Special vegetarian birthday lunch ideas?!
He's a head chef in a top restaurant in town so i want to impress!!
It's got to be relatively light as he will be going to dinner too later with his friends.
Any ideas on how to make it special and what to cook?
My thanks in advance :)
XXX
Answers: It's my brothers 30th birthday tomorrow, so i want to prepare him a special birthday vegetarian lunch!
He's a head chef in a top restaurant in town so i want to impress!!
It's got to be relatively light as he will be going to dinner too later with his friends.
Any ideas on how to make it special and what to cook?
My thanks in advance :)
XXX
He's a chef? OK.
At this time of the year, try a butternut squash soup.
In soup pot: little extra virgin olive oil heat and throw in 2 garlic cloves chopped.
Then dump in water on that when garlic cooked.
Add your butternut squash (no need to peel it (if organic), but take out the seeds). For a full pot (near a gallon I guess/ 4 litres) I used two squashes.
Boil then simmer. Once well cooked, ladle chunks into blender bit at a time and make smooth and pour back in.
Add some quality organic Shiro Miso (white miso). If you cannot find it, use quality fine mineral rock salt, or sea salt. Do not make the soup taste salty. You want it to be a hidden flavour, below that of the taste of the other ingredients.
Add some nutritional yeast for flavour. It will give it a 'chicken soup flavour'. You can find all this stuff in a health food store or market.
If you want, you can add some fresh washed fine chopped (purple curly looking) kale. Just push it into the soup and it'll cook from the heat of the soup.
Take the seeds and bake them until brown and crunchy (move and flip them around often. Sprinkle on top of soup in his brown just before serving.
If you have no blender, just use a potato masher, that'll be good enough. Blending is just for texture, not flavour.
If you serve something else with it, make sure it's not loaded with salt as that would detract from the flavour of the soup, such as bread. I think the soup is a meal in itself.
Try my great vegeterian chili ... and hey, are all the guests going to dinner later as well; perhaps he is but the guests should be thought of as well.
Serve this with sliced ripe pears sprinkled with a cinammon sugar mix ... and perhaps a great green tea with lemon
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onions
3/4 cup chopped carrots
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped (into 1 inch squares) eggplant round and large (not japanese)
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 tsp chili powder
2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms
1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with liquid, chopped and and 1 small can
2 (19 ounce) cans kidney beans with liquid or navy beans
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute chopped eggplant, onions, carrots, and garlic until tender. Stir in green pepper, celery, and chili powder. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes.
Stir in mushrooms, and cook 4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, kidney beans. Season with cumin, oregano, and basil. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium. Cover, and simmer for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
let sit and remember; warmed up makes it even better as it gives the seasonings time to permeat the liquid and veggies.
good luck and happy birthday to brother
my fave veg lunch is a tempeh rueben. This recipe serves 4, becuse of the way tempeh is packaged.
tempeh
1 can saurkraut drained & rinsed
8 slices of rye bread
4 slices of swiss cheese
( dunno if he eats cheese)
slice the tempeh in half the long way (so you have two long thin strips) then cut it across so you have 4 squareish slices
arrange 4 slices on a broiler pan place a slice of tempeh on each slice
broil for 2 min unitll the tempeh starts to brown up
remove from broiler then add saurkraut & cheese broil untill cheese is melted, toast the remaining 4 slices of bread serve with a small salad and fresh brewed tea...yerba mate is my fave with lemon & honey.
If your brother does not eat cheese dont substitute soy cheese, it doesn't quite melt right and it can hardly match the flavor of swiss...
try some Thai tofu satay instead
1 package drained and cubed extra firm tofu
sesame or peanut oil (for frying)
2 tbs organic peanut butter
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbs water
kebab skewers
prepare the spicy peanut dipping sauce by melting peanut butter in a saucepan over a low heat, slowly add water add the red pepper flakes simmer for 5 min
fry tofu cubes till golden brown on all sides drain excess oil on paper towels, skewer 4 tofu cubes on each kebab skewer
serve with thai noodles, or salad
If you dont like the idea of frying, how about
Hummus & feta Quessadillas
spread a thin layer of hummus and sprinkle feta cheese on flour tortilla fold, & fry tortilla until golden (adding oil is not necessary) cut into triangles, serve with salsa- this is very light & flavorful, it tastes great with steamed asparagus, or just a salad...
Falafel sandwiches with pita (chips) and hummus?
check out peta.org
they have about a billion great vegan recipes that are easy and delicious.
My faves are fruit salsa, vegan 'meat'loaf