in the trees and camper shook some, but not like the rock and roll we got at Joshua Tree.

The next morning it was worse...

Trying to heat water for tea and coffee was a challenge. Wind blows the propane flame around, slowing down the whole process, even with windbreaks around the cook stove.

We did finally make warm drinks for everyone, but it was so windy and gritty we ended up squeezing into the camper to drink them.

How would we ever cook breakfast under these conditions ?? As the chief chef, I came up with the perfect plan...going out to a restaurant !!

Luckily the town of Borrego Springs is inside the park and was not too far to drive...when we could see the road.

We found a mall with a classic coffee shop.

With classic coffee shop fare: Bob delighted in his biscuits and gravy, so did Genna.

After breakfast we drove to the other campground and possible hiking. Haha...the wind WAS gusting up to 80 to 90 mph and it hurt to get out of the car. We saw a whole group campground that had been recently abandon, with tents, cooler, clothing and other equipment blown about.

We were supposed to stay at Anza Borrego another night, time for plan B. Drive east and north was our thought, head to the Upper Kern River, east of Bakersfield.

We were surprised that even highway 10 was tricky and slow to drive. Due to the sandstorm, our drive was taking longer that we expected. I was looking for someplace to stay along the way in our camping guide when I came across Red Rock Canyon State Park. I had never heard of this place but our guide gave it an 8 out of 10 for scenic rating. It is on highway 14 just north of the town of Mojave. 

What a gem !!

The campsites are right next to amazing rock formations. It was still windy as you can see from my clothing, the campfire and wind break around my stove. Yes, I was trying to cook dinner. Luckily I had some soup I had made and froze before the trip. 

This leads me to some camping food tips:

• Plan simple meal. For breakfast: hot cereals, cold cereals, yogurt & fruit. For lunch, simple picnic fare: crackers, cheese, hummus, nut butters, sardines, fresh veggies, dried fruit, nuts. For dinner: soups, stews, pasta dishes. While I love to cook, even when I am camping, the weather can change that. Making complex meals and keeping all the components hot can be a challenge. Sometime just getting water to boil can take a looong time !!
• Cook and bake before you leave on your trip, freeze the food so it will last longer in your cooler. Just having to reheat food is a lot easier than actually cooking it. You never know when the wind will pick up. I make soups, muffins, coffee cake, baked chicken, pasta sauces...
• Do any vegetable prep you can ahead of time. It was quite a challenge to wash and clean lettuce in a windy makeshift kitchen.  I loved having already cooked beets and asparagus to add to lunch or dinner.
• Don't forget condiments, they can add a dimension to simple ingredients and meals.  I always bring fresh garlic, onions, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried oregano and basil, powdered cinnamon and little packets of soy sauce, hot sauce, mustard, catsup and relish.
• Food always tastes better with a great view !!

We loved Red Rock Canyon. We did some hiking at Red Cliff across the road from the campground. We saw a raven in her cliffside nest, as well as lots of lizards, and great rock formations.

A flip of a coin ( I kid you not) made the decision for us to head on to Kern River for two nights in one place.

 Fairview campground is run by the US Forest Service, it sits right along the Upper Kern River. In summer it must be mobbed with people trying to beat the Bakersfield heat. In the spring it is quiet, peaceful and mostly deserted. It was the perfect place to spend my birthday.

On the way home, the long way as we decided to avoid highway 5, we finally saw the fields of wildflowers we were hoping for.