Plant-Based Cook N Share with Friends

A few months ago, I came across a blog describing an evening of cooking that the blog’s author and her friends had done. (I forgot to bookmark the page and for the life of me I can’t find the blog again, hate when I do that!) They did this to have fun and to inspire each other to eat healthier. All the dishes they made were plant-based.

This idea appealed to me because I’ve been eating a plant-based diet (no meat or fish, but I do eat dairy products) for about 2 1/2 years now and I like new ideas and recipes.

I mentioned the idea to a friend and she ran with it (love when friends do that!) She has now hosted two Cook n Share events at her house. We arrive with some of the initial prep work done for our recipes. Then we mix, assemble, cook and/or bake the dishes together… and finish the evening by sitting down to a delicious dinner.

Enjoy the pictures of either the assembly or the finished product of most of our dishes.

Chopping fresh spinach for Vegetable Enchiladas, a dish even my meat-loving sons love and have requested multiple repeats of it. btw… that is an Alaskan Ulu and Bowl, which is great for chopping anything, especially spinach and fresh herbs.

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Can’t find this recipe online… so here it is.

BLUEBERRY-WHEATBERRY SALAD
1 cup blueberries
1 cup cooked wheatberries
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup minced celery
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 tbs minced fresh dill

HONEY LIME DRESSING
3 tbs lime juice
1 tbs honey
1/2 tsp dried mustard
1/4 tsp finely grated lime or lemon rind
1/8 tsp paprika and ground coriander
1/2 cup sunflower or safflower oil

Combine the salad, make the dressing and then toss together. Serve on a bed of spinach.

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Love this tip I learned this month!  Saute vegetables with water and oil (maybe 1 tsp oil to 2 tsp water) to lighten-up a dish. This was for veggie fried black rice.

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All those colorful vegetables are still in there, but most have turned various shades of black.

I couldn’t find this recipe online and didn’t feel like typing it out. (click on it to enlarge it)
fyi… tamari is soy sauce.

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Halfway through cooking we took a walk outside to Tess’s perfect garden to get kale for Kim’s salad. Well, Kim is getting kale as the rest of us take pictures and enjoy our slushy wine. Put any wine in a blender with ice cubes. Voila’… you have a refreshing summer drink.

Kale is all the rage, but I haven’t really had any kale chips/salads/dishes that I like… until this salad! Maybe the trick is that it was freshly picked (which means I’ll be sneaking into Tess’s garden late at night) or maybe it was that this kale was massaged, because massages make everything better, even kale. Random how to massage kale video I found.

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Yes, seriously… radish butter and it’s delicious. I wasn’t sure I would like it, but I love it. (had some on toast for breakfast :) The talented Phoebe of phoebo’s pure foods made it.

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This salad was sprinkled with fresh squeezed lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. Delicious!

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Plate from last night’s dinner, starting at the bottom right… the massaged kale with cucumbers and tomatoes, the strawberry/cashew/cheese salad, veggie fried black rice, radish butter on a cracker, tortilla and bean pie, white bean patty (which would make a great sandwich, but because we had so much food, we opted to eat the patties bunless)

We each brought empty storage containers and took some of each recipe home. The few days after our cooking events have quickly become my favorite days of each month because my fridge is filled with foods I love to eat.

Even if you are a meatlover, I think most of these recipes will surprise you. So make a shopping list and treat yourself to some great dishes. Or better yet, connect with a few friends that eat a similar diet and plan your own Cook n Share event.

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Anyone have any recipes for me to try at our next Cook n Share event?