Hey! Happy Indian Food day! How’s your morning going??
So, last night was amazing!
If you’ve been reading the bloggy for a while, ya’ll know how much I adore dinner parties and usually have one each week. I LOVE having people over to wine and dine 
Since I was gone a month for school and then came back and went to Cali, I haven’t been able to have a dinner party in over a month! Well, Girl’s night is back 
For appetizers, we had:
Classic hummus and Mary’s Crack
Carrots, bell pepper and cucumber
Herbed spicy olives (from the Publizzle deli), whole wheat pita and Garlic and artichoke spread (recipe in Eat, Drink and Be Vegan)
Cheese plate (with herbed Harvarti, goat Jack cheese, creamy Chervrie goat cheese and sliced persimmon)
My appetizer plate:
(x2)
For our dinner, we had:
Autumn salad
Mixed greens with sliced apples (with lemon juice so that apples wouldn’t brown), candied walnuts:
Candied Walnuts
- 1 cup raw walnuts
-1 T cinnamon
-1/2 t sea salt
-1 t vanilla extract
-1 T maple powder (ground maple sugar)
-1/4 cup agave
Toss to coat and dehydrate on mesh screens at 115* for 24-36 hours
©2009 The Fitnessista
and balsamic vinaigrette.
Butternut squash and goat cheese lasagna:
I followed this recipe from Cooking Light but changed a few things:
-used goat jack cheese instead of parmesean
-used brown rice lasagna pasta (which I was a little nervous about since I’d never used brown rice pasta before—it came out wonderfully)
-a mix of goat jack cheese and creamy goat cheese in lieu of the ricotta/egg mixture, as I wanted this meal to be cow-dairy free. I shredded 1/2 C goat jack cheese and stirred it into a bowl with an 8 oz Chevrie goat cheese, and added pepper, sea salt and a pinch of nutmeg.
- for the sauce, I did my sneaky almost-homemade sauce. I make this sauce from start to finish using only one 28-oz can of San Marzano (the best!) crushed tomatoes. Instead of doing an additional can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes (as the recipe calls for), I stir in a jar of organic marinara sauce –usually a basil and herb flavor- into the homemade sauce. It tastes amazing!
Check out all the layers:
My plate:
Then, the best part:
Raw Malted Chocolate Tarts with coconut-almond macaroon crust, chocolate mousse and Sicilian sea salt
I can’t give this recipe away because it’s on the menu at 105degrees –I received a sacred copy of the full menu and all of the recipes when I worked there in pastry- but take my word for it—it’s face rocking delicious.
(all of us could only finish half of our tarts- we were getting full and those babies are RICH!)
And of course, we had an abundant amount of THESE:
POMtinis!!!! Using this recipe
Blasty with friends: Check.
Delicious food and drink: Check.
Gossip and shenanigans: Check, check.
I’d call it a successful evening
Time to hit up the gym for legs with Ashley and Jeni then to PetSmart with the puppers.
See ya later with a fun interior decorating post!
xoxo,
Gina
God GAWD momma, I want to curl up and live in that lasagna.
Your meal looks amazing! It’s making me hungry now. The lasagna looks the best (in my humble opinion)
everything looks simply amazing! im jealous of your guests you seem like the epitome of a perfect host
where do you buy ww/brown rice lasagna noodles? i can’tseem to find them anywhere.. although i havent checked wfoods yet hm.
i would definitely check whole foods- i got the brown rice lasagna at the health food store
You have totally inspired me to throw a dinner party! LOVE POM martinis, btw..I have a GREAT ‘healthy’ Pom margarita recipe if you ever want it…
Random ques, what’s your reasoning for not eating any cow products? Nurtitional benefits or do you prefer the taste of (for ex) goat cheese)?
L
i would love that recipe!
i prefer goat’s cheese because it’s more easily digested, isn’t as mucus-forming as cow dairy, and cow’s have multiple stomachs and goats have one, which brings a lower potential for toxins that are trapped in the colon to be carried through the blood stream and into the milk/cheese.
Your dinner parties always look so amazing! You’re such an awesome host
Isn’t that artichoke dip the bizzle?
Your Girl’s night looked really FUN!!! and your House is Beautiful!! Zumba was Great tonight!! =)
zumba was a BLASTY last night! i love teaching zumba
Oh my goodness I want to come to your girls night!! The tarts look incredible. Is that sea salt on top of them? That’s always the perfect touch with chocolate.
if you’re ever in valdosta, come on over!!!
yup, sicilian sea salt.. sooooooo good with chocolate
Geez Gina,
You totally outdid yourself. The whole meal looked face rocking delicious.
Thanks for the decorating post – loved the rug tip. Rug first – simple, yet so brilliant.
Here’s the margarita recipe:
I basically adapted Bethenny Frankel’s recipe (Skinny girl margarita: http://www.bethenny.com/skinny_margarita.htm
I LOVE frozen margaritas so here’s what I do:
Add Ice to blender, 1/2 way full. Then 5/6 clear tequila + 1/6 triple sec (to the line of the ice; In other words you dont want the volume of total liquid to be higher than the ice). Next add a splash of fresh lime juice and some stevia, to taste. For strawberry margaritas, I use frozen strawberries (mango’s are also amazing!) or I add a splash of POM juice.
They are also great on the rocks. Sometimes, I’ll add a splash of OJ instead of POM juice If I want a reg margarita.
Let me know if you make them!
[...] and hats (for a great post on vegan knitting, click here), homemade vegan peppermint donut holes, candied nuts, pickled vegetables or homemade sauerkraut, or homemade kombucha (what a lineup of lovely raw [...]