Appetizers galore!

It's probably obvious, but I feel I should be clear that I've made the official decision to go vegan. I did so after my graduation weekend in May, but it was a rough start. I definitely fell off the wagon a few times, made excuses that I had a lot of vegetarian food left in our place I needed to eat, bla bla bla. So I compromised myself a few times. Then I stumbled upon a blog post from a former vegetarian who went vegan, and her advice was screaming my name. It's as if she wrote the article with me in mind! She basically said she had been doing the same thing I was doing, excuses as to why she couldn't commit to veganism cold turkey. Not out of laziness, but out of logistics and practicality. However, she realized she needed to make the commitment to be vegan 100% of the time and stick with it. As a result, she didn't allow herself to be compromised by the vegetarian food in her fridge (I think she gave it to family or something) and it worked for her. I was like, "Yes! Just dive in, Erin!" Ever since I read her article, I've been going strong.

So, that brings me to our first get together/hosting event in our new home in PA! Ah right- we moved two weeks ago to PA from VA. It was VERY stressful, but we're quite content and settled so far! My new SLP job starts Monday and I don't have an ounce of anxiety. Woo! I'm praying it lasts! We had my in-laws over on Sunday afternoon/evening last week, and it was such a great time. Other than visits from family in VA, which weren't all that frequent, we've never been able to cook/host for friends and family. And for we foodies, that is just inexcusable!

Ken and I decided to serve:

Appetizers consisting of olive tapenade, mini eggplant meatballs with romesco sauce, and pita caprese bites. Then we had risotto with marinated summer squash and sausage (chicken for the meat eaters, tofurkey for me) as an entree, and a blueberry and raspberry cobbler for dessert from the lovely vegan cookbook, Isa Does It, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Now I want ALL her cookbooks, and indeed they are on my Amazon wish list.  

I'm going to break down each pretty simply, because otherwise, I'd be here all day. But suffice it to say the meal was, like, utterly divine. The caprese bites were my favorite; I ate the entire amount of the vegan versions in about 10 minutes (probably less). Did I mention I made homemade pita bread for them? Yep. Sure did. So the caprese bites were made of whole wheat, homemade pita bread. Then we topped them with a slice of tomato, mozzarella cheese, spinach and basil pesto, and balsamic (sans cheese for mine, obviously). SCRUMPTIOUS! Not to toot my own horn, but they were the bomb. The pita really made a difference and my husband makes a hell of a pesto.

Next up, eggplant meatballs (you can find that recipe in my past blog post) which I molded to be bite size. Hubby made a romesco sauce which is basically almonds and red peppers blended in the food processor. That is, indeed, a very simple explanation. They were also of the scrumptious variety. And then of course, Hubby made an olive tapenade with your typical green pimento and kalamata olives and chickpeas blended to a chunky hummus consistency. This was reminiscent of a restaurant that served endless breadsticks and olive tapenade in Reston, VA which we just adored. ::sigh:: As much as I am really happy to be back in PA, I miss VA. It's very surreal. Below you can see our apps being showcased for our guests. Yummo! 

On top: romesco, middle: tapenade, bottom: eggplant meatballs.

I would comment on the entree and dessert, but I'm discovering I never took any pictures. Eeks! Risotto has been on my blog before or you can google any basic risotto recipe. I veganized by using my "fake" butter and veggie stock rather than butter and chicken stock. The summer squash was marinated overnight in fresh lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, fines herbs, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Then we roasted them in the oven the next day. The cool thing with marinade is you can make it whatever you want.

 The cobbler is a recipe from Isa Does It, so look for it online or buy the book. Yeah, you should really buy her cookbook. The family loved it and didn't know it was vegan until the end! All it needed was a dollop of ice cream, which everyone had but my uncle-in-law and myself, but I made a note to get soy ice cream or whatnot for next time.

Overall, a seriously dee-lish meal from beginning to end! A very happy and successful start to our future events in PA!