My Super Yummy Birthday Dinner Menu (Including VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE!!) (Original Post Date: Dec. 11,2012)

This past week I turned 33 years young and to celebrate, I thought I’d share my very yummy, very easy, very decadent, very vegetarian (with vegan substitutes) birthday dinner menu.  

So, for starters, here's, well, my starter...

The Piper's Super Yummy Chips and Guacamole:

This is a recipe that I learned from an old roommate of mine and sort-of customized to make my own. All ingredients are organic unless otherwise specified. There is a lot of chopping that goes into this one, but it is well worth it! Put on some cool grooves and grab yourself a glass of wine--at least that's how I make time in the kitchen a breeze! Some of the seasonings need to be adjusted to your own taste preference. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients: 

• 4 ripe avocados-finely chopped
• 3 small tomatillos-finely chopped
• 1 large suntastic tomato-seeds removed, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic-finely chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion-finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno-finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro-finely chopped
• 3 tbsp (+/-) lime juice (preferably fresh squeezed)
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Once you have the first seven ingredients chopped, simply combine in a medium sized bowl with the last four ingredients and carefully mix together.
2. Serve with whole wheat corn chips (preferably certified non-GMO; Whole Foods have some really yummy ones that are vegan) or whole wheat crackers.

**Special note: I personally prefer my guacamole chunky as opposed to mashed (which is more traditional). If you like yours mashed, simply mash the avocados before adding in all the other ingredients. 

Now for the MAIN EVENT!!!:

One of my husband's and my favorite things when we were meat eaters was hot wangs. Yes, you read that right. The following sauce recipe is so awesome it'll give you that twang, so instead of wings, you have wangs. 

Billy's World Famous Hot WANG Sauce:

For the main course, my husband made his deliciously magical buffalo hot wang sauce, but instead of putting it on chicken wings, he soaked chicken flavored seitan (a non-meat substitute) in the sauce and we made Buffalo Seitan Sandwiches. They turned out A-MA-ZING! Serves 2-4. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 24 ounce jar of PACE picante sauce-HOT
• 3/4 cup of honey (or if you're vegan, substitute Agave nectar)
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp honey mustard (for a vegan alternative, try the Follow Your Heart brand)
• 1 8 oz (by drained weight) prepared chicken flavored seitan
• 1 sunflower loaf like this one made by Ecce Panis 
• Vegannaise (if desired)
• Grilled onion slices

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients into a medium sauce pan and bring to a slow simmer. Simmer on low until sauce reduces roughly by half.
2. Toss in chicken flavored seitan and coat generously with sauce.
3. Serve over toasted sunflower loaf slices with vegannaise and grilled onion slices. DELISH!

And now, for the all-important side dishes...

Basil & Garlic Roasted Vegetables:

These are a yummy cold-weather treat and go well with just about any dish imaginable. Choose any vegetable, but for the sake of this example, I'll give you what I chose to use. Serves 2-3.

Ingredients:

• 2 zucchini-chopped into 1/2 inch rounds
• 2 yellow squash-chopped into 1/2 rounds
• 1 turnip-chopped into 1x1 inch pieces
• 2 tbsp pureed basil
• 1 clove garlic-finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients into a ziploc bag, or any kind of bag that seals shut completely and toss to evenly coat vegetables.
3. Evenly spread the coated vegetables on an aluminum foil-lined cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
5. For extra crispiness, turn the oven on broil and allow to broil for another 5-7 minutes (watch closely so that they don't burn). Serve immediately.

To round out this meal, I baked some french fries and served them alongside theBuffalo Seitan Sandwiches and Basil & Garlic Roasted Vegetables. This made for ayummy, healthy, very satisfying meal.

But wait! I'm not done yet! Now for the really good stuff...

DESSERT!!!

For dessert, I made a sinfully decadent Vegan Chocolate Cake with a Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting. 

Vegan Chocolate Cake:

I know what you're thinking; Vegan Chocolate Cake? How can any cake (let alone icing) without eggs and butter be any good? I was a skeptic at first too, but I found both of these recipes on VegWeb.com and I can assure you that they are beyond delicious. Serves 12. 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (I used whole wheat flour; which can be found at any natural grocer, such as Whole Foods)
• 2 cups sugar (I used Madhava Organic Coconut Sugar; which can be found at any natural grocer such as Whole Foods) 
• 6 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Thoroughly mix dry ingredients first (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt).
3. Mix in wet ingredients (water, vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla). Continue mixing until you obtain an even batter (no lumps).
4. Pour into an 8" round cake pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes.
5. Wait to cool, remove from pan and ice with Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting.

**Special note: This recipe is only enough to fill ONE 8" cake round. If you want two layers, you must double the recipe to accomodate multiple layers.

Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting: (the VegWeb.com listing calls this the Decadently Rich (NOT buttery and sugary) Chocolate Frosting)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup real maple syrup (adjust depending on how sweet you want your frosting)
• 1/4 cup water, as needed
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter or coconut oil, melted (I opted for peanut butter since I don't have a whole lot of experience with coconut oil yet)

Directions: 

1. Place water, maple syrup and cocoa powder into a food processor or blender and process. (I use a Magic Bullet and it works perfectly).
2. Add the peanut butter or coconut oil, and process again until smooth. Voilà!

**Special note: I had to double this recipe in order to have enough frosting for my cake!

Once you've got your cake nice and frosted, it is time to serve one delectable slice alongside a scoop or two of vanilla bean coconut milk ice cream.  You won't believe that you can have this much yumminess AND have it all be 100% vegan!

So there you have it folks, my birthday menu from soup to nuts. All ridiculously easy, entirely fun and enormously delicious!

I hope that you enjoy these recipes and that you will join me next Monday when I unveil my next vegetarian/vegan recipe treasures!

To your health and wellness,

Charlotte

Cool Vegan Fact: 

A lifelong vegetarian saves around (according to SummysYummies.BlogSpot.com)

• 760 chickens
• 5 cows
• 20 pigs
• 29 sheep
• 46 turkeys
• 15 ducks
• 7 rabbits
• Half a ton of fish