4 Courses

Fresh Figs, Arugula, Roquefort, toasted Pecans & a Balsamic glaze


Homemade Focaccia topped with Caramelized Onions, Roasted Garlic & fresh herbs

Zuchinni Noodles with a black olive medley, roasted tomatoes, roasted peppers, fresh basil, toasted pinenuts & parmesan
Berries, Cherries, baked Banana & Cashew Cream


Salad
Arugula
Tiger Stripe Figs (best Ive ever tasted, as if they were filled w strawberry jam)
Roquefort cheese
Toasted Pecans
Balsamic Reduction

Focaccia
adapted from Tal Ronnen's Conscious Cook

Dough:
1 T sugar
3c warm water
1 packet active dry yeast6 c all purpose unbleached flour
sea salt
1/3 c extra virg olive oil

Following the recipe from this book really stressed me out. I had to change his 1 1/2 c warm water to 3c.. because the dough was incredibly dry and never would have worked. Thankfully we just completed our breads courses at school & I am familiar with how the dough should feel. Also, he set the oven temp for 400 degrees, which I thought was way too low for the bread to cook thoroughly w a golden top. ugh. So basically, I am using a different recipe next time & you should too. But don't let this discourage you from baking your own focaccia! Its so good. Even though I wasn't thrilled with it I ate the whole thing, and my dinner guest loved it!

Onions:
2 onions
vegan Butter (Earth Balance)
1 head roasted garlic
salt
thyme rosemary sage

Thinly slice 2 onions, and throw them in a pot with the butter & cover. Stir them often. Once they are golden brown and super soft add 1T Balsamic Vinegar and sea salt. Allow to cool, then stir in roasted garlic, fresh sage rosemary & thyme.

Zucchini Pasta
1 large zucchini
1/4 red onion diced
1-2 cloves garlic minced
olive medley
roasted tomatoes (or sundried)
roasted bell pepper
fresh tomato
fresh basil
salt
pepper
Parmesan
toasted pine nuts

First of all, for this dish you need a Spiralizer to cut your squash into noodle strands. I love this tool. I works on most hard fruits and vegetables like potatoes, apples, pears, winter squash, radishes...

Start by heating oil in the pan, then adding onion. After several minutes, they're soft & delicious add olives & garlic. Let cook another minutes, then add the roasted tomatoes, roasted bell pepper. Let them heat up, then toss in fresh tomato, fresh basil, toasted pine nuts & turn off heat. The olives will make this dish quite salty, so you may not need to salt it. Garnish w fresh parm & cracked pepper.

Cashew Cream
Cashew cream is so easy and its one of my classmates favorite things to make.

1 c cashews
1 T maple syrup
1/4 fresh vanilla bean pod seeded
water

Soak Cashews for up to 3 hours. They'll fatten and even take on a purplish hue. If you don't have the time to soak this long, boil water and use this hot water to blend them.
Place the cashews in a blender and cover with 1in water. Add fresh vanilla and maple syrup and puree until smooth. Enjoy

I served with blueberries, cherries, strawberries & a baked banana.

to bake a banana, place a banana in its peel on a tray in an oven at 350. Bake until the peel is black and juice is starting to ooze out. Amazing.