Gluten free / vegan cooking for others

 I used to frequently get together with a small group of moms when our children where in preschool together.  Now that our children are not in the same school (wipe away a tear) we do not see each other as often as I would like.  In years past, these mom night outs were at someone's house and everyone brought something.  I was impressed by and enjoyed the dishes they created.  This was before I cooked, so I always opted to bring frozen Trader Joe appetizers!

Now that I am cooking - I decided to prepare a few gluten free / vegan dishes for them.  I was nervous about trying new recipes, especially given that they were GF/ vegan.  I picked out a new quinoa recipe, two appetizers and 2 desserts to try.

 I am a fan of Dr. John McDougall (http://drmcdougall.com/)- I first saw him speak in 1990.  He is a proponent for a low fat, plant based diet.  His wife is an amazing cook and has published several cookbooks.  They now have a new app for iphone / ipad.  I found the quinoa recipe and a black bean dip on the app. 

Black Bean Dip

This was super easy and I made it the night before.  2 cans of organic black beans (drained), 1 cup of your favorite salsa and food process it until creamy!   I served it with new chips I founds at Dekalb Farmers Market made with beans instead of corn, and of course GF/ vegan.  The chips and dip were quite tasty.  Next time I may use a salsa with a little more kick.

Mexican Pizza

I began with my favorite pizza crust from Sally's Bakery www.sallysbakery.com.  I had some left over Wholefood organic spicy pinto beans and put that on half of the pizza, on the other half I used the bean dip mentioned above.  I grilled asparagus and peppers, sliced them and layered on top.  Then cooked the pizza for about 7 minutes at 375 degrees.  This was a fun appetizer that went well with the bean dip and chips.

Quinoa Salad with Lime Cilantro Dressing

I also found the recipe not only on McDougall's app but also on another blog that I can share it with you:

http://passthepotatoesblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/quinoa-salad-with-lime-cilantro.html

 The dressing is AMAZING.  And, what I really love is that there is no OIL!  Yay.  This recipe did take a lot longer than I expected.  I also left out the avocado, as I made it the day before. Using half red quinoa and half white quinoa  gave the salad a great texture and flavor.  I am now purchasing my quinoa from DeKalb Farmers Market, it is cheaper and they have more variety.  I will be adding more artichokes to my dishes, I love the tangy flavor they add.  I was skeptical about the quantity of cilantro (well to be honest I just didn't want to clean and separate that much cilantro) but the cilantro added with the basil and lime - unreal.

And, last but not least - dessert

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Why even attempt to bake these, when I can order from Dr. Sweets??
http://www.drsweetscakes.com/
These are gluten free and dairy free.  They are so rich, melt in your mouth, yet crunchy, and just simple awesome goodness.

Chocolate Mousse with Chocolate Crust

This was an experiment that my brave friends willingly gave a try.  The day before I was trying to make healthy no bake brownies by Brendan Brazier who wrote the Thrive books.  Brendan is a triathlete who eats a plant based diet (vegan).  Here is the recipe from his website:

http://myvega.com/recipes/no-bake-brownies

I used almonds instead of walnuts, and did not add cacoa nibs, and added a few coconut flakes.  So, I just threw 1 cup of pitted dates, 1 cup of almonds and 1/2 of cocoa powder in the food processor.  The consistency was not what I thought it should be so I added a little agave syrup.  I patted the mixture into a brownie pan.  No one really liked them.  Then I thought, this would make a great crust.  I broke it apart and put it into ramkin dishes, seen above.

I heard about a chocolate pudding made with avocado instead of dairy.  Yes, avocado.  My curiosity got the best of me and I found several versions on the web.  Paleo blogs have many versions of this recipe.  (Note, if you do not like bananas or coconuts do not try this recipe!)
I put the following in a food processor:
1 avocado
1 banana
4 TBS cocoa powder
4 TBS coconut milk
1 TBS coconut oil
2 TBS agave syrup

Whipped it all up and filled the ramkins.  Well, it is rich, it is thicker than pudding, not overly sweet.  But I probably will not make it again.  I am glad I tried it though!  Now I know what chocolate and avocado together taste like.

 I did have one friend bring a cheese and meat platter and another bring a salad - just in case my food bombed.  So my friends said they liked everything.  I think they did!  But regardless, it was a fun evening re-connecting with friends on our porch and of course enjoying some wine.