Yesterday was Memorial Day. You can read more about the holiday here and here.
My mom had everyone over for a family gathering at lunchtime, so I decided to have my vegan Memorial Day in the evening. Here’s the menu I decided on:
Memorial Day Menu
Vegan BBQ Sandwiches (Choice of seitan or TVP)
Pickled Vegetables
Baked Beans
Roasted Corn
Black and Blue Berry Crisp
Strawberry Ice Cream
On Sunday night I started the preparation for my Memorial Day dinner. I chopped and prepared the pickled vegetables, so they were done. I mixed together everything for the “semi-homemade” baked beans and put them in the fridge until the next day. I made the barbeque sauce and a “Seitan Butt” (to replace pork butt for BBQ sandwiches 😀 haha). And, lastly, I made the filling and topping for my Black and Blue Berry Crisp – which were both put in the freezer separately until the next day. (It’s hard to see in the picture above, but I also had star-shaped ice cubes!)
So, on Monday, basically all I had to do was heat everything up, shuck and roast the corn, and decorate the table. Oh, and make the ice cream!
Barbeque Sauce - yum yum yum!
Barbeque Sauce
The best BBQ sauce I’ve ever made is from the Everyday Food cookbook, Great Food Fast. I love this book for it’s simple and easy recipes, and this recipe is a definite favorite of mine.
1 tsp hot sauce
1/3 C cider vinegar
1/2 C light brown sugar
1/4 C molasses
3 TBSP Dijon mustard
3 cloves garlic, minced (I usually just sprinkle in some garlic powder)
1/2 C ketchup
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, and simmer over meduium heat until reduced to about 1 1/2 C – about 5-7 minutes.
(Yes, it really is that simple! And it’s freakin’ good.)
BBQ sandwich tray.
BBQ sandwich of the TVP variety.
The baked beans were canned vegetarian baked beans, drained (but not rinsed!), with a little extra thrown in. I believe I added some hot sauce, brown sugar, and ketchup.
- Roasted Corn with margarine and herbs
The pickled vegetables are from the same Martha Stewart Living issue as the crisp, although I wasn’t very fond of them. My boyfriend seemed to like them. He said they tasted like bread and butter pickles. Also, I need to mention that finding radishes was absolutely impossible when I made this recipe – so I didn’t use them. I would also reccomend straining the liquid before pouring it over the vegetables, as it was annoying to wipe off each vegetable before eating it. Biting into a whole peppercorn isn’t exactly tasty.
Pickled Cucumber, Red Onion, and Radishes
1 English cucumber, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1 small red onion, sliced into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
8 radishes, sliced into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
1/4 C course salt
2 C cider vinegar
1 C sugar
1 TBSP whole black peppercorns
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp whole corander seeds
Toss vegetables with 2 TBSP salt in a larde colander set over a bowl, and refregerate for 1 hour. Rinse well, pat dry, and place vegetables in a clean glass jar or glass bowl. Bring remaining 2 TSp salt, the vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, mustard and corander seeds to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer for 5 minutes. Pour over vegetables, and let cool for 1 hour. cover, and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 weeks.
Crisp - Pre-oven
- Black and Blue Berry Crisp
(Black and) Blueberry Crisp
I got the recipe for the crisp out of the June 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living. The recipe was for a blueberry crisp. I just did equal parts blackberries and blueberries – So mine was a black and blue berry crisp 🙂 Original recipe here:
For the filling:
6 C blueberries
1/2 C sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
For the topping:
3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C rolled oats (or chopped nuts)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 oz (6 TBSP) unsalted butter, softened (margarine)
1/3 C sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. make the filling: mix blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt in a bowl. Transfer to an 8-inch square baking dish.
Make the topping: Stir together flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until pale and fluffy. Stir dry ingredients into butter. Using your hands, squeeze topping pieces together into clumps.
Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Bake until bubbling in center and brown on top, about 1 hour. Transfer dish to a wire rack, and let cool for 30 minutes before serving.
Ice cream mixtures
Strawberry Ice Cream
Strawberry Ice Cream
I wasn’t very fond of the chunks of frozen strawberries. Next time, I think I’d puree them before adding them to the ice cream. It was basically just vanilla ice cream with mushed strawberries added in halfway through freezing.
Berry Crisp with Strawberry Ice Cream
Snake!
The end
Very Vegan Holiday 
