ISO your favorite all-out wonderful summertime veggie dish

My birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and rather than have my mom ask me what I'd like (so she can cook for me - I really do appreciate the thought!) and then supplementing whatever I say with a couple types of meat I've decided that I'm going to invite everyone here instead. There will be 8 of us here. My family, my parents, and my baby sis with her fiance.

I already have dessert figured out - I'm making a mint (from my garden) version of my vegan chocolate torte.

So I need some wonderful, super fantastic ideas for dinner that would go with a super-rich dark chocolate dessert. They have to be gluten-free, (or able to alter to gluten-free) low in sodium, and low-carb. And I would REALLY like to have this be a vegan meal. I was thinking something with all of the late-summer veggies, and a fresh fruit salad - or similar "light" meal since it's always in the 90s & ultra humid.

I can cook JUST ABOUT anything, and am not afraid to try new things, so I don't actually need "simple" recipes for this. Then again, I'm also not against a recipe that tastes like a million bucks & takes just minutes to prepare.

Any ideas? Pretty please? I'm checking out Gluten-Free Goddess & a few other favorite recipe sites right now, but would LOVE a few "personally recommended" ideas too!

(edited to add After a bit of thought, I think I'm leaning towards a Greek meal - I love my olives, and for some reason that just sounds yummy. Would that work with the mint though?!?
love,
mom

 

I suggest you investigate Mediterranean style cooking.

http://www.mediterraneandiet.gr/index.html
http://www.greek-recipe.com/modules.php?name=categories4
http://www.mediterranean-food-recipes.com/vegetable-recipes.html


x

 

I love to cook vegan thai food . .

but, in America.

 

Mint in tzatziki? Really? I'll have to try that... it sounds wonderful! My recipe is just the thickened yogurt, cucumbers, EVOO, garlic & lemon. I was just given a baba ganoush recipe & I'm thinking we'll have to give it a try. I've had eggplant once, but that was 20...+ years ago so I guess it's time to give it a second chance.

Spices on my fruit - I'm having a tough time imagining this, but I'll give JUST about anything a try. I know to put cayenne in my cocoa after all, so why not on my fruit? I was thinking grapes, cantaloupe/muskmelon, peaches, pears... and maybe some strawberries or cherries for color. I'm not too experienced with cardamom though, what would work well with that?

Someone else pointed out how popular lamb was, and how that's usually seasoned with mint... so while the mental picture was not appetizing I think I AM going to go Greek after all

Xexon - I think the middle link is the one I've been using during our homeschooling for this unit. We found a TON of yummy recipes there! I'll have to check the others out as well. Thanks
love,
mom

 

All these new recipes are NOT going to help my dieting attempts much! Thanks! I'm off to discover new goodies. Mughal... as in Persian? Sounds exotic - I THINK I like exotic! (discovered the hard way that my body is not fond of several curries)

After thinking it over & hunting for easily adaptable recipes, I think I've almost not quite got it narrowed down. Just need to decide for sure on the side-dishes, but this is what I'm thinking for right now.

Main Dish: Horiatiki (lettuce-less veggie salad)
Bread: Pitas with Fresh Hummus & Tzatziki or Baba Ganoush (testing that recipe before we decide)
Fruit: Fresh Fruit Salad
Side Dish #1: Vegan Falafels
Side Dish #2: Dolmas/Dolmades (this one depends upon my finding grape leaves locally!)
Side Dish #3: Spanakopita
And Dessert: Chocolate Mint Torte (darn though, I keep finding loverly almond recipes that make me want to change my mind!)

Thanks everyone! If anyone happens to know of any OTHER new recipes - we happen to be studying Ancient Greece in our homeschooling for the next 3 weeks - and I'm still on the prowl for just a few more goodies to try! DS is nearly 13, and fairly proficient in the kitchen so we're ready to work on honing his culinary skills beyond "one-dish meals."
love,
mom

 

u gave me agreat idea when you said mint and avocado's! Take chilled avacado's and fresh mint from the garden with agave nectar and cocoa nibs or cocoa powder. throw it in the blender and make a super dank desert.

 

Oooh yummy! Would this get rather thick? Like a mousse? It sounds absolutely wonderful!

love,
mom

 

I'ts like a pudding. eat it totally chill and go straight to heaven......

 

It's raw too....

 

Alrightie, I have a bowl of tzatziki & a bowl of hummus in the fridge. The horiatiki is marinating in the fridge as well, and I have the dolmas on the stovetop right now, cooking.

My little sister just called me, and said that when her husband took her out to a Greek restaurant she had a reaction to dolmas. She's pretty sure it's the grape leaves since she's had everything else they were stuffed with. I did an internet search & couldn't find much info for grape leaf allergies though. Has anyone else heard of this before? I know I can eat grapes & grape juice, (all colors) and use grapeseed oil in my cooking. But now I'm wondering if it might be safer NOT to try these myself?!?
love,
mom

 

Thanks SOOO much!!! That's what I kept coming up with too, is that it MUST have been something they were stuffed with. She's got a pretty serious allergy to fish, and baby sis & I were thinking that perhaps they had fish oil in there somewhere?

Mine are stuffed with brown rice & tons of herbs. They smelled divine while cooking, and I'm thinking I'll try one of the smaller ones. I certainly know how to deal with a reaction, so it's not like it'd be the end of the world.
love,
mom

 

making a watermelon mess

 

Food photos! Everything went well, EXCEPT the torte! I found a new recipe & rather than using the one I already knew worked well & just adding mint I thought I'd try another one. It never set up, and at twice the recommended baking time the chocolate started scorching so we gave up & made chocolate-mint brownies instead. So no fun dessert photos, but that's because brownies just look ookey. Dessert WAS in fact a success... after a fashion.

Here's what we made! (and yes, EVERYTHING was made from scratch - with a lot of help from DH & the kids)


Tiny pitas served with fresh hummus & tzatziki. My mom, who HATES hummus kept coming back for more!!!

Our fruit salad, (cantaloupe, red grapes, peaches & pears) a tomato-cucumber salad, (horiatiki) and vegan falafels. The falafels were awesome... we had NO leftovers. Both salads were wonderful as well, and complimented each other nicely.

 

The dolmas. They turned out to be easier to make than I'd thought they would, and looked & smelled nice but NONE of us liked them. They left our tongues kind of raw, like when you eat kiwi-skin... and they just tasted "too weird" for us.

The spanakopita (wrapped in springroll wrappers) on the other hand was a COMPLETE success... we ALL liked this! I'm afraid DH was still cooking most of these up when I took the photo, but you can still get the idea. I used an Egyptian feta for this, and the softer texture & stronger flavor was absolutely perfect. The springroll wrappers were round, so it was tough to make triangles, but they were soooo yummy that none of us minded.

And these were my guinea-pi.... err, guests. Dad, Mom & DS on the left, and DD, Baby Sis & my future BIL (hiding) on the right. And see? We all fit at my pretty table without sitting in everyone's laps!!! AND the food actually fit on the table as well, rather than having to go on the counter behind us! I am so loving my $50 "new to me" table from Craigslist.

 

Holy Toledo, its the Waltons!

The food looks yummy and the crowd... enthusiastic, yet cautious.

If everybody gets a good night's sleep, I'd call it a success.


x