Vegan Practically

I attended a vegan potluck last weekend where I was the only vegan. The vegan theme was my idea (surprise!). It was a truly wonderful thing for the people attending to agree to, so thank you to the blog regulars over at Fit Is a Feminist Issue who rose to the occasion and then some. And thanks Sam for hosting.

A lot of would-be vegans fixate on the prospect of life without cheese. For me, eggs posed a much bigger stumbling block. Right up until I started this blog, my “imperfect veganism” manifested most at breakfast diners. I couldn’t resist eggs. It took about two weeks of blogging about factory farming for me to let go of eggs.

The breakfast eggs at diners no longer tempt me. But oh how I have missed devilled eggs, which used to be among my favourite party foods. When I was trying to decide what to bring with me to the potluck I stumbled upon this recipe for “Smoky little devils” on the Forks over Knives website (an excellent resource that offers a free guide for beginners and a lot of online recipes and info, among other things).

The “smoky little devils” are hummus-stuffed mini potatoes. You make the hummus first, using chickpeas, green onions, lemon juice, mustard, some seasoning, and a bit of turmeric for colour. The recipe doesn’t call for tahini, but I threw in about a tablespoon anyway because what’s hummus without tahini? I also added some fresh dill because I had it. And a bit of curry powder because I like a hint of curry flavour in my tofu egg salad and thought it would be good here too, which it is.

Then you steam the little potatoes. The photo of the recipe uses white potatoes. The recipe calls for red potatoes. I don’t think it much matters as long as they’re mini. Once they’re soft enough from the steaming (about 20 minutes), remove them from the heat and either plunge them into a bowl of cold water (with ice, I suggest) or run cold water over them for awhile to cool them. Cut them in half and scoop out the middle. Stuff each half with some of the hummus. Make it pretty with a bit of paprika, some fresh dill, and chopped green onions.

They looked amazing right away.

I have no idea how I made it to the potluck without trying one, but I did. I had one almost immediately upon arrival and it lived up to my expectations. The Fit Is a Feminist Issue crew thought they were delicious too.

They don’t taste exactly like devilled eggs but they’re close enough. The half potato as the base is an inspired idea that seems obvious once you’ve done it once. I liked the chickpea filling but I do think I will try this another day with my tofu “egg” salad as filling.

The potluck was a bounty of delicious vegan food. Susan made a yummy Costa Rican style rice and beans dish. Sarah made the famous (in my circles) black pepper tofu and eggplant dish from Smitten Kitchen. There was an impressive array of vegan dips with crudités and cheeses with crackers from Green Goddess Fromagerie in Guelph. I discovered a new product line, Mother Raw, with the most wonderful vegan queso. I also brought my favourite broccoli salad, which they accurately describe as “a crowd-pleaser.”

To top that all off, Kim showed up with two boxes of the most wonderful donuts from Donut Monster in Hamilton. That day they had 11 vegan varieties. We cut quite a few into quarters so people could try more than one. The coconut cream-filled donut was perhaps the best donut (vegan or not) that I have ever eaten in my life. Well, maybe second best because of my fond childhood memories of the sugar-coated jam-filled donuts at the Portuguese bakery around the corner from our house.

I highly recommend having a vegan-themed potluck even if you or most of the people you are inviting are not vegan. It’s another great way of showing that vegan isn’t as hard as you might think, and there are loads of delicious options. People seemed totally open to it and it’s always great to see non-vegans have a “wow-moment” when they bite into something vegan.

Make the smoky little devils!

Bon appétit!