Housewarming BBQ Party~Massaged Kale with Miso Sesame Dressing~Lentil Burgers with Red Onions

 Smart Dog, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Mushrooms, Polenta and Quinoa Cakes slathered with BBQ sauce, and  Black Bean and Corn Salad I brought over from

The Brooklyn Standard with hummus chips.

Last Sunday my vegan friend Shoshana (a real sweetie!) invited me over to her housewarming party in her Brooklyn backyard. Along with the great spread she had for us (pictured above), I brought over some delicious fare from my trusty neighborhood store Brooklyn Standard.

My friend Michelle was also there, and brought dessert! Some gluten-free Banana Walnut and Coffee Crumble Donuts from  Babycakes NYC...

And Shoshana made these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles. They were amazing- and luckily for all of us, a recipe is available!!

This treat was actually created by the famous chef Chloe Coscarelli. The recipe calls for a chocolate coating. Shoshana didn't get to putting on the top layer, and she made them with carob instead of chocolate, but it was still incredible! I recommend trying it yourself sometime.

Check it out here: http://chefchloe.com/sweets/vegan-cookie-dough-truffles.html

 Home Cooking Projects

Unfortunately, Michelle and I weren't able to stay very long at Shoshana's. Michelle had to work a shift at Candle 79, and I had an open mike to go to.  After singing, I stopped in my local store and bought some items to embark on some cooking projects of my own. I decided to make some dishes from some of my favorite food blogs. The first thing I made (with some beautiful kale I'd bought previously at a farmer's market) was...

Massaged Kale Salad with Gena Hamshaw's Outstanding Miso Sesame Dressing

Gena Hamshaw has this fantastic blog called Choosing Raw, full of useful info and inventive recipes involving creative food combos. Her writings are also very thoughtful. I'm such a fan!

You can find her website here: http://www.choosingraw.com/

And you can find the recipe to this salad and dressing here:

http://www.choosingraw.com/outstanding-miso-sesame-dressing/

Her recipe calls for mellow white miso, but the store didn't have any (damn you, Khim's!). So, I used the barley miso I had at home. Barley miso is stronger in flavor than white miso, so I used less than the recipe said to. Also, I used less agave, and it still turned out great! This dressing is a delicious  combo of salty and sweet! Mmmm...The dressing recipe leaves a lot leftover, so you could use more of it on salads during the week.



Along with the salad, I used another great blog called Lisa's Project:Vegan, and made these...

Lentil Burgers with Red Onions

They broke up a little bit, oops!

In the post, the burgers are served on a bun with vegan Russian dressing (which sounds amazing!), but I opted to go without for a simpler and healthier meal.

I ended up eating all the burgers I made and a lot more kale, but this was the first serving...

Lisa's blog is great because it has tons of creative,  delicious-looking recipes. You can tell this lady really enjoys cooking and is passionate about food, yet so playful!

You can find her recipe for the burgers here:
http://lisaprojectvegan.blogspot.com/2012/06/lentil-burgers-with-red-onions-russian.html



Hope you'll try some of these recipes-and check out these fantastic blogs!
Will post again soon.
xo,
Ellie