Jun

Vegan Dinner Night at Higher Ground

Dan

It’s not often that I get to flex my cooking muscles for a large crowd, let alone my vegan ones, but I have the honour of cooking some 3-course vegan dinners at the cafe for the next 5 weeks! In January I established Global Vegetarian Night at Higher Ground in collaboration with Lisa Krasnow of Anahata Foods and the response from patrons and the community in general has been very positive. With Lisa on leave, it is now my turn to put my own personal touch to vegan cuisine.

As usual, I draw my inspiration for cooking from just about anywhere. Just like anyone else, I’m hoping for a great summer with lots of sun, so I wanted to keep the dishes fresh & bright (no rain, thank you). First up, I made a basmati summer salad filled with fresh grapes, radishes, celery, & almonds. I put some tumeric in the rice to sun it up a bit, and used a citrus cider vinaigrette on top!

Next up, some roasted eggplant steaks that I marinated for the afternoon in some red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, and spices. I paired them up with some roasted apples, stuffed with walnuts, herb-marinated tofu, and topped with brown sugar (check out the apple recipe here, just substitute 1 block, cubed, extra-firm tofu). Finished with olive oil, nice and simple!

Now, I’m not a huge dessert guy, but this vegan banana ice-cream topped with a cashew caramel sauce & fresh berries can melt even my heart. This ice-cream is a mix of bananas (of course), soy milk, & honey. Seems fairly guilt-free to me!

Check back soon for my recipes for the basmati summer salad and the dessert. Can’t wait to do it all over again next week! I’ll be adding each week’s recipes to the site, so if you are a vegetarian or a vegan you should have a smile on your face right now…and…move that mouse over to the ‘bookmark’ button!