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Friday, June 26, 2009

BLOG – Jenn’s Birthday Dinner, 2009

Yesterday, June 25th, was my daughter Jennifer’s birthday – as she calls it the anniversary of the date “she popped out” or I “popped her out”. (Not too far off, it was only 5 hours of labor – thank you, Jenn!)

So, I invited Jenn and her husband, Matt, to come to my house for a “light dinner”. I heard on the weather reports that it was supposed to be a warm day, and the sun to finally come out, so I decided to go with foods I could get ready early and refrigerate until time to eat the meal.

Here’s the menu:

Mock Tuna Salad
Red Potato Sald
Italian-style Marinated Carrots
Ginger’s Chocolate Overkill Pie
Plus Trader Joe’s Soy Cream Cherry Chocolate Chip Non-dairy Frozen Dessert
Sparking Wine

I found the Mock Tuna Salad recipe here. Although it is meant to be vegan, and almost was, I did use actual mayonnaise as I already had it and it was open in the refrigerator. BTW, this was the only part of the meal that was not vegan!!! (Side note - I don't like dill pickle in my tuna, so I left that out.)


For the potato salad, I used a “recipe” that was once demonstrated during a Labor Day weekend Saturday morning news show – GMA or Today or ??? I can’t give you specific amounts as I just do it by eye or feel each time. Also, this tastes different everytime I make it depending on brands and amounts of each ingredient.

Red-skinned potatoes (enough to feed the number of people plus some for leftovers!)
Oil
Mustard
Dill
Salt
Scallions, sliced

Cut up the potatoes into pieces as close to the same size as possible, keeping them somewhat large. Boil them in water until they are fork tender. Remove from heat and drain in a colander. I then return them to the pan because the heat, but not the burner, to help evaporate the last of the water.

The rest of the ingredients should be put on the potatoes while they are still hot. Then chill until serving time – if you can wait that long!

As I said above, the brand/type of oil and mustard will change the flavor. Also, I have used red onions, chopped fairly small, in place of the scallions. The dill can be fresh or dried.


The marinated carrots are from a recipe that can be found in the original edition of “Cooking the Whole Foods Way” by Christina Pirello. I looked for it on her website, but it is not there. I haven’t checked the new version of the book, but I sure hope it is there. I regret I cannot post it here as I don’t want to infringe on the copyright. Maybe you can find the book at your local library (or if you’re nearby and want to make it, you can borrow my copy for a few days.) The ingredients are few and it is simple to make – the cooked carrots are soaked in a vinegar/oil/garlic/herb concoction. Delicious and easy.




I’ve left the best for last. A few posts ago now, Ginger of the blog Wild Ginger presented us with the most yummy-looking Chocolate Overkill Pie – 100% vegan. Trust me - you don't have to be a vegan, or even a vegetarian, to love it - if you love chocolate to the point of ecstasy!
Loaded with protein, calories, and deliciousness! You can find Ginger’s recipe here. I realize Ginger recommends a coconut frozen product, but the TJ’s one is Jenn’s favorite, and believe me, it went very well with the pie.

If you’d like to see all the pics I took, you can check out my Flickr set here.

There you have it, a 99.9% vegan meal that was delicious and satisfying.

Please go check out Jenn’s blog to see what she has to say.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace, Judi

8 comments:

Unknown said...

The over kill pie looks very tasty!!

Suldog said...

Hmmmmmm. I like chick peas a lot, so maybe that Mock Tuna Salad will be on my "to make" list soon.

disabled account said...

oh, you're so good! thanks for the link and for trying my pie!!! i'm always so excited when someone tries my recipes...and then loves them! haha.

your picture of it looks so good it makes me want to go home and make another, but i'm currently working through some brownies...heehee.

i've been thinking about making a mock tuna salad lately. i'll have to start researching that to create another vegan smartbomb. :)

thanks again judi!! xoxoxo

Karen said...

Looks like a great birthday meal!

Marlene said...

I all looks yummy - I have never eaten vegan or vegetarian but my sister and her granddaughter do and I will certainly pass this on to them with your permission.

Dave King said...

Sounds good to me - How many anniversaries has she had, that daughter of yours?

Celtic Cat said...

Happy Birthday to Jenn!

Looks like a wonderful B-Day meal, the pie looks yummy!

Unknown said...

Indeed it was the best meal ever! With all of this moving insanity we never had a chance to finish off that piece of pie you sent us home with. So last night at the very end (after cleaning & locking up for the last time in Arlington) I came to the new home and chowed down. Fan-tas-tic! Thanks so much mum!
Oh & to answer Dave's question, I like to think I'm 29 with 7 years experience :-)