Super Bowl 50!

Do I care about American football? Not in the slightest - even though the half time show can be mildly entertaining but I do love ANY excuse to make a whole lot of delicious vegan yums and share them with my friends and family! I also enjoy having lots of yummy leftovers to feed me during the week so I make more than I'll need.

Here's what our Super Bowl Sunday looked like...vegan food wise of course ;)

Spicy Vegan Queso Dip

Easy Jalapeno Poppers
Served with vegan ranch (some times I make my own, sometimes I use Follow Your Heart brand)

Buffalo Tofu Bites

Served with vegan ranch or blue cheese dressing (make your own or I use Follow Your Heart Brand)

Avocado Fries with Chipotle Mayo
You can make your own Chipotle Mayo or use Follow Your Heart or Hampton Creek brand.

A DIY Vegan Baby Shower

At 34 weeks along I had my vegan baby shower! I just organised it myself since most of my friends and family live in another country. Everything was also gluten free except the sandwiches (just because of the bread). The brownies, strawberries, drinks and cutting of the cheesecakes I did the day before then made the sandwiches and muffins on the day to keep them fresh :)

I hired out a coffee/book shop in Ogden, Utah called the Wisebird Bookery which was super cute and didn't charge much. People were able to get tea and coffee from the staff and I supplied everything else.

I did all the food myself. I bought the cheesecakes because my attempts had been an utter fail! I was only hosting around 20 people so I didn't need a lot of food.

Raspberry Cordial

Traditional Lemonade

Cucumber Finger Sandwiches

Mini Vegan Cheese, Red Onion & Rosemary Mini Muffins

Mini Brownies 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries
(just melt the chocolate over a double broiler & dip strawberries then leave to cool in refrigerator on wax paper)

Raspberry & Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

Daiya Cheesecake - New York, Strawberry, Key Lime Pie 

(I just chopped them into small squares and used a small scone cutter to get the round ones)

Agave Marsala Pears

This is adapted from a Nigella Lawson recipe and is fantastic as a fancy accompaniment for your Artisan vegan cheeses or antipasto ;)
I used Kroger brand of Marsala cooking wine which I confirmed with Kroger is vegan!

Agave Marsala Pears

Ingredients

2 firm pears (approximately 1 pound total weight) each cut into 1/8', leaving skin
2 tablespoons olive oil (regular, not extra-virgin)
3 tablespoons Marsala (or sherry or port - you basically want a sweet fortified wine)
2 tablespoons agave
1/2 cup walnut halves
1 pound vegan artisan cheese for serving


Method

While you are cutting the pears, let the oil heat in a large frying pan/skillet.
Fry the pears for 3 minutes a side, and while they are frying whisk the Marsala and agave together in a cup.
When the pears have had their time, add the Marsala-honey mixture and let it bubble up around the pears, and then transfer them, all bronzed and syrupy, to a plate.

Add the walnuts to the dark juices left in the pan and stir-fry them for about a minute until they are themselves darkened in part and sticky all over.
Remove them to the plate with the pears and add the cheeses.

BBQ Pulled Mushroom Sandwich

This recipe comes care of Chef Chris Rubenstein.
I used collard greens, Chinese cabbage and carrots for my salad as I didn't have the other ingredients.

BBQ Pulled Mushroom  Sandwich with Kale Slaw
Serves 4

Ingredients

For BBQ pulled mushroom;
1 lb king oyster mushrooms/trumpet mushrooms (Asian supermarket)
1 cup BBQ sauce (link to the homemade one I used)
2 cups wood chips (apple or cherry), soaked in water for 1/2 hour
2 Tbls oil (not olive)

For kaleslaw;
1 head kale
1 cup vegan mayo
1 red onion
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 Tbls sugar
1 Tbls crushed red pepper
2 carrots

For serving;
4 buns/rolls


Method

Smoke mushrooms - in a regular gas grill, use a smoking box and spread out the wood chips evenly.
Set grill on high (wanting to get to around 600F) adding the smoking box and wait around 10-15 mins for the wood chips to start smoking.
Break apart the mushrooms into stalks and set them on the top rack of your grill

Close the lid and leave to smoke for around 20 mins, keep an eye on them - they will get dark and smokey but don't burn them.

Once the mushrooms are smoking start on the kale-slaw.
Pull the leaves off your kale and roll up to slice thinly.
Peel the carrots and grate.
Julienne the onions.
Add all the vegetables to a salad bowl and toss together.
In a mixing bowl add mayo, apple cider vinegar, crushed peppers, sugar and whisk until well mixed.
Add dressing to vegetables and toss through.

Shredding the mushrooms - using a fork just scrap down the mushroom stem to get shreds and with the top pieces you can just push down with a fork.

In a frying pan add oil on a low-medium heat and add mushrooms and allow to coat with oil.
Then add BBQ sauce and mix to coat the mushrooms.
Allow sauce to caramelize slightly.

Make your sandwich by adding the slaw and then the mushrooms.