A 3-course meal (kinda)

Family was over this weekend (the vegan-friendly, or at least vegan-curious, side of the family), so I had people to feed without resorting to popcorn for dinner if things went awry. The pressure!

Calling this a "three course meal" may be a bit grandiose for what it is, but I was still pleased to leave everyone full at the end of the evening.

I made an appetizer of salt & vinegar potato crisps and french onion dip. The potatoes, honestly, I hated. And I mean hated. Admittedly, I used the wrong kind of vinegar so that may had everything to do with it, but I didn't even take a photo to document them because I thought they were so awful. Everyone else seemed to like them and they all got eaten, but I don't know if that was just politeness or what. Anyway, google it if you want the recipe. Maybe you'll have better luck than me.

The dip was great, though! We had it with the potatoes, with crackers, with veggies, and with some badass bean chips Mr. IV found somewhere (seriously, check those things out, they're amazing). Sayeth brother-in-law's girlfriend: "I could eat this stuff with a spoon." Success!

I adapted it from a couple different recipes I found to better suit my own laziness and general lack of planning. I'm sure it'd be better with freshly caramelized onions, but who wants to wait an hour or have to cook when you could be eating onion dip NOW? So without further ado, I present:

IV's Lazy French Onion Dip

1 12-oz tub vegan sour cream (e.g. Tofutti)

1 tsp onion powder

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp thyme powder

ground black pepper to taste

1. dump ingredients in a bowl

2. stir

3. eat

The actual dinner part of dinner was VeganYumYum's lemon pepper pasta, which was delicious! I tweaked it a little bit to suit Mr. IV, who doesn't eat wheat, tomatoes or oil, but it was delightful all the same.

 

(Disclaimer: dinner was actually supplemented by a soup that mother-in-law made and a crazy Thrive-style pizza Mr. IV made, but I only ate what I made and was quite satisfied by it.)

And then, dessert! My favorite part! This chocolate mousse was yummy, easy, and a big hit with the masses. I'm really getting to be a big fan of agar.

And that's it! My first successful vegan cooking for non-vegans!