When I lived at home, I cooked non-stop. Perhaps it was my mother’s bountiful pantry? The bursting shopping bags of organic Australian produce? Or, most likely – having people to cook for and share my chocolate cake, as apposed to now, where I’m faced with the very likely scenario of baking something and polishing it all off alone.
Whatever the reason; I cooked and baked constantly when I lived at home and an entire day in the kitchen, cranking Adele was my idea of heaven.
I’ve now been living in my own flat since February and my meals have become simpler and simpler. It’s money, it’s company and it’s convenience.
Part of me embraced this, (mainly the wallet part) but the truth is, I miss it! I miss sharing my love of food with others, I miss cooking up spontaneous feasts and I definitely miss entertaining.
So, I decided it was time to throw a dinner party! Yes, my flat is tiny, I have barely any money and none of my guests are vegetarian or vegan, but hey, will any of this stop me? These are mere challenges, not excuses! My flat will become cozy, filled with candles and the food will be simple, summery and divine!
When cooking for non-vegans, I think it’s easy to get overwhelmed with possibilities and be panicked about how best to impress. Do you go for something ambitious and extravagant to show off what vegan food can be? Do you go for your favourite, safe dish that everyone loves? A pesto pasta? Sweet potato and bean burgers? Make an enormous feast of everything?
I experienced this brief panic, but then remembered what my favourite thing is about vegan food. It is simple, no-fuss, HEALTHY and the ingredients speak for themselves.
This is what I want to show off to people; vegetables taste delicious as they are and don’t need to be complicated.
So, if I want to impress with vegan food, then I should let it do the talking!
I spent the day shopping at my favourite Manchester places, bought the best looking sourdough on the shelf and then spent the afternoon, you guessed it, cranking Adele and getting all my prep ready! Definitely my idea of heaven.
Here is the food that I served, with simple explanations if you want to give any a try. If nothing else – I recommend the tahini dressing!
All this dishes worked perfectly because they are simple, barely took any time to “cook” (which is great for when you’re entertaining) and, I hope, looked quite pretty!
The table: Grazing Bits!
Simple homemade guacamole (avocado, drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper), some veggie sticks, a few slices of bread and tomato basil bruschetta. I think every good dinner party needs nibbles.
Main: Mushroom, sundried tomato and spinach Penne.
So simple, so delicious.
Sauté one onion and garlic in a small amount of oil and keep them going until browned. Then add sliced mushrooms (I used about eight portobello mushrooms) and continue to stir until the mushrooms shrink.
Add rosemary, salt, pepper and (my secret ingredient) a tablespoon of vegan butter. Let these flavours come together for a while before adding the sun dried tomatoes, spinach and pasta.
Season to taste! I added quite a bit of rosemary in the end, too. You can’t have too much, right?
This dish is also great because you can leave it alone for long periods of time. It only means the flavours have more time to marinate.
Fresh garden salad with roasted rosemary potatoes and a tahini lemon dressing.
This tahini dressing (as you may be able to see from the photo) was crazy good and the surprise hit of the night. It had a real “cheesy” taste, no joke! This was literally just some giant tablespoons of light tahini, juice of half a lemon and about half a cup of water, all well combined so it became smooth and the consistency of a thick caesar dressing. Add water to get the consistency you like, but make sure you keep stirring! Hit of the night! I could not stop dunking my veggie sticks into it!
For dessert: dark chocolate fondue with fresh fruit.
I’m happy to say the dinner party could not have been more of a success. My friends loved the food, we discussed the old “delicious food can be healthy” thing and I cannot wait to get my apron on again as soon as possible!
Some extra little touches:
Setting the table can make all the difference! If your table looks pretty, is well stocked with salt, pepper and a jug of water, I always find less stress when having to duck in and out of the kitchen, knowing my guests are looked after. (And, who doesn’t like things to be pretty?) A nice vase of fresh flowers is lovely, put some mint leaves and lemon in your water and keep the wine close!
Get some lovely fresh ground coffee to brew in a simple cafetiere for after dessert, it went down a treat for us with our dark chocolate and candlelight.
Enjoy your next dinner party!