Daring Cooks-February Challenge-Mezze Platter

The 2010 February Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

The mandatory recipes for this challenge were homemade hummus and pita bread, and I chose to make roasted red pepper seitan and some pickled veggies. Actually, I already had made the pickled veggies in the summertime and just ate the rest of them with this meal. Mezze platters make me happy! For the seitan, I used the recipe for the Chorizo Sausages in "Vegan Brunch", but using garbanzo beans instead of pinto, and adding in the roasted red pepper at the end. I made a simple sauce of veganaise, dill, and a little soy milk to thin it out.

Phew.

I'm so glad the holidays are over with!! I can eat normal again! I seriously think this headache that I have had for the past two days is a result of sweets withdrawl too.

AAAAANNNNNNNNND...I got a Vitamix!

*happy dance* It was love at first sight.

So far, I have only experimented with smoothies, hummus, and soup (it really comes out steaming hot! Watch the video on their website!) I'm going to the Co-op tomorrow to buy some bulk nuts to make some nut butters. Ohhhh Nutella, here I come!

This is a soup not made in the Vitamix (I made a creamy potato-carrot soup yesterday in it, and while it was super-yummy, it wasn't so pretty). I used homemade veggie broth (yeaaaah), tempeh sausage crumbles, a bit of leftover lentils, potatoes, carrots, and onions. It was a mega-flavor soup. Yum!

I couldn't NOT play around with the Vitamix tonight, so I made edamame hummus! I took one can of cici beans, one whole lemon minus peel (I get a kick out of throwing the whole thing in. Take THAT old blender!), maybe 1/2 cup of edamame beans, and a bunch of olive oil, salt, and white pepper. Smooth and creamy in a minute. Amazing. Served it with toasted pita bread!

Annnd a detox-gimme-raw-fruits-and-veggies salad, with a slice of whole wheat bread, from the other night.