totally vegan #1

I was invited by my friend Madison to cook dinner for a group of 6 friends who have a tradition of vegan dinner parties followed by watching "gossip girl." Though I've only seen one episode-- ever -- and we didn't even end up watching it, I think it went pretty well. I made a very healthy and delicious vegan meal that hits pretty much every major food group...

let's call it bean and quinoa salad with sage, green onion, roasted cherry tomato and arugula. It's just slightly more involved than that, but seriously SO simple. I love cooking vegan; I think more people should (a couple nights a week maybe, just think about it. and it will save you $$$).

I told my friend Jacob that, as an omnivore, when I come up with vegan recipes i think "what would I cook shrimp with, except instead of shrimp I'll use beans?" This recipe is something I came up with when cooking for my family over thanksgiving weekend, and vegans totally dig it, if this photo is any indication:

I boiled a mixture of red and white quinoa (2 cups) in a saucepan with salted water. In a saute pan, I heated some olive oil and cooked some minced garlic until soft, then added sliced scallion (I was cooking for 7, and used 6 scallions-- white + green parts) and roughly-chopped sage (8 large leaves). Then I added cannellini beans, a few dashes of crushed red pepper flakes, and some oven-roasted cherry tomatoes I had prepared in advance (olive oil, salt, pepper, 300 degree oven for 30 minutes=done).

As the quinoa finished absorbing the salted water and the bean mixture heated through, I put some arugula in a bowl and made a simple dressing (my favorite dressing) of the juice of one lemon with olive oil, salt and pepper.

I tossed the quinoa with the bean mixture and set aside to cool. We might have indulged in a few bottles of bubbles and some cab sauv, but who's counting? When ready to serve, I tossed the arugula with the lemon vinaigrette and portioned that out in the bottom of each bowl, topped with the quinoa-bean mixture. I also provided some feta cheese for the non-vegans in attendance to add an extra salty bite.

So healthy, so hearty, so simple, so cheap! And I felt happy to leave our lovely host Caroline with some totally rad leftovers. Oh by the way, she has the cutest dogs, who had a great time too I think: