Slow Food Shabbat

The beginnings of a feast. In the center, my cheddar scalloped sweet potatoes.

Fridays hold in store a new tradition for me, I think! For the past two, I've convened with friends both new and old to share potluck-style dinners. This week, around ten kids met at my house to talk about the formation of a Slow Food chapter at our university. We had a delicious spread, shared wine and bread, and came up with some exciting ideas to carry out with the club this semester.

For my contributions, in an attempt to stay mostly in sync with my Detox for Women (which I start in earnest today!), I tossed up a simple green salad and utilized the five-pound block of Daiya cheddar my roommate and I just ordered to create a decadent vegan version of this Food Network recipe.


A beautiful monstrosity, amirite?

Cheddar Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
serves 10, easily!

1 tablespoon soy-free Earth Balance
8 small-medium sweet potatoes, washed and peeled
about 1/2-pound cheddar Daiya cheeze, grated
2 3/4 cups unsweetened almond milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
a pinch of nutmeg
s&p

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a rectangular or oval-shaped pan with EB. Slice sweet potatoes to 1/4-inch. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized pot, bring the almond milk, garlic, nutmeg, s&p to a boil over medium heat.

Create a layer of sweet potatoes on the bottom of the pan, so that the slices overlap slightly and none of the bottom of the pan is showing. Sprinkle this layer with Daiya. Make another layer of potatoes, then another of Daiya, then one more of potatoes before pouring the recently-boiled mixture over top.

Finally, finish of with the rest of the cheeze and pop it in the oven for 30 minutes. Broil for an extra five to get some nice browning going on top.

Hodge Podge

Okay, I did something bad. I ate all the strawberry ice cream before taking any pictures. So I'm gonna hold off posting that luscious treat until I can provide evidence of its existence. (Don't worry, it won't be long.)

But, surprisingly, lots of other things happened this weekend that I will report on today instead! I guess when one is mostly confined to one's bed for a few days, food, sleep and gentle entertainment are the main concerns one has. Yesterday was deemed (by my lazy, bossy, croup-y self) movie marathon day. Boyfriend indulged me. As for feature films, we watched:


Courtesy of Google Image search!

A strange mix, but all kind of woven together with the theme of "intrigue." Actually, I was audibly frightened at some point during each of these movies. Haha, I'm a baby. Anyway, to my delight, we also got to catch up the last season of the Office.

Today, enVeg, the club I'm president of at school, hosted a vegan potluck!



It was a great spread. In the picture, I can identify a chocolate cake, a fruit-and-nut salad, the pot being passed around as my roommate's very successful version of the BBQ Black-eyed Peas from Vegan Soul Kitchen, and the orange pot in the center as the basic Red Curry I decided to make. No close-ups (gosh, I need to be more diligent in my photo-taking!), but here's the recipe regardless:

Easy Red Curry Potatoes and Spinach
serves 4 (as a full meal)

2 tablespoons oil (coconut, canola, olive...)
2 inches fresh ginger, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 medium-sized potatoes, roughly chopped
1 large bag fresh spinach
2 tablespoons red curry paste
1 14-oz. can coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more if desired)
1/4 sheet nori
1 1/2 tablespoons Bragg's Liquid Aminos or tamari

Saute the minced ginger and garlic in oil over medium-high heat until very fragrant, though being careful not to burn. Add the potatoes and the curry paste and pepper flakes. Coat the potatoes well. Add the coconut milk and heat through. Plop the spinach on top of everything, cover and wait until partially steamed, so it can be folded in. Crumble the 1/4 sheet of nori into the the mixture, then add the Bragg's. (These two ingredients I just discovered are a fantastic fish sauce replacer!) Cook, covered, until you can stick a fork through the potatoes with ease.