Day 15 of Vegan MoFo: OMG the President is coming to dinner!
As a Canadian, I only have a foreigner’s opinion of President Obama’s policies but from where I stand, he seems like a pretty cool guy. He recently tweeted his Spotify playlist for summer jams and I think I like him even more. And who doesn’t find these amazingly funny?
While some may disagree, I admire a lot of the work he has done with the issues of gender equality and same sex marriage equality. I hope that the future President will uphold these policies and continue to move forward for human rights.
But what to make him for dinner? I wanted to create something a little more elegant than my typical meal or my current obsession with bowls (exhibit a, b, and c). I Googled the President’s Dinners of the past for inspiration for the recipe. The main course of these lavish dinners usually consisted of beef with potatoes so I went with Portobello Steaks and Cauliflower Mash. I like mushroom steaks with a sauce and decided to make a parsley basil pesto; it is fresh, quick, and tastes fancier than it is.
I think the First Lady would approve of this vegetable-filled meal for the President.
15 posts down, 15 more to go! See you tomorrow for Day 16: Late Summer Favourites! Missed Day 14? Check it out here.
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- For the Parsley Basil Pesto:
- 1 cup parsley leaves
- ½ cup basil leaves
- 2 small garlic cloves, peeled
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- Pinch of red chili flakes
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- For the Portobello Steaks:
- 6 portobello mushrooms, destemmed and gills scraped off gently with the spoon
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil + 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, mixed together
- ¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- For the Cauliflower Mash:
- 1 large head cauliflower, main core removed and cut into bite-sized pieces.
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter, softened
- 3-4 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- Cracked black pepper, to taste
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- While the oven preheats, make the pesto. Add the parsley, basil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and chili flakes to the bowl of a food processor. While the food processor is running, slowly add the oil in a steady stream until combined. Transfer to a glass container and set aside until you are ready to serve. Clean out the food processor bowl.
- Set the mushrooms on the baking sheet and rub the mushrooms in the oil + lemon juice mixture. Sprinkle with salt and cook for 30 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time.
- Meanwhile, set a steamer basket in a large pot with a few inches of water at the bottom. Over medium-high heat, cook the cauliflower in the basket until very tender and can be easily poked with a fork (not a knife).
- Once the cauliflower is fully cooked, add half of the mixture to the food processor with 1 tablespoon of softened butter,1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 2 tablespoons of milk, and ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt. Process until it resembles mashed potatoes. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with the other half. Pepper the mash as you like.
- Pile the mashed cauliflower onto the plate, add 2-3 of the mushrooms, and top with sauce. Serve and enjoy!
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He would be a lucky duck to come for dinner! Yum =)
I don’t have much more of an opinion as a Canadian living in the States, but I quite appreciate the work he’s doing for immigrants (I may be biased haha).