Dinner with friends..a vegan feast if you will

Last night was lovely and I think we may have started a new tradition among friends. My wonderful friends Katy, Renee and I all got together to cook up a lovely dinner (chips+dip is dinner, right?) and scrumptious dessert. We drank sparkling water (not wine..), chopped veggies, make sarcastic comments back and forth..love friends that can take my sarcasm, and chatted the night through. Bean Dip, miso soup and vegan cheesecake was on the menu! I highly recommend all-I ate way too much and regret nothing. Who's hosting next week..and who else is coming?

 we might not have let our cheesecake sit long enough..so it became more of a cheesecake pudding..whoops! Still delicious.

We snagged both these recipes from "the kind diet". Tonight was the first time I had tried "vegan" sour cream and cream cheese, and although I wouldnt incorporate them into my everyday diet, they were delicious!

Bean Dip:

1 can refriend beans
2 avacados
1 cup vegan sour cream
2 tomatoes
1 pepper
1/2 red onion

1 (large) bag Corn Chips

layer..eat!

Cheesecake:
3/4 cup Earth Balance
2 cups graham cracker crumbs*
1 (12 oz.) package silken tofu
1 cup nondairy cream cheese
1 tbs safflower oil
1/4 cup (pure) maple syrup plus an
additional 1 to 2 tsp if using a fresh fruit topping
1/4 cup soy milk
2 tsp arrowroot
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon or orange extract (optional)**
Fresh mixed berries for topping
(or frozen mixed berries, thawed)


1.Preheat oven to 350° F. Oil an 8″ or 9″ springform pan (we didn't have a springform pan, so we used a pyrex bowl)

2.Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat and stir in the crushed graham cracker crumbs. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of the prepared pan and bake for 5 min. Let cool on a baking rack

3.Combine the tofu, cream cheese, oil, 1/4 cup syrup, milk, arrowrrot, vanilla and citrus extract (if using) in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Pour the mixture into the graham cracker crust and smooth the top with a spatula

4.Bake the cheesecake for 45 min to an hour. Let the cheesecake cool to room temp. Top the cheesecake with the berries and chill...if you can wait!


Happy Friday Friends