Happy Birthday, Round 3

The last family birthday of the month is my mom's.  Typically I am not actually able to be with my mom on her birthday (since I live in NY and she's in IL), but this year I was home!  So, what else could I do besides make her a birthday dinner?!  I let my mom pick everything she wanted for this dinner.  It was quite good!  And, my mother is a vegetarian, so all those veggie eaters out there can enjoy this one too! (actually, I think everything but the desert is vegan) Happy bithday mom!
Drink...

Peach Bellini Iced Tea
This is originally a drink my mom had at the Olive Garden.  I have never had it, so I just tried to imagine what it would taste like and make a replica.  My mom said it was not exactly the same as theirs, but she said it was very good!  It is a great, refreshing summer drink.  This is a non-alcoholic drink, but I wonder how it would be if you actually made it into a real bellini and added champagne?  I don't know, champagne and tea could be strange...or it could be good :)
Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of peach iced tea (or you can use regular unsweetened tea if you want it less sweet)
• 1 can of sliced peaches in heavy syrup
• Club soda

Directions:

1. Put some sliced peaches into the bottom of a glass, add ice if your ingredients aren't already cold.
2. Pour the iced tea into the glass with the peaches.
3. Add about 2 tbs of the syrup from the canned peaches.
4. Add about 3-4 tbs of club soda and stir.

Dinner...

Pineapple Quinoa Stir Fry & Cucumber and Watermelon Salad with Hoisin-Lime Dressing
My mom sure knows how to pick a birthday dinner!  This was a delicious summer dinner, and a lot of it can be made ahead of time if you want to spread out the amount of work.
Cucumber and Watermelon Salad with Hoisin-Lime Dressing
*recipe from Bon Appetite (July 2002)

When I first saw the recipe for this salad I thought it looked kinda gross and weird.  But, the ingredients actually go really well together.  It is super refreshing and healthy.  I would definitly make it again for a summer salad.  Bon Appetite says it is "a Vietnamese style salad that makes a refreshing accomaniment to any kind of barbequed meat."  I would agree with that statement, but it also goes really well with the quinoa I made.  The quinoa is a little spicy and the salad helps cool off your mouth.
Ingredients:
(serves 6)

• 1 1/2 large cucumbers (about 3 cups)
• 3 cups seedless watermelon, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 3 1/2 tbs fresh lime juice
• 3 tbs hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tbs chopped fresh mint
• 1/3 cup coarsly chopped lightly salted dry-roasted peanuts (I left these out of our salad)

Directions:

1. Combine cucumbers and watermelon in a medium bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes and up to 4 hours.
2. Drain and discard the liquid.
3. Whisk lime juice and hoisin sauce in a small bowl to blend.
4. Pur dressing over cucumber-watermelon mixture and toss gently.
5. Sprinkle salad with cilantro, mint, and then peanuts (again, I didn't use nuts).  Serve immediately. 

Pineapple Quinoa Stir Fry
*recipe from Maureen K.

My mother is a really great cook and this is a recipe she invented.  It's very healthy and delicious.  It takes a bit of time to chop all of the ingredients, but you can do that ahead of time if you would like.  Once you actually get to the cooking part, it goes very fast.  I made mine a bit too spicy for some members of my family.  If you don't like it really spicy, you may not want to use the whole jalapeno, just as much as you'd like. 
Ingredients:
(serves 4-5)

• 1 cup quinoa (rinsed and well-drained)
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 cup cold water
• 1/4 tsp soy sauce + 3 tbs soy sauce
• 3 tbs peanut oil
• 2 green onions, sliced thin
• 2-3 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2" piece of ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup frozen peas (I left these out because I don't really like peas)
• 1 cup fresh basil, sliced thin
• 2 tbs fresch chopped mint
• 1 whole fresh pineapple, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 tbs vegetable stock
• 1 tbs mirin
• lime wedges for garnish

Directions:

1. *The night before: Combine quinoa, pinaple juice, water, and 1/4 tsp soy sauce in a medium sized pot.  Cover, place over high heat and bring to a boil.  Stir a few times, lower heat to medium/low, cover, and cook for 12-14 minutes, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa appears plumped and slightly translucent.  Uncover, fluff, and let cool.  For best results, place quinoa in an airtight container and refridgerate overnight.
2. Have all ingredients chopped and within reach.  Heat a large non-stick skillet.  Add peanut oil, green onions, and garlic.
3. When the garlic starts to sizzle, add the sliced jalapeno and ginger. 
4. Stir fry for about 2 minutes, then add the bell pepper and peas.
5. Stir fry for another 3-4 minutes until the bell peppers are softened and peas are bright green.  Add the basil and mint.
6. Stir fry for another minute and then add the pineapple chuncks and quinoa.
7. In a medium cup combine 3 tbs. soy sauce, vegetable stock, and mirin.  Pour over quinoa mixture. (Add another 1/2 cup to a cup of pineapple juice to the quinoa mixture if it is dry)
8. Stir to incorporate completely.  Continue to stir fry 10 - 14 minutes until quinoa is very hot.
9. Serve with lime wedges and additional soy sauce.

Dessert...

Blueberry Tartlets with Lemon or Lime Curd
*recipe from Maureen K.
These are the perfect summer dessert!  The comniation of the lemon/lime with the blueberries is incredible.  And, they look so cute, but are not very difficult to make!  I made 1/2 lemon tarts and 1/2 lime tarts.  There was not a huge difference in flavor, but in the end we liked the lemon better.  It was a slightly stronger flavor.  These would be great for a summer barbeque.  I should have put a candle in mine for my mom's birthday! 
Ingredients:
(makes 4 small tarts)

for the curd:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 4 large egg yolks
• 5 tbs unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

For the crust:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tbs sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 3 tbs chilled whipping cream
• 1 large egg yolk

For the topping:

• 1 1/2 pints of bluberries
• 1 tbs sugar

Directions:
For the curd (can be made up to 4 days ahead and refrigerated):

1. Whisk sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan to blend. 
2. Whisk in yolks and then butter.
3. Cook over medium low heat until thick, smooth, and just beginning to bubble, stirring constantly, about 8 minutes.
4. Remove from heat.  Mix in lemon peel.
5. Transfer to a small bowl.  Press plastic wrap onto surface of the curd.  Refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours.

For the crust (can be made up to 1 day ahead of time):

1. Blend flour, sugar and salt in a foor processor for 5 seconds.
2. Add butter and cut in using on/off turns, until mixture resembles course meal.
3. Add 2 tbs of cream and egg yolk.  Using on/off turns, blend until mois clumps form, adding more cream by teaspoons if dough is too dry.
4. Shape dough into a log.  Cut crosswise into 4 equal rounds.  Press each round over bottom and sides of 3 3/4" x 3/4" tartlet pans with removable bottom (there may be extra dough). 
5. Pierce crust with a fork.  Chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake the crusts until lightly golden brown, pressing any bubbles back with a fork, about 15 minutes.
7. Cool crusts completely on a rack.

For the topping:

1. Place 1/2 cup of blueberries and sugar in a heavy small saucepan.  Using a fork, mash the berries coursly.  Cook mixture over medium heat until it begins to simmer, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
2. Using a rubber spatula, push as much of mixture as possible through a mesh strainer set over a medium bowl.  Mix remaining blueberries into the strained berries.  Set topping aside.
3. Spread curd into crusts.
4. Spoon blueberry topping over the curd.
5. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to one day before serving.

A Delicious Dinner for Doug

I told you all that June was a big birthday month for me.  My last post was for my sister's birthday and this one is for my fiance, Doug's birthday!  I wanted to make him a dinner of all his favorite things.  Well, his favorite thing I can make is actually chicken piccata, and I already made that for my blog.  So...I made his second favorite dinner :)

Drink...

Bière de Belœil

I always feel like I am kind of cheating when I just put a beer or wine on here instead of making a cocktail.  However, I can truly say that beer is Doug's favorite drink.  I let him pick this one out.  This beer is brewed by one of Doug's favorite breweries; Brasserie DuPont.  He decided to try it because of that brewery being one his favorites.  However, he said it was good, not outstanding.  If you want to try a real stand-out beer from Brasserie DuPont, than try one of their Saison beers.
Ingredients:

• A slightly chilled bottle of Bière de Belœil (we keep ours in our wine fridge at 50 degrees Fahrenheit)

Directions:

1. Pour and enjoy :)

Dinner...

Chicken and Asparagus Pasta 
*recipe from Maureen K.
This is one of Doug's (and my) favorite pasta dishes of all time!  It is soooo good and soooo easy to make!  It was invented by my mom (I know...she is such a great cook).  Please, make it....I guarantee you will like it!  Just an FYI - I always add WAAAY more red pepper flakes than the recipe calls for, and quite a few more splashes of wine and lemon juice than it calls for just to make it extra flavorful.
Ingredients:

• 1 lb asparagus, cut into 1-2 inch long pieces
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 4 to 6 cloves of garlic (I use 6)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (I use A LOT more - probably about 1 1/2 - 2 tbs!  It really is not spicy, just adds more flavor)
• 1 whole tomato, chopped or grape tomatoes, sliced (I usually don't add tomatoes, but it would be good in it)
• 2 - 3 tbs lemon juice (I usually add a little bit more)
• 1/3 cup white wine (again, I usually add a few extra splashes)
• garlic powder
• salt
• pepper
• 1 lb chicken breast, chopped into pieces
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Season the chicken breast pieces with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Cook in olive oil until almost done.  Remove from pan.
2. Cook linguine according to the package directions.
3. Cook asparagus in microwave until tender.
4. Add 3/4 cup of olive oil to the pan the chicken was cooked in.  Cook garlic and red pepper in oil. 
5. Add chicken, asparagus, white wine, lemon juice, and tomato.  Heat through.
6. Toss the linguine with the Parmesan cheese.

Dessert...

Liege Style Waffle with Speculoos Spread

There is a food truck here in NYC called Waffles and Dinges.  I first tried their waffles last fall and immediately told Doug he had to try them.  Since then, we are both officially addicted!  They have many different kinds of waffles there, but the only one we have had is the "Throwdown Waffle".  It's named that because the owner of the truck was on the TV show Throwdown with Bobby Flay and won.  It is one of their Liege style waffles with Speculoos Spread and whipped cream.  
Doug also has a recent addiction (I do too, but not as strong of an addiction) to Speculoos Spread.  It is a delicious Belgian gingerbread cookie spread (I don't really like gingerbread, but I love this stuff!).  Doug prefers the one bought from Le Pain Quotidien, which is the one we used in this recipe.  I prefer the one from Trader Joes.  They call it Cookie Butter and I think it is less gingerbready.  Plus it is cheaper and comes in a bigger jar :)  
This is a super easy recipe to make (especially since we don't have a waffle maker, so I just bought a Liege style waffle they sell in packages at convenience stores around here) and is really incredibly delicious. 
Ingredients:

• 1 Liege style waffle
• Speculoos Spread
• Whipped cream

Directions:

1. Make a waffle, or buy a pre-made one like me.  If you buy one, put it in the toaster to heat it up and toast it a bit.
2. Spread Speculoos over the warm waffle.
3. Top with whipped cream, and try not to eat it too fast :)

A Very Vegan Birthday

June is a big month for birthdays in my family.  First up was my sister's birthday.  So I thought . . . what a better gift than a blog post dedicated to her!  :)  Since my sister is vegan, I had to change things up a bit from what I am used to doing, and use a few ingredients that are strange to me.  I will say, Doug and I both ate this meal (even though he was a little nervous about it) and decided that if someone hadn't told us it was vegan, we would have no idea.  Some of the ingredients did not taste the same as the real thing out of the package, but when they were all mixed together, they turned out delicious.  
Kate, happy birthday!  Sorry you couldn't actually taste the meal (she lives in San Fransisco and I am in NYC), but know that this one was all for you!

Drink . . .

Bloody Mary

I asked Kate what her favorite drink was, and she said it was a Bloody Mary, so here we are.  I never had a Bloody Mary until a few weeks ago.  I was pretty repulsed by the thought of drinking one since I am not the biggest fan of tomato juice and the combination of ingredients sounded disgusting to me.  However, my cousin was visiting and ordered one at a bar.  I gave it a little sip and discovered that I actually do like them!  The one I made here is a pretty pathetic example of a Bloody Mary.  It doesn't have any delicious garnishes or anything.  Being a Bloody Mary novice, I wasn't quite sure what to add, so it's very basic, but still it was quite delicious!
Ingredients:

• tomato juice
• vodka
• lemon juice
• Worcestershire sauce
• hot sauce
• salt 
• pepper

Directions:

1. Fill a glass with ice.
2. Pour in 3 parts vodka to 6 parts tomato juice and 1 part lemon juice. 
3. Add a dash of hot sauce (or more if you like it spicy!), Worcestershire, and salt and pepper.
4. Stir and add a couple garnishes to make it more fun than mine!

Dinner . . .

Vegan Seven Layer Tortilla Pie

*recipe from The Vegan Coach
I found a lot of delicious looking vegan recipes in my search, but this was the one I thought I would be most likely to get Doug to eat.  I was going to cheat and just use real cheese instead of vegan cheese (because honestly the vegan cheese scares me), but I went all out and used the fake cheese.  Eating it straight out of the bag was pretty gross, but in the meal it worked out way better than I thought it would.  It actually did get melty and stretchy like real cheese.  We also happened to have some Soy Chorizo already, so I cooked up some of that and added it in as well (and I took out the Cannellini Beans because I'm not the biggest bean fan).  This was great the way I made it, and also would be great with non-vegan ingredients, even though I truly don't think anyone would know it was vegan.
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup sweet red pepper, chopped
• 3/4 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/2 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chilis
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 3 cups cooked black beans, or 2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, rinsed well and drained
• 3 cups cooked cannellini beans, or 2 (15 oz.) cans cannellini beans, rinsed well and drained
• 1 cup non-dairy cheddar cheese, grated (I like Follow Your Heart)
• 1 cup non-dairy mozzarella cheese, grated (I like Follow Your Heart)
• 6 (8-inch) flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add next 8 ingredients. Saute 5 minutes, or until tender. Add tomato juice. Cook 8 minutes or until reduced to 2 1/2 cups.
3. Combine black beans and half of tomato juice mixture in a bowl; stir well & set aside. Stir cannellini beans into remaining tomato juice mix; set aside.
4. Combine cheeses in a bowl; toss well. Line a 9" pie plate with foil, allowing 6 inches of foil to extend over opposite edges of pie plate. Repeat procedure, extending foil over remaining edges of pie plate. (At this point I lay down some parchment paper to avoid aluminum leaching).
5. Place 1 tortilla in bottom of dish over parchment paper and foil. Spread 1 cup cannellini bean mixture over tortilla. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheeses. Place 1 tortilla over cheeses, pressing gently. Spread 1 cup black bean mix over tortilla. Sprinkle with 1/4 cups cheeses. Place 1 tortilla over cheeses, pressing gently. Repeat layers, ending with remaining cannellini bean mixture and cheeses.
6. Cover with a piece of parchment paper, then bring edges of foil to center; fold to seal. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove foil packet from dish; unwrap pie, and slide onto a serving platter using a spatula. Cut into wedges.

Dessert . . .

Vegan Cherry Torte

*recipe from The Vegan Coach
I love cheesecake, especially cherry cheesecake.  This is not exactly the same thing, but it kind of reminded me of those no-bake cheesecakes.  Anyhow, it was really good, and again . . . it did not taste vegan!  It's super easy to make and great for the summer because it doesn't require baking and heating up the house with the oven (since I cheated and used the ready made graham cracker pie crust instead of making my own :)
I will say, after this meal I am a little more broke though—vegan ingredients are expensive!
Ingredients:

• 1 package Dream Whip, or 2 packages Soyatoo Soy Whip, made according to package directions (I couldn't find these, so I just bought a can of soy whipped cream from Whole Foods and it worked just as well)
• 1 (8 oz.) package dairy-free cream cheese
• 1 cup organic powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 can prepared cherry

Directions:

1. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla.
2. Prepare whipped topping according to package directions (or just spray it out of the can like me). Fold into cream cheese mixture.
3. Spread cream cheese/whipped cream combo over crust. Cover with cherries. Refrigerate overnight, or at least several hours. Cut into pieces and serve.