It’s always a challenge serving dinner to mixed company – by which I mean Vegetarians and Carnivores. Given that we frequently have dinner with our Riverdale friends, and each of us has a Veggie daughter, I’ve gotten pretty good at mixed menus. Usually it’s a meatless standard such as mushroom risotto or some sort of fish (which they’ll eat) or pasta.
But I have to admit, I often plan my meal forgetting about the Vegetarians, only to realize halfway through that I need to make something they can eat. So I whip up a pasta side or adjust the recipe, somehow feeling a tad bit of resentment as I do so. And, truth be told, I don’t worry too much whether or not the Vegetarians are happy at meal’s end (though they generally are). My heart lies with the Carnivores, and it is them (and myself) that I seek first to please.
I realized today that what I’ve been doing is accommodating the vegetarians, not celebrating them. And that’s not fair. After all, vegetarian cuisine is as much a food style as Italian or Mexican. My menus often revolve around a country’s cuisine. Why not a vegetarian menu?
So last night we celebrated our Vegetarian daughters with a menu designed with them in mind. And, just as I’ve accommodated the Vegetarians in my other dinners, I’m adding a little side of meat just for the Carnivores. Was that so wrong?
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A Vegetarian Dinner Party with a Carnivore Side
Appetizers (all store-bought)
Vegetable Terrine
Rice crackers
Mixed olives
Manchego Cheese
Wheat toasts
Baby Carrots
Hummus
Dinner
Scheherazade Casserole with Tomato Coulis (Recipe follows)
Mixed green leaf lettuce and mesclun greens with lemon vinaigrette (Recipe follows)
Tsatziki with Mint (Recipe coming in another post.)
Carnivore side dish
Grilled organic chicken sausages with basil and sun dried tomato (from Gourmet Garage)
Dessert
Fruit tartlets made with fig paste, nectarines and plums , served with vanilla ice cream (Modified from this recipe) _____________________________________________________________
Scheherazade Casserole
For the main course, I went to the source – The Moosewood Cookbook, from the restaurant in Ithaca, NY that was a cornerstone of the natural foods movement in the 70’s. It’s still there today, and retains its cooperative, local feel. (We had a nice meal there a few years ago.)
This recipe is from the out-of-print 1992 edition of the Moosewood, and it was my first time making it. I added some mushrooms and a tomato coulis for interest, but I think it still needs tweaking – perhaps carrots and maybe red instead of green bell pepper. I’d like to try it with some lemon and mint flavors rather than the cumin and basil, and scallions rather than onions. It’s a hearty dish, and that would lighten up it’s impact. I also recommend using a good vegetable broth instead of water.
As I was writing this, I checked and saw that this recipe is not in the 2000 edition of the Moosewood. Perhaps Molly had similar feelings to mine, and didn’t want to spend the time updating the recipe. That said, our group all but finished the pan, and my daughter wants me to make it again. Since I have plenty of soybeans and bulgur left, I guess I will…
1 cup raw bulgur
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups minced onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
black pepper and cayenne to taste
1 large bell pepper, diced
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup dried soybeans
1 (14 ounce) can tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste (1/2 of a small can)
1/2 cup packed finely minced fresh parsley
1 1/2-2 cups crumbled feta cheese
Tomato coulis (recipe follows)
Soak the soybeans overnight, or do as I did and make a fast soak by covering them with cold water + 1 inch, bring to a boil, then take off heat, cover and soak for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly oil a 9×13 inch baking pan.
Place the bulgur in a small bowl. Add boiling water (or better yet, veggie broth), cover with a plate, and let stand at least 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, salt and seasonings. Stir occasionally as you saute over medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes. Add mushrooms and green pepper and saute till the mushrooms give off their water but nothing browns.
Drain the soybeans and place them in a blender or food processor with 1 cup fresh water (or better yet,veggie broth). Grind until the soybeans resemble a coarse batter. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the soaked bulgur and sauteed vegetables to the soybeans.
Pour the tomatoes into a bowl, and using your hands, break the tomatoes up into bit size pieces. Drain. Stir into the large bowl of beans and veggies. Add tomato paste, parsley and 1 cup of the feta. Mix well.
Spread into the baking pan and sprinkle the remaining feta on top. Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 375 F., then uncover and bake 15 minutes more with the oven turned down to 350 F. Serve hot with warm tomato coulis on top or on the side.
Tomato Coulis
A coulis is slightly thicker than a sauce, is often pureed, and can be served cold as a side dish or warm as a sauce. I would think this would taste even better made with fresh tomatoes – I used canned because that was all I had. This recipe is from Food Network.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 large can tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add onion and saute onion until softened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer before adding the tomatoes. Stir well to combine, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook until tomatoes have softened and most of the released liquid has evaporated. Serve warm.
Lemon Vinaigrette
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tsp dried mustard
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Combine all but the olive oil in a small bowl. whisk. Continue whisking while adding the olive oil in a steady stream. Serve over fresh greens.
Makes me hungry, either version–veg or carn.
I am such a carnivore that even after re-reading the ingredient list I simply get an idea of the flavor of the casserole – what does it taste like? The photos look amazing!
(Perhaps we should have sent photos of the seafood feast that Fran preapred for us in her, I mean YOUR new kitchen last night…)
If they’ll eat a fish, they’re not vegetarians – they’re omnivores. If you’ll eat a vegetable, you’re not a carnivore – you are an omnivore. I’m not running anyone down; it’s just that describing people who will eat animal flesh as vegetarians makes it harder on actual vegetarians. Everyone should understand that vegetarian means no animal flesh, and that carnivore means only animal flesh.
I always have to remind myself not to use the chicken stock when I’m cooking vegetarian… but I do it so rarely. Your dinner party sounds delicious – for all of us omnivores!
Yeah if they eat fish there Pisco Vegetarians, but still i like the resapie might have to try it, i live in a family where my mother and I are vegetarians and my father and brother are omnivores, well more im vegan my moms vegetarian and then the two omnicores. Its not as hard as people think it is to make all the people happy, you just have to remember to includ them, i for one feel very left out if everyone is eating a grea dinner and im stuck with one thing as a side off. Thats why when we cook we make different meals for all the departments. Always includ everyone, makes everyone happy.