You know how it is when you’ve got a guest with allergies? You might never cook with the offending items, but suddenly the only meals you can think of contain them. Hell, if I had a guest who was allergic to meat I’d probably want to cook meat even though I never have!
I had a gluten intolerant guest, and although I’m sure we often eat meals without gluten, suddenly it appeared everywhere. The other annoying factor was the weather which kept changing dramatically and kept my ideas switching from salads to casseroles. My final menu might sound a bit of an odd combination, but it didn’t have any gluten in, was totally tasty and kept everone happy.
The kebabs are the red eye tofu and vegetable skewers from American Vegan Kitchen, using tamari instead of soy sauce. I cooked them inside but they’d be they be even more amazing on a BBQ. The sauce is tangy and delicious. I’d planned a range of salads thinking we’d be eating outside in the hot sun, but the thnder and lightning took care of that. I made a big dish of the lentils and rice with caramelised onions from Veganomicon (it has a few typos if you’re making it at home, they’re sorted out here). Then I mixed some plain soya yoghurt with grated cucumber and sumac, which is a wonderful sour spice that I really should use more. Finally I stir fried some spinach with a dab of harissa to keep in with the vaguely middle Eastern theme that was emerging.
This was a bit of a haphazard meal thrown together at the last minute, but aren’t those things sometimes the best?
Cooking the Vegan Books 
This looks so good! We love tofu and this looks like a delicious way to serve it. I just wish I had that book, but I really *musn’t* buy any more recipe books for a while. But I think this one will be next on my list…
Well done for thinking up such a great meal! I’m sure your guest appreciated it!
I know exactly what it is with allergies. I once had a dinner party with no mushrooms, oranges, tomatos and 2 pregnancies. All I could think of was pate, mayo, mousse, blue cheese and large quantities of all the offending vegetables.
It has just occured to me that another great benefit of a vegan diet is that you can eat everything when pregnant so there is nothing to worry about.