Tuesday, May 10, 2011

An Evening with Jose Cuervo (and Friends)

I don't think we've ever celebrated Cinco de Mayo before and for some reason (maybe because I'm reading The Lacuna?), I decided to start this year. It was pretty last minute, but it came together. Great food and great friends, it is all I need. I intended to read with the kids about the holiday and decorate during the day. We did check out the six fun facts about Cinco de Mayo and Cinco de Mayo: History of an American Holiday, that my friend, Monique, posted to Facebook, but we mostly we cooked and had fun all day.
I made Mexcian Chocolate Snickerdoodles from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I love these for any occasion or none at all. I made two batches and used molasses instead of maple syrup on the second batch (not a full 1/4 cup, I used a few tablespoons) and I didn't have chocolate extract so I used unsweetened chocolate soy milk for the rest of the maple syrup liquid. Clear as mud? Trust me, they tasted good. Rob said he wants me to use more cayenne next time, but as it was Loretta's son only ate half of one because it was spicy (yay, cookies the adults get to eat before the kids devour them all!).
I whipped up a double batch of Chorizo en Croute (sausage in crust?) from the Cinco de Mayo section of Party Vegan by Robin Robertson. The kids ate a bunch of the "chorizo" before I was able to "en croute" them so I think they might be a keeper. Robin calls for baking them between two sheets of aluminum foil, but I wrapped each individually for the second batch and that worked better and used less foil. Loretta bought Party Vegan before a get together we were both attending a few months ago and I was lamenting I hadn't bought this cookbook yet. I took it and never gave it back, she may have meant it as a loan, but possession is nine tenths of the law, right? I'll make it up to her someday, I promise. Loretta brought a vegan cheese sauce (about six o'clock on the picture) and an enchilada bake (around twelve on the picture) similar to one I posted about previously. It was darn tasty and I kept going back for more. Gita brought some yummy potato tacos, but sadly I didn't get a picture. My sister, her boyfriend, and another friend came later in the evening and deemed all the food delicious.
The Black Bean and Corn Salad from Vegan Planet (Robin's blog, not her cookbook of the same name) caught my eye May 4th so I threw it together last minute. We also made the Cilantro-Cumin Vinaigrette from Party Vegan's Romain and Avocado Salad with Cilantro-Cumin Vinaigrette to pour on the salad if people preferred (and prefer they did). I added mangoes and avocados because we love them. This was Josie's choice dish of the evening.*
This salad reminds me of one of my favorite salads to eat out, Aroma's Southwest Salad. Loretta hooked me on this salad. To tell you the truth, I rarely order salads at restaurants, but this one always hits the spot. I'm happy now to make something similar at home.

*Josie (3.5 years old) quote of the day as her brothers ran out the door to meet up with neighborhood friends at the park: "I'll go outside and play after I eat a huge bowl of salad mix." Okay, she is sitting next to me now and saying "That salad looks good (the one with the mangoes), can you make that salad for my birthday?" I love a girl who is silly for salads.

We did have a little Jose Cuervo, in the form of margaritas, it was Cinco de Mayo. I think Cinco de Mayo might become annual event at our house.

5 comments:

Susan said...

I love those cookies! I have made them several times, but of course, I also have to tone down the spice. So much so that you'd probably be very disappointed in them.

VeganLinda said...

Susan, I don't think the cookies could be disappointing, even if you left all the cayenne out. Nothing wrong with chocolate cookies! :-) We just like things hot around here so I love the combo of sweet and spicy.

VeganLinda said...

Josie begged for this salad again on Sunday for Rob's birthday, but I didn't get a chance to make it. This may be our go to salad all summer long.

DT said...

We liked those cookies too, Linda. I did discover that if they were baked longer (crisp throughout) they were more spicy. The ones that were a bit chewy were perfect!

Danielle

VeganLinda said...

Danielle,

Good tip!