Raw Vegan Dinner Party

RAW VEGAN cuisine is colorful and fun!

On a chilly March Saturday evening in NYC I prepared a deliciously warming raw vegan dinner for 12 kind and conscious souls eager to taste my cuisine for the first time. It was a challenge albeit fun as I was requested to prepare the nourishment not only raw (uncooked) and vegan (no dairy, eggs, meat, etc.) but also without onion, garlic, and sesame. A guest decided to share a wish for no mushrooms too as I was serving the meal, an ingredient fortunately found in only two of the countless creations. So many boundaries to obey! :-)

Making macadamia nut cheese.

Letting it ferment in a nut bag.

The final cheese plate....with four types of crackers.

For nearly two days I prepped the plates, fermenting a macadamia cheese for nearly three, dehydrating crackers, a pizza crust, soaking noodles and nuts, blending, and chopping, chopping, chopping. It all came out divine, the food infused with love.

Chopping all these veggies...

add some walnuts and form into "meat" patties.

 Hors d'oeuvres included the aged macadamia nut cheese with orange and parsley and four types of crackers in addition to a trough of trail mix with pumpkin seeds, ginger, cranberries, almonds, and mango. The appetizer plate, a squash “meat” loaf over creamy clove sweet “potatoes” with mango salsa and cilantro pesto, won appeals from all. 

Voila! The appetizer.

Entrée dishes were a spread of delights: frisee greens with Asian pear, dried cherries, maple “toasted” pecans, shaved pumpkin seed parmesan, sprouts, and a honey cider vinaigrette, rosemary pizza crust with cashew ricotta, fresh and sundried tomatoes, black olives, and basil aioli drizzle, quinoa with asparagus, cranberries, and coconut served with a pineapple lime mint salad, kelp noodles with purple cabbage, carrots, red pepper, and snap peas tossed in a “peanut” (i.e. raw almond butter) sauce, and a “roasted” red pepper dip with colorful crudité.

Rosemary almond crust with cashew ricotta...

piling on the flavor, piling on the LOVE!

Add a basil macadamia pesto drizzle to garnish.

Tropical quinoa salad.

Frisee with Asian pear, cherries, maple "toasted" pecans, pumpkin seed parmesan.

Crudite with "roasted" red pepper pate.

 

For dessert we indulged in a triple berry tart with a ginger fig crust and a mocha cake with crunchy cacao nibs.

Can you believe this is RAW VEGAN?

Nearly everything was devoured, the food washed down well with complimentary wine from Burgundy. The light body of the Pinot Noir paired perfectly with the plates. Burgundian wine is always a treat.

I read tarot at the end of meal, seeing all depart with belly and heart smiles. The Sanskrit sound of the heart chakra is yum. We chant “YUMMMMM!”

With a full tummy I headed to bed, experiencing a deep and luscious food coma slumber. Raw vegetables and fruit gods danced in my dreams.