Veganacious

We had a family member staying with us over the summer and it was almost time for him to return home.  In order to honor him, I decided to have a brunch for the family.  I was a bit concerned because this was my first attempt to go solo on a family gathering and I wanted it to be really delicious, not just so-so.  I wanted to not only honor Darren, our almost-14 year old guest and family member, but also to demonstrate how delicious and healthy vegan cuisine truly is.

I started with the idea of home-made cinnamon rolls. I have been planning to make homemade bread or some other yeasty delight for Darren for about a year and have not yet done it.  I offered Danish pastries (will do a winter post on those) or cinnamon rolls and the guys all wanted cinnamon rolls.  So I started those the night before.  They are not something I would normally make because of the time constraints and the fact they they are just not as healthy as I prefer, but this was an occasion.  To complement the rolls, I thought I would offer lots of colorful and lovely fresh fruit, and serve them in kabob form as well as having lots of individual choices leftover after the kabob sampling.  To drink I decided to try green iced tea with a touch of lime and agave nectar, mild enough to appeal to all ages, since the guys would be from 3 years old to adult.

The final dish would be homemade vegan sausage in vegan hash. Since Darren is used to Asian cuisine (we are a mixed Chinese-Cambodian and Caucasian clan), I did not think he would appreciate the potato dish too much. He has a greatly appreciative attitude towards food, though, and has been always wonderful to serve.  I made a large wok of the hash, but I underestimated its popularity.  I should have used 8 large potatoes and all the sausage, rather than 4 and 2.  The plates emptied of hash quicker than anything.

The Results

Here is the final scorecard:  cinnamon rolls, 2 each (these are jumbo diet-killers, too).  Iced tea, 2 glasses each.  Fruit kabobs, gone. Extra fruit – many second helpings.  And the hash:  2 or 3 servings each, and more would have been taken if it had been offered. We ran out! (Eldest son and middle of the three boys, Nicholas favors fresh strawberry ice cream; maybe next time!)

Fresh flowers, some table linens, and soft background music added ambience.  I got two thumbs up from the oldest and youngest of the men.  I even sent some vegan sausages home for later.  And I can’t wait to make more vegan cuisine for my favorite omnivores.

Green iced tea:

Prepare the green tea by steeping 3 or 4 bags of green tea in a small amount of water. Once they have steeped, remove the bags and allow the mixture to cool. Add to a large pitcher, and add enough water to fill halfway. Cut one fresh lime in half. Squeeze one half into the tea. Slice the other half into several thin slice.  You may add one to the individual glasses for color if you wish.  Add agave nectar or vegan sugar to taste. Allow mixture to cool; serve with the fresh lime slices and fill the pitcher with plenty of ice.

Fruit kabobs:

Use wooden kabobs (short are best).

Prepare several kinds of fresh fruit just before the meal.  We used strawberries, pineapple, honeydew melon, white peaches and bananas.  Have extra bowls of fresh fruit on hand so each guest may serve themselves.

Vegan hash:

Use the recipe for vegan sausage.  Chop one onion very finely.  When you are steaming your vegan sausage, you may add several peeled potatoes, so they can steam simultaneously.  Otherwise, steam them solo (if you made the sausage ahead) for about 20 minutes.  Cool and chop in small pieces.

Add a drizzle of olive oil to your frying pan.  First put in the onions and brown slightly.  Then add the sausage and allow it to brown a bit; it should have a crusty exterior. Add more oil as needed.  Add potatoes last; you can add water if they start to stick.  Once all your ingredients are done, give a sprinkle of salt and pepper and serve.

Cinnamon rolls:

I love just looking at all the lovely photos of food on Lola’s Vegan Yum Yum site. She is so creative and so helpful to the rest of us vegans, that I consider her a national vegan treasure.  I have tried a few of her recipes and they all seem to become favorites.  Because I have genetic high cholesterol, as do some of my omnivore family members, I try to eliminate some of the fat and sugar at times, but as far as appearance and taste, it is Lola and VYY all the way.

The yeast rolls came out nearly perfect, although mine were not as lovely and as regular as hers. She is a true artist in the kitchen! I found the butter and sugar in the bottom of the pan to be a bit problematic because the sugar really carmelized and then hardened. The guests thought it was great but I think I would just put a small amount of Earth Butter in the bottom of the pan next time.

I changed the frosting a tiny bit since I did not have any Tofutti cream cheese and avoid prepared foods when I can.  But it was still delicious and no one had a single complaint about the the rolls. Even the leftovers are gone.  And I loved them, too. They are pretty much foolproof and can be made the day ahead.  You don’t really want the nutritional information on this one, do you?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites