Yesterday I hosted Easter dinner for the second year in a row. Last year my in-laws joined us for a fairly traditional meal of ham, potato gratin and green beans. This year I had the bright idea to invite Cynthia and her husband over; it just didn’t seem right to spend Easter without other people. No sooner had I suggested the idea to Cynthia than I remembered that she’s got a pretty impressive list of allergies. Being the good friend she is, she assured me that I’d be able to come up with something she could eat (and we’d all like). I stressed over it for a few days, searched my recipe collections and finally came up with a menu. Still, the theme of my meal prep was “Don’t Kill Cynthia”, which meant avoiding gluten, soy and dairy.
In the end, this is what I settled on:
Tomato, Onion and Polenta Casserole, in which I used Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds. This was my first time working with Daiya and it completely lived up to the promise: it melts and tastes pretty darn close to real cheese.
Chickpea Salad with Red Onions and Homemade Dressing
Roasted Carrots, Broccoli and Cauliflower
Cynthia came bearing dessert. She made these really delicious individual Pear Upside Down Cakes (I’ll let you know when she posts the recipe—they’re allergen-free, of course!). I don’t eat gluten-free desserts very often and I was seriously impressed.
Actually, I was impressed with the entire meal. There was plenty of food, everyone seemed to really enjoy it and I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. The conversation, which largely revolved around the Hunger Games movie, was excellent.
I also made 2 Crustless Spinach Quiches for our church’s sunrise service. As usual, they were a hit!
You did a fantastic job of not killing Cynthia :-) Thanks. It was such a fun afternoon and meal.