Dinner Party with Friends -- Stuffed Tomatoes & Red Velvet Cupcakes

Lets start with I have great friends!  I'm sure I've mentioned before but I honestly don't know a single vegan/vegetarian besides myself and one old highschool buddy I found on facebook.  So I am around the world of omnivores a lot.  Honestly being vegan is a bit foreign to most that I hang out with.  This doesn't bother me at all and I have such amazing friends and family that accept my choices and are always there to back me up.  With that said I had a fabulous dinner party last night with two great old friends from highschool (and prior).  We had a spread of mostly vegan food.   I'm so lucky to have such open minded friends that don't mind eating a mostly vegan meal!  Eating vegan can be a bit "scary" if you aren't familiar with it.  Even for myself when I first became vegan it was a bit daughnting to think about.  What will I eat??  But not for my friends they are always willing to try anything.  ♥ 

Steph brought vegan mac n' cheese which was great!!  I made stuffed tomatoes that were also really tasty!  I'm definitely going to make them again.  I searched online for a recipe and didn't find anything in specific that I thought appetizing.  So I decided to make up something on my own, I made a vegan pesto which was super easy, mixed with some cooked rice, onions topped with a little vegan parmesan, baked for about 35 minutes.  Fab!!!  I brought some roasted garlic bread from Sam's Club that had whole cloves of garlic baked in.  SOOO yummy!!  Kayla brought the salad, wine, and a few non vegan dishes that the others said were fab!  Husband loved her potatoes!  Then I brought vegan red velvet cupcakes with "cream cheese" frosting.  They were soo delish!!!  Recipes to follow: 



Pre-baked



After being baked

 Pesto:
10-12 fresh basil leaves
2 T olive oil
2 T of your choice of nut, pine nuts is most common but I subbed for walnuts because that's what I had on hand
2 cloves of garlic
1 T or so of vegan parmesan (you can adjust this to your liking, feel free to omit if you'd like)
Salt to taste, but go easy it doesn't need much, if any at all

Blend everything together until you get a paste.  I used my mom's magic bullet which was awesome but I'm sure you could use a food processor or blender just the same. 

Stuffing for the tomatoes:
About a cup (rice measurement, not an actual cup) of uncooked rice, cooked
Half an onion sauted until soft
All of the pesto that the above recipe makes.  About 1/4 of a cup if I had to guess, maybe a little more or less

Tomatoes:
6 beefsteak tomatoes

Instructions:
1.  Start the rice while you prep everything else
2.  Chop the onion and cook until soft.  Add to a medium size mixing bowl
3.  When the rice is done add to the cooked onions
4.  Make the pesto and add to the rice mixture.  I made my pesto a little too salty so I didn't add any extra seasoning but you might want to add some if needed
5.  Cut the top off of the tomatoes, then core and scoop out the filling leaving enough of an edge so the skin doesn't break.  I found it easiest to take a small knife and cut into the tomatoe like you would cutting a bread bowl.  Then I took a small ice cream scoop like this one: and scooped out the insides. 

  The good parts of the guts I cut up and added to the rice mixture, discard what you don't use
6.  Take some olive oil and spread the outsides of the tomatoes and the bottom of your baking dish.  I used one of those rubber basting brushes. 
7.  Spoon in the stuffing to the tomatoes and fill to the top, making a small mound. 
8.  Sprinkle with vegan parmesan if desired. 
9.  Bake at 350* for about 35 minutes or until the tomatoes are "wrinkled" and soft. 




Mac N' Cheese!



Roasted garlic bread.



Batter ready to bake!




Baked nice and purdy!!!




Tofutti cream cheese frosting




Cupcakes frosted with a slice of strawberry and sprinkles!!

I found the recipe for the red velvet cupcakes for Kathryn Lovett's Blog.  They couldn't have come out any better, even if they had eggs or dairy in them!  My mother who is the test of all things southern LOVED them, along with all of the dinner guests.  I made a few adjustments to the recipe.  The link I have attached calls for 1 1/2 cups of flour, but if you click on the link to the right to the same recipe it calls for 2 cups.  I used the link to the left and used 2 cups of flour.  It obviouisly came out fine.  The batter was very thick which is probably because of all the flour, but I wouldn't say it needs to be reduced.  This recipe also called for 3 T of red food coloring.  My little bottle was 1 T and was totally enough red to make that deep red I was looking for.  The frosting I felt needed a little more powdered sugar as it was a little thin and runny.  And as you can tell from the photos the icing wanted to run off the cupcakes.  I would have thickened it up but I ran out of powdered sugar.  It still tasted great.  If you are going to make it I would start with what the recipe called for and adjust accordingly. 

Everything at dinner was great, not just the food but the company and conversation.  I'm so lucky to have such great friends.  Can't wait to do it again!  =) 

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!