Party Food!

Summer is here and you know what that means... party time! Heat up those barbeques for some veggie burger madness. It is my goal to have a wine and cheese party at some point this summer with the most amazing cheeses ever, Dr. Cow and Ste Martaen.

Below is a list of some Vegan Miss party food recipes:

• Animal Shaped Chick'n Nuggets
• Baked Crab Rangoon
• BBQ Seitan
• Cheese Sticks
• Coleslaw 
• Eggless Egg Salad
• English Muffin Pizzas
• Fried Pickles  
• Herb Roasted Macadamia Nuts
• Jello Mold
• Mystery Cheese Ball Spread
• Pickled Fried Green Tomatoes
  
• Potato Skins
• Raw Kale Salad
• Salmon Mousse Mold
• Shaved Golden Beet & Mustard Green Salad
• Shrimp Canapes
• Sonoma Chick'n Salad
• Spinach Artichoke Dip
• Stuffed Zucchini Cups
• Stuffed Bacon and Cheese Veggie Burgers
• Tempeh Crab Cakes 
• TSP Burgers

For the burgers and crab cakes, I would make them small in size so they are like sliders.

Looking for some retro cocktails? Check out this book, Highballs High Heels: A Girls Guide to the Art of Cocktails. I have it and it's divine! If you need some fancy, vintage invitations to send out (you know, by snail mail like they used to), you must get them from Fenderskirts Vintage Imagery & Stationary. And, of course, there is always Etsy for all your other needs. xo

Potato Skins

Okay, so these might have been better for my Super Bowl post, but still good! They take a bit of time to make, but you can't resist the taste.

Potato Skins

* Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

* Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

* Ingredients:

• 6 medium to large russet potatoes
• 1/4 cup peanut oil
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup vegan bacon, chopped*
• 3/4 cup vegan cheddar cheese, shredded*
• 1/4 cup chives, chopped
• 1/2 cup vegan sour cream*
• salt and pepper, to taste

 * Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Clean potatoes and wrap in foil.
3. Bake potatoes in oven for one hour.
4. After one hour, remove from oven and open foil to vent.
5. Once cool to touch, slice potatoes in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop out the center leaving about a quarter of an inch of skin and potato.
6. Turn up oven to 450 degrees.
7. Brush inside and outside of potatoes with oil.
8. Place potatoes scoop side down in a baking pan or baking sheet with a wire rack so the potatoes have a place to drip the oil.
9. Bake for ten minutes.
10. While baking, fry the bacon until crisp.
11. Flip the potatoes over so the skin side is down. Bake for ten more minutes.
12. Remove from oven and top each with bacon and cheese. Broil until cheese has melted.
13. Mix the sour cream with the majority of the chives. Reserve about a tablespoon to top later.
14. Top with sour cream mixture, the remaining chives, salt, and pepper.
15. Optional: For the scooped potato remains, one could make mashed potatoes. Check out my recipe here: My Mom's Mashed Potatoes.

* Note: For vegan bacon, I used Upton's Naturals vegan bacon. Alas, one can not buy it in stores. It is for food vendors only, though I get it through the Chicago Vegan Co-Op. One could use Lightlife brand instead. For cheddar cheese, I used Teese brand which is made by Chicago Soydairy. For those outside Chicago, one can get it online. Other brands like Follow Your Heart or Soy Kaas would do just fine. The sour cream I used was Tofutti.