Beannachtam na Feile Padraig! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful St. Patrick's day, whether you celebrate or not. Everyone loves to claim they're "Irish" or have some "Irish in them" but whether this is true or not, it is a wonderful excuse to get together with friends. Since it fell on a Saturday this year and we knew the bars would be packed and expensive, Billy and I decided to host a house party this year. And that means food! (and beverages).

Shepherd's Pie/Cottage Pie- Cooking for the Rushed
I did not know this until yesterday, but if you make Shepherd's pie with beef and not lamb, it is technically called Cottage pie. Anyways, I guess this one is neither because it's made with Yves Ground Round haha. This is a quick and simple recipe that went over very well with all the omnis at the party ;)


Irish Soda Bread- The Vegan Table
This recipe has six ingredients: soy milk, vinegar, flour, salt, baking soda and margarine. It was so good! There was none left by midnight. It's really nice spread with a bit of Earth Balance.


Green Punch with Rum
This was a very yummy punch from this site. I couldn't find lime sherbet that didn't have dairy and I didn't have time to make my own so I used store bought lemon gelato instead. And if anyone asked what white gelato was doing in a green themed punch I said: I couldn't find dairy-free green sorbet...so what, wanna fight about it? A little bit of my leprechaun spirit coming out!


Rainbow Cupcakes- Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
Et la piece de resistance....rainbow cupcakes! These are all over the internet, but I was still very proud of them. I used the basic vanilla cupcake recipe, then followed the tutorial here for how to colour the batter. They are topped with buttercream icing. These went really quickly (I had to hide one so I could have one).




And in non-Emerald Isle news, I'm still cooking lots, and Billy is still eating veg at home, so the adventure continues. The weather this week (March Break) was phenomenal...and that means BBQ season begins! One of my favourite things about BBQ'ing is that cooking dinner becomes a team effort. I do the prep, and B does the grilling (to a tee..he is the Grill Master!).

Vegetable Fajitas- Supermarket Vegan
I had mine with portabellos while Billy had his with President's Choice Meatless Chicken. All these beautiful veggies were marinaded in a balsamic/oil mixture and then grilled on the barbecue. Then we sliced them up and ate them in whole wheat tortillas. They are simple but delicious, topped with a bit of salsa.




"Chicken" Skewers with Chimichurri Citrus Herb Sauce- Candle Cafe
My sister came to visit from Toronto (and she came bearing a gift...Smashbox mascara...yay cruelty free makeup!) so we had a family dinner. I brought this and it was fantastical! It is supposed to be made with seitan but I didn't make the seitan in time, so I subbed with PC meatless chicken. It's marinaded in a citrus sauce, then grilled/charred and then topped with the citrus herb sauce. They are really tasty and I plan on making them with seitan too. As a side, I made quinoa with vegetable broth instead of water and stirred in some frozen peas and carrots.





Tofu Omelette- Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Foods
I woke up one morning this week wanting an omelette badly. I had everything to make it, but I didn't have any veggies that would make a good filling. So I improvised and made a filling from "chicken", salsa, and French Onion Tofutti cream cheese, all mixed together. It was good! It would be even better with some wilted spinach. This meal was so high in protein, I wasn't hungry again til 3 pm.


This is just a basic black bean salad with some bruschetta mix and homemade flax oil/balsamic vinaigrette.



Broiled Grapefruit- Candle Cafe
This is my favourite way to eat pamplemousse, broiled with some sugar on top.


Skillet Lasagna- Supermarket Vegan
All the taste of lasagna without the fuss. This is all cooked in a pot, and it gets better as leftovers. We also tried it with Daiya cheese and it was delicious.


Another breakfast item, whole wheat bagels with French onion "cream cheese" topped with bruschetta mix. I love savoury breakfasts! What's your favourite?