Monday, February 23, 2009

Casual Eating on Glam Night

I finally got to serve dinner from my own kitchen on Sunday night. We had the Oscars on, but since we hadn’t seen any of the movies that were up for awards we weren’t exactly glued to the tv. I know many of you watched and prepared clever party foods, but I told Chase I wanted to make Barbecue Sandwiches. He picked all the sides.

I apologize for these rather boring food photos. They are just candid shots hurriedly taken so hungry diners could start eating.

For the barbecue I made seitan, chopped it up in the food processor, then let it sit in barbecue sauce overnight. I used the recipe and method from Chef Jason of Vegan Culinary Experience. I was hoping for a more shredded style seitan, but chopped worked out fine.




I warmed it up before serving it on burger buns. Chase built his on an upside-down toasted bun with crispy broccoli slaw and hot hot hot sauce.


Sides were homemade pinto beans, always yummy…


Creamy mashed red potatoes (nice for cooling off hot sauce!)…



... and a great Macaroni Salad. I used a recipe from La Dolce Vegan as a guide. I started with my favorite Eddie Spaghetti veggie corkscrews.


I added in carrots, green onions, red bell pepper, and chopped fresh spinach, then made a dressing with Tofutti cream cheese, milk, vinegar, agave, and lots of herbs. So tasty.


I’m glad everyone like it cuz I made a big huge bunch of it!


Broccoli was served too. Here’s our table full of food.




Here’s Chase’s perfect Texas barbecue plate.



Since wheat meat on whole wheat buns is not for gluten free folks, I had a bunch of broccoli, pintos, and leftover mushrooms. I made myself a mushroom stirfry the night before with my Asian market purchases and it was heavenly. Fresh shitake and enoki mushrooms, snow peas, daikon, and onion. I adore shitake mushrooms and stirfried daikon!



We had dessert too, but it can’t be revealed until Friday. See you then!

30 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Lovin' those beans!!

Can't wait to see the dessert!! :-)

Adriana said...

I always look forward to your Sunday dinners!

Not Another Omnivore said...

Pinto beans make my heart flutter, and your mac salad looks amazing!

NAOmni

Jes said...

Oh wow, that BBQ "pork" plate looks great, it's too bad you can't eat it. Although your alternative looks equally delicious!!

Andrea said...

The barbecue looks tempting as does the rest of the meal. Makes me wish I had more time to cook. I love your Sunday dinner idea. It's great that you have so much family around.

Emily said...

Love the veggie spirals..so pretty!
Can't wait for dessert time! :-)

MeloMeals said...

Love your daikon/mushroom stir fry..

and I always love your Sunday dinners.. I told my kids (my oldest is senior) about your Sunday dinners and how we have to figure out a way when they graduate to have a Sunday dinner like you do! I even showed them pics of Chase so they could see I'm not the only vegan blog mom out there! lol.. I have to admit, I am scared to death about my kids growing up! Or sad... and excited all at the same time! Was it hard for you when Chase left home?

Re your comment.. I have taught so many cooking classes and cooked for personal chef clients, so packing up for a big cooking session is second nature to me... in the beginning it was quite overwhelming to remember everything...

Chris said...

That pasta salad looks delightful! I'm usually not a fan of heavily dressed salads, but I would make an exception for yours :)

Anonymous said...

Glamorous- perhaps not, but delicious- oh my goodness yes! What an amazing looking spread, as always!

nora said...

yum my mom and i actually had a personal cooking class with jason at our house over the summer! he's such a nice guy and we made that exact same barbecue seitan recipe, i couldn't stop eating it, just with a spoon!

Em said...

i wanna come to your house for dinner! this is a lovely feast!

Anonymous said...

That pasta salad is calling out to me! Love the comfort food theme.

Amy said...

I didn't watch the Oscars at all (no that's a lie, I watched them walk in for about the first 2 minutes).

I was planning on having some kind of bbq seitan this week. I love the idea of marinading it overnight! I'll have to try that. I desperately want one of those burgers!

Anonymous said...

That's a perfect barbecue plate indeed!
I saw "Milk" exactly the night before Sean Penn won the Oscar. On the Other hand, I didn't watch the Oscar night because here it is indeed in the middle of the night ha ha.

Lisa said...

Your mac salad is so colorful! And the potatoes looks so decadent. Yum.

Virginia said...

my favorite is the pasta salad! i LOVE pasta salad!

jessy said...

i can't wait to read about (and see) the dessert! your spread looks so gooooood! the pinto beans 'n mashed taters are my fav - and the veggie corkscrews are the cutest! what a pretty macaroni salad! mmmmmmm!

miss v said...

that is quite a spread. those mashed red pots looks great. and i like the idea of the shredded seitan... kind of like pulled pork. hmmm....

JENNA said...

What a great meal! the Macaroni Salad is so colorful and pretty!

Katy said...

Those BBQ sandwiches look scrumptious! (but without the hot hot sauce because I'm a wuss). :)

Anonymous said...

Everything you make always looks so good! I've never seen pasta like that before- totally adorable! I never make anything out of La Dolce - I should check out that recipe.

allularpunk said...

it all looks so wonderful! i like that bbq seitan idea, i'll have to try that!

Anonymous said...

Everything you posted looks so delicious! I love pinto beans, and that mac salad and the mushrooms look soooooo good. Yum!

Erin said...

The pasta salad looks so good! My favorite pasta salad is also from LDV, but it's a different one, with balsamic vinegar.

Now you've got me craving bbq.

kmouse said...

That sandwich plate is heavenly!

jb said...

Mmm I love barbecue seitan sandwiches, they never fail to please. and your leftover stir fry look delicious!

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Wish I had been there Diann :)

Anonymous said...

I am pretty sure that you need to make me Sunday dinners now too. I shall patiently (and eagerly) await the dessert.

Anonymous said...

The Macaroni Salad looks so good! Would you mind sharing the proportions of the ingredients you used to make it?


www.IamBee-Steph.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Yum! Wish I had been with you on Oscar night! ;-)