Last Sunday night I was honored to have catered the premiere of Eleni (aka Eleni Binge) Valchos’ documentary, Seeing Through The Fence at the Manbites Dog Theater in downtown Durham.

The premise of the the film was how we all relate to the foods we choose to eat, with a focus on why being Vegan (not eating any animals or animal by-products) is a compassionate and conscientious way of eating.

As Eleni is vegan and most of the people seeing the film were either vegan, vegetarian or maybe looking closer at this lifestyle choice. I catered the event with all vegan treats….and every single morsel was gone by the time the movie began! While the crowd munched on the goodies they were entertained by one of the best bands in town The Wigg Report.

Here are some pics of the process of catering food for this event of 100+ people and some pics of the event itself.

Thanks Eleni for letting me supply the “kind eats.”

The Menu:

Spanikopita Bites

Quinoa & Black Eyed Pea Croquettes

Seitan Skewers (both spicy and thai peanut)

Ginger-Peanut Butter-Sesame Shortbread Cookies

Seitan Skewers plated up and ready to eat.

And Eleni’s Peanut Butter Balls, The Wigg Report & of course the film…were all a HUGE hit with the crowd!

The trailer for the film. Enjoy.

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So, David and I decided to attempt to make homemade pasta once again and I am soooo thankful that we mustered up the courage to do so…It came out great!

We decided on ravioli so I got busy and made two different fillings. One was a Spinach & Tofu-cotta (like ricotta) and the other was a sweet and savory Sweet Potato con Queso Fresco (a wonderful salty Mexican cheese that doesn’t melt too much, which is perfect for ravioli).

Below you will find another photo recipe of our 2 hour expedition into what happens when you combine flour, water and a bit of oil.

Making the dough

Rolling the dough

Rolling the dough….some more

And some more.

Laying out the dough.

Placing balls of the spinach filling on the dough.

Place balls of the sweet potato filling on another sheet of the dough. Make sure that you run a finger that has been dipped in water between all the filling balls and along all the edges. This will act as a sealant.

Fold the dough over the fillings

Seal all the edges by pressing down the dough.

…and in between each filling.

Now start cutting into ravioli. You can use a press like we did or simply a knife for a more rustic look.

The finished product, some for that nights dinner and some for the freezer. To freeze them just lay them out in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment and place them in the freezer for at least and hour, then bag them into freezer bags.

Make the sauce…it was a roasted butternut squash.

Boil the ravioli for 3 minutes.

We enjoyed the ravioli with a nice chianti! The meal was loaded with veggies and had such deep layers of flavor all wrapped up in wonderful little packets made simply from flour, water, oil and love.

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The first day of 2008. Happy New Year!I have not been one to follow superstitious traditions, but today was all about black eyed peas and collard greens! I made two different dishes using the humble black eyed peas.

One was my take on Hoppin’ John, that southern favorite that combines collard greens (for financial luck), brown rice (for health) and black eyed peas (for warding off the evil eye and basic all around luck). David and I had that for lunch and I have to say what a hearty & warm meal. I served it with some garlic bagel crisps which was the perfect choice for this meal… although cornbread could have rocked it a bit harder, but I wasn’t about getting into baking at that point of the day.

The second dish was Quinoa & Black Eyed Pea Croquettes. I tried this recipe out of my Vegan with a Vengeancecookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. These little gems were super easy to make and were DEE-LISH!I did have to fudge with the recipe a bit (I always mess with recipes because, well, that’s how I am). I added garlic powder, onion powder and a bit more Braggs to the mixture…Oh yeah, I also used lime zest instead of lemon zest (because I was out of lemons) and I think these variations made them quite tasty!

The recipe consists of cooked quinoa, mashed black eyed peas, olive oil, braggs, lime zest and savory spices (thyme, basil, paprika…then my additions of garlic and onion powders). The mixture is then rolled into bite sized balls which is then rolled in an outer crust of bread crumbs mixed with a bit more oil.

I placed the balls in mini muffin tins, slightly smushing them down then baked them for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. They were golden brown and crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside.I will definitely be serving these up at my next catering gig!…and speaking of my next catering gig, I have been asked to cater the premiere viewing of Seeing Through The Fence, a documentary by Eleni Vlachos about what we think about the foods we eat and the relationship we have to our food, and leaves us considering why we eat animals.If you live in or near North Carolina you might want to reserve a seat as it has almost sold out.And on that note, I leave you with the happiest of new year wishes to you and yours…and I’ll let you know if I get lucky in 2008.

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