Going Vegan for a Night

In an effort to be more environmentally conscious and humane we have been trying to eat a little less meat around her even though it's not our natural bent.  Some vegetarian meals have actually become standard fare: - like a favorite of ours: breakfast burritos, a flexible recipe which I should share soon.   That being said our diet is not often vegan-esque.

A couple good friends of our however, choose to be Vegans or eat vegan 100% of the time (or whatever the most proper way to say this is).  As someone who enjoys having people over and cooking a nice meal - I saw it as my duty to learn to cook this way.  I also thought it would be a lot of fun.  In the past for parties I've been sure to include a few sides, but this was my first time cooking a "full meal."  I also feel  it necessary to add that my vegan friends never asked me to do this, and are incredibly accommodating about their diet preferences.  Not that they need to be so much, but this is certainly their disposition and I think they would appreciate me saying so.      

   

To prepare, I had spotted the some books books at Half-Price-Books (a truly wonderful place) and thought they might be of assistance.  I don't buy recipe books too often, what with the internet and all, but Everything Vegan was full of nice colorful pictures as well as tips and tricks.  I'm fairly unfamiliar with vegan proteins such as Tempeh, Tofu and Seitan, so I wanted some tips!

Tempeh

Together we choose to cook the Thai Golden Curry (Chappell 152), because who doesn't love curry? (seriously? who?) and we have worked with Tempeh once before. (early in our dating days we made a meal for a similar group of friends).  Legally, I don't feel comfortable sharing the exact of the recipes with you, but I can describe it as a creamy (coconut milt) fruity (mango) mix.  It was certainly a curry, but in a future version I would amp up the savory elements of this dish and probably add a little more salt.  

Thai Golden Curry

I also grabbed Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking, because the boyfriend loves him some Indian food.  Also, there we lots of pictures and the recipes seemed to be simple enough to follow, but still relatively authentic (or at least not much dumping sauces from jars).  Indians recipes tend to be vegetarian and often vegan as well.

We choose Potatoes with Cauliflower (Iyer 148).  It was a flavorful blend of classic Indian spices such as Coriander, cumin and turmeric.  Also, a little ginger and watercress... ingredients I don't often come by.  Tomatoes too, and what would a meal be without tomatoes.

One aspect I really like about this dish was much less heavy tasting than "similar dishes" I've had at restaurants.  I'm not sure what would account for that exactly, but I think it's worth noting.

Potatoes with Cauliflower

I also made a batch of Naan - using soy creamer instead of soy milk as the link suggests.

Naan

My Plate

The best part about Indian food is the mixing it all together on your plate.

Thoughts:
-A "real meal" can be a vegan meal food can be hearty and filling... I often think kale and pine nuts when I think "vegan", but this was flavorful, hearty and satisfying.
-Buying cookbooks isn't completely outdated, I enjoyed having these useful guides to help me venture out of my typical and familiar culinary playground