A Vegan Family Lunch

There is a scene in an episode of Six Feet Under where a "crunchy granola" vegan character serves some omnivores a "tofu meatloaf". It is subsequently secretly flushed down the toilet by one of the diners, who then (after one vegan meal) craves to eat something "that has walked the earth" from a fast food restaurant. Sigh! (although I do love the show...)

Well, thankfully my family is not this picky or clichéd! Nor am I, for that matter. I generally don't launch into a speech about the global slavery of animals at any chance (not that there's anything wrong with that).  

I've been vegan for about ten years now, so my family and friends are used to vegan food and are open-minded about trying my vegan versions of dishes. Having said this, I do agonise over what I will cook when I'm entertaining! In the end, I seem to cook a combination of new recipes I've had my eye on and tried and true favourites. 

Anyway, here's what I made for my mum and dad for lunch to celebrate Lexie's second birthday (I figure I'll give him a proper party next year when he can actually demand it!).

Starting with the most important (and prettiest) part of the meal, I made this pear frangipane tart from the PPK for dessert.

It was so hot in my kitchen when I was making this, not great when working with margarine, so I had to change around the quantities of a few ingredients. It turned out brilliantly, rich and almondy. 

I served it with the cashew cream from The Joy of Vegan Baking, which is cashews, water, oil, maple syrup, vanilla and salt blended until smooth and placed in the freezer to thicken. It was delicious!

My mum also made this amazing vegan cherry cake. I'll be sharing that recipe on the blog soon!

On to the savoury, I made this spinach, mushroom and sun dried tomato quiche from Oh She Glows. I've made this previously with great success. I love it!

I made the always popular sausage rolls from Where's the Beef. The. Best. 

I also made roasted potatoes from this recipe. Lovely and crispy.  

I made my favourite salad at the moment - kale and carrot salad with the balsamic vinaigrette from Appetite for Reduction. I can eat this dressing with a spoon! It's cashews, spring onion, balsamic vinegar, mustard, agave, salt and water blended until smooth.

So there you have it! A lunch that no one flushed down the toilet, to my knowledge...