A Birthday Dinner

Harriet had her birthday dinner at our house on Friday night & I promised her a birthday blog. In typical Harriet fashion there was some initial vagueness around numbers. When she told me who was coming I expressed some surprise because I thought her initial request had suggested more than 2 friends. The next thing you know she had invited 12, but in the event there were 8 including Harriet plus Peter, Phoebe & I so that was fine. She had wanted a barbecue and you know what our weather has been so I was a bit worried. But that worked out as well.
So what did we eat?
Initially we put out hummus & that amazing Galilee cheese spread plus olives. And the famous cheesy feet & hands. Then we did a plate of Zany Zeus haloumi with lemon wedges and the broad bean fritters served with lemon yoghurt. If you've not cooked haloumi do try. It's simple and delicious. On the other hand, maybe not. It's not cheap & we have a bit of a reputation for it now.
By the time they'd finished with that lot it was getting a bit cooler so we came in and sat around the table. We barbecued vegetarian sausages that went down really well with my homemade tomato sauce. And we just did a selection of salads. Quite a selection actually because as usual I don't know when to stop. I did the Turkish vegetable fattoush and the carrot salad from the Moorish blog. Then I found an amazing beetroot pilaf I wanted to try. It's really 2 pilafs (is that a word?) combined but don't let that put you off. You just need 2 cooking receptacles. For 6, heat a little oil & butter in medium frying pan with a lid (or cover securely with tinfoil). Add half a finely chopped onion and partially soften. Stir in 3/4 cup brown basmati rice - I used a combination of brown basmati & wild rice - & fry 3-4 minutes, then add 1 medium beetroot peeled & finely chopped (yes you will have messy fingers) plus 400ml hot vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, reduce to the lowest possible simmer, cover & leave 25 minutes, resisting the temptation to peek. While that is doing, start the 2nd pilaf off in the same way adding a cinnamon stick & 1/2 tsp turmeric to the onion. Stir in white basmati rice, cook 3 minutes, add 375ml hot stock, bring to the boil, cover, reduce to lowest simmer and cook 15 minutes. At the end of the cooking time rest both pans covered 5 minutes then 15 minutes uncovered to cool slightly. Gently fold both together into a serving dish with some chopped flat leaf parsley and lots (about 200g) of crumbly feta.
That was my absolute favourite but the 'piece de resistance' was probably the quinoa & edamame salad. Again really easy. Quinoa is available in most supermarkets & I buy Ceres Organics. Rinse about a cup of quinoa & simmer in a little over twice the volume water or stock about 2o minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. Spread 0ut on a tray & leave to cool.
Saute about a cup of frozen corn (or kernels scraped off 2-3 cobs) in a pan with crushed garlic & salt about 5 minutes on a high heat until lightly coloured. Blanch & pod a 400g bag of frozen edamame beans. We got these at Moore Wilson's. I don't know if you can buy them not frozen. In a large bowl mix the quinoa, corn mixture, a drained tin of chickpeas, 3 finely sliced spring onions and 3 finely sliced radishes. If you get them from your garden you may be lucky enough to find 3 in slightly different shades. Make the dressing in the processor:
1/3 cup olive oil
zest & juice of 1 lime
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp cumin
handful basil leaves
salt & pepper
Then toss with the quinoa mix. Colourful & delicious.
We finished the evening with Floriditas Vegan Raspberry Chocolate cake.