Vegan Easter 2012

Last Sunday, my mom, my brother and his son came over for Easter dinner.  They are all omnivores but have been very open to trying new vegan dishes.  They are big dog lovers and  I want to believe that if they learned more and thought about it enough, they would have a hard time supporting the cruel way other animals are forced to live on  factory farms.   They are at that “I don’t want to know” place and I respect that, I was there for most of my life.  I believe the best way I can have a positive influence is to serve delicious food for which no animals were harmed.

We enjoyed our appetizers of giant green olives and balsamic onions (both from WF), edamame hummus and regular hummus, agave glazed almonds and roasted chickpeas while watching The Master’s Golf Tournament.  My mom is a big golfer and a fan of Phil Mickelson who was in second place at the time.  I made the agave glazed almonds and thought they were just okay.  I also made the roasted chickpeas seasoned with sea salt and pepper.  I may have cooked them too long as they were  very crunchy.  They almost tasted like popcorn.  They weren’t bad, just not great.  I keep reading about all the different ways there are to season them and how wonderful they are so I will probably try them again, cooked a little less, with some different seasoning, perhaps curry.

For dinner I wanted to offer something “meaty” to substitute for what my family would normally have on their plate.  So I planned a menu around VegNews Meatless Meatloaf, which I had never made before.   I also made mashed garlic potatoes, mushroom Marsala gravy, roasted asparagus, Maple Dijon Roasted Brussel Sprouts and a big yummy salad with balsamic dressing.  Jim and I loved the meatloaf, but there wasn’t much mmmming from the omnis.  This was pretty labor intensive so I’ll save it for once in a while for Jim and I.  The brussel sprouts were a big hit with my mom.  She said it was the first time she ever liked brussel sprouts and she’s almost 80 years old!  My husband and I love these brussel sprouts also.  There is never enough no matter how much I make!  As for my 20-year-old nephew, he said he liked the salad best.  I give him kudos for at least trying all the dishes.  I’m actually not sure what my brother thought but he cleaned his plate.  I guess that’s saying something!