Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

People are paying attention to Buttah! I am so thrilled that Aaron Adams, chef at Portobello Vegan Trattoria in Portland, OR, wrote to me: "Bryanna! We're working on perfecting production of your buttah for our restaurant...once we're up and running on it, we're done with EB and the other palm oil stuffola. Thanks for your hard work and dedication. It makes a huge difference." OMG!

AND, again in Portland, Grant Butler, writer for The Oregonian, included my palm oil-free vegan butter in his list of "hot topics" this week! 

The interest has exceeded my expectations, and we've had just about 5000 page hits on the recipe page at vegan.com! All of this makes me feel that the project was very worthwhile and I hope that it will not only give vegans and others an option to make a useful and delicious palm oil-free alternative to butter, low in saturated fat, in their own homes, but that vegan margarine producers will endeavor to change their formulas to exclude palm oil.



I used Buttah in the cake I made for our Easter dessert-- in the cake itself and in the fluffy white frosting:

Butterfinger Cake (recipe here) I have also made vegan "buttercream" frosting with Buttah, very successfully. It held up well even at room temperature:

HAPPY EASTER!

As you probably know from reading this blog, our casual "vegan dinner group" of 5 vegan Denman Is. couples gets together every now and then to share good vegan food, wine, companionship and conversation. Last night we had a fabulous vegan Easter/Spring dinner. It had an Italian theme this time. (Unfortunately, on couple could not make it-- we missed you, Rudy and Ellen!)

Here are some pictures:

My contributions: 
  
My seitan ham and Squash and Cranberry Mostarda 

  
Squash and Cranberry Mostarda-- the only changes I made in the recipe were white wine vinegar instead of champagne vinegar, and kabocha squash instead of butternut. I wanted to make a mostarda to make my seitan "ham" fit better with the Italian theme. A mostarda is an Italian relish-- sweet and spicey-hot-- that is usually made with a variety of dried fruits.  I only had dates, raisins and cranberries in the house.  I went looking on the internet for something mostarda-like that I could make with what I had around, and found this great recipe, which was delicious with the "ham".  It would be good with smoked tofu, too!

 My seitan "ham"

  
My crusty artisan no-knead bread baked in pots


Smaller version of Pastiera Napolitana Vegan (Neapolitan Easter Grain & "Ricotta" Pie)-- see recipe and better pictures at this blog post. My pictures of the cut pie I made for last night did not turn out.  here's a photo of a slice of the larger-sized pie I made last year:
 
Last night we had some of Pelka's organic frozen strawberries with the pie.


VIEWS OF THE TABLE:











CLOSER VIEWS OF THE FOOD:


 
Sarah and Gord's wonderful spring greens salad with baby green beans, zucchini, arugla, and tomatoes in a lemon, garlic and olive oil dressing-- couldn't stop eating it!


 
Pelka's Fennel and Mushroom Pasta in Cashew Cream sauce-- delish!


 
Pelka's terrific kale with pine nuts


 
My bread with a bowl of Fireweed's delicious olive spread to slather on it!


 
Fireweed's gorgeous  and mouth-watering stuffed portobello mushrooms with asparagus.


 
Everyone except DH, who took the picture, ready to toast and eat!


Thanks to Pelka and Rob for hosting us!


Have a wonderful holiday ushering in Spring!

It 's just a social whirl around here, I tell you! Just kidding! But we have had some good feasts lately, in between some yummy Weight Watcher's Core Plan dinners. (DH and I are on the Core Plan-- together this time, which makes it alot easier for me! But, more about that in another post.)



We attended a vegan potluck dinner party with a birthday them last week with four other couples. It turned out to be a pretty much Italian affair, just by accident. The food and wine was delicious, the company was great, and my friend Fireweed made a grand chocolate cake for her DH Mike's birthday!


My plate:(from the top, clockwise) a sort of Italian colcannon, with kale; a yummy cauliflower roasted dish; hummous with wholegrain focaccia; farinata-- Farinata, an Italian savory "chickpea pancake" (I brought this); a savory tofu cake (in the middle); and Giant Lima Beans (Gigantes) Italian-style (another one of my dishes). There was also a lovely salad with lots of different vegetables and nuts-- you can see it in the photo above this one.

Here's Mike's birthday cake:





Mmmmmmmm-mm!

We had two Easter dinners this year. Saturday was Family Day, and my oldest daughter and her daughter were there, with a friend. My middle daughter came with her DH and 3 girls; my foster son Daiv came up from Victoria, and my son put in a quick appearance (they were hosting a giant birthday party at his house!). My stepson Sean and his girlfriend were also with us for a while. We had my McDougall hummous with crudites for starters, and then roasted potatoes, Italian Rice salad with asparagus, my seitan "ham" with "ham gravy", and a broccoli salad that my daughter brought-- a pretty modest feast for us. (My grandaughter's friend, however, was impressed!) My oldest daughter brought our traditional Italian Easter bread ring.  (I forgot to take pictures-- I have a tendency to get distracted with grandchildren around!! in a good way!)

On Sunday we hosted two friends, who gladly helped us finish up the second "ham", the rest of the "ham gravy" and the Italian Rice salad, some crisp freshly-roasted (Denman Island-grown) potatoes, and a spinach salad with thinly-sliced artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes and mushrooms, in a creamy, lemony agave-spiked dressing (see recipe below).



For dessert on both evenings we had my S'More Brownies, which I developed for my Vegan Feast Newsletter.









Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S FAVORITE SPINACH SALAD
Servings: 6
A luscious veggie combination with a creamy, tangy-sweet dressing. It is practically a meal in itself! TO MAKE THIS RECIPE SOY-FREE, omit the tofu and use 1/3 cup more nondairy milk and 1/3 cup raw cashew pieces. Blend until VERY smooth.

CREAMY LEMON-AGAVE DRESSING
6 oz. (1/2 a 12.3 oz. box) extra-firm SILKEN tofu
1/4 cup non-dairy milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice or organic bottled
3 Tbs agave nectar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 small clove garlic, crushed
THE SALAD
12 oz organic baby spinach leaves, from a bag or box already cleaned and dried
14 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and sliced thinly
8 oz fresh crimini mushrooms, sliced thinly
24 large pieces sundried tomatoes in oil, well-drained and thinly-sliced

To Make the dressing:
Blend the Dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth. Place in a covered jar in the refrigerator until serving time.

Just before serving, distribute the spinach between 6 salad plates and top evenly with the sliced mushrooms, artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes. Drizzle each salad with about 4 Tbs. of the dressing and serve.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 109.2 calories; 9% calories from fat; 1.2g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 457.3mg sodium; 1065.8mg potassium; 21.2g carbohydrates; 6.2g fiber; 8.5g sugar; 15.1g net carbs; 8.4g protein; 1.5 points.

Enjoy!