Memorial Day should be celebrated vegan style.

For me this isn’t a holiday or a day off from work. It is a day to remember those who served our country and lost their lives. My thoughts right now are with their families and I hope they can find peace. How I want to celebrate this day is more profound and different than any year in the past. I feel it deeper in my heart.  I decided a week ago not to be around any event that shows disrespect for any life and that means on a grill as well.  Animals that people eat have no voice and no choice and our choice to take lives to remember those who lost their lives seems ironic. Some of my friends are making better choices and I hope they continue to do so.

This weekend my choices include having some friends over and sharing some awesome vegan food.  I’m going to brag here but this meal will taste delicious. Below is my menu and some of my recipes. Please keep in mind I always tweak a recipe unless it has to be baked.  I love fresh organic ingredients and prefer to cook food as little as possible and just enough to bring out their natural flavors and season with earth’s abundance of what is in my pantry or what happens to grow in my back yard.  Peas, joy and love to you.

Agave sweetened Yerba Mate Chai Tea.

Blue Corn Bread (bread machine recipe)

Red Potato and Fresh Dill salad – made yesterday. Boil up 3-5 pounds of red potatoes cut up in to bite sized pieces. Drain in cold water to stop cooking.  Add about ½ cup or less of Veganaise, 2 T of apple cider vinegar, 2 stalks of diced celery, ¼ of red onion diced, 1t of mustard powder, salt and pepper to taste, and about 1/3 cup of chopped fresh dill. I can’t emphasize enough to use only fresh dill.

Link to Confetti Quinoa Salad with a little added cilantro lime dressing.

Chocolate Carob Coconut Ice Cream – made yesterday by tweaking Vegan Dad’s recipe below. You could go buy Purely Decadent ice cream (now in Publix) at $5.00 bucks a pint but I have to play with my Cuisinart once in a while to justify it taking up real estate in my house.  The trick is to thicken the creams or use soy creamer, melt the sugar, thicken with arrowroot and then chill everything before you put into the Cuisinart ice cream maker.

Veggies prepared for the grill : Sweet potatoes, Corn on the cob, Zucchini, Carrots (for Rasta dogs), Onions, Sweet Peppers, Portabella Mushrooms, Fennel and the list may grow.

Marinades and dressings :Cesar, Garlic Aioli, Ranch  

Fresh Strawberries and Water Mellon Slices

Vegan Dad’s the bomb ice cream recipe. I wish this guy lived in my house!

INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups soy milk
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1 cup sugar (probably could be reduced to 3/4 cup)
- 2 tbsp arrowroot
- 1 can coconut milk, stored in a cool place
- soy creamer, or soy milk

METHOD
1. Place soy milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Slit vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out the insides into the soy milk. Add the bean as well and simmer for about 20 mins (I don’t think any longer will add any more vanilla flavour).
2. After 20 mins the milk will have reduced by about 1/2 cup. Measure and bring liquid back to 2 cups. Add sugar and bring to steaming over medium heat.
3. While soy milk is heating back up, skim coconut cream from the coconut milk and add enough soy creamer (or milk) to bring the volume to 2 cups. Whisk smooth, then take about 1/2 cup of the mixture and mix with the arrowroot, making sure it is totally dissolved.
4. When the milk is steaming, slowly whisk in arrowroot mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick and glossy. Whisk in coconut mixture. It should still be glossy–if not, cook until it is.
5. Remove from heat and let cool. When cool, remove vanilla bean, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
6. Make ice cream according to the directions that came with your maker.

CHEAPER VERSION
- replace vanilla bean with 2 tsp vanilla extract (the real stuff). Skip steps 1 and 2, and add the vanilla at the end with the coconut cream.

COOKIES n’ CREAM VARIATION
- crumble 12 chocolate sandwich cookies and add to mixture during the final three to four turns of the machine. You can probably get away with reducing the vanilla to 1 tsp, too.