I recently finished the Hunger Games. What a wonderful book! I am not generally a reader of fantasy but I was intrigued by everything I had heard about this series and suggested it to my book group for this month. Unlike too many suggestions, I was not disappointed by the hype. I got to select the book because it was my turn to host, and to make it more interesting, the host always tries to theme our dinner discussion according to whatever we read.
Well, as a vegan I wasn't about to go snare a deer or kill a squirrel, but I did manage to put together quite a meal!
I don't want to give away the story, but here is some of what I prepared. I bought turkey-shaped cookies as grooslings (thank you Thanksgiving...), a beautiful basil plant to represent the trees in the arena, black rocks for the coal miners in District 12, radishes for the bulb plants they found by the water, acai berry juice to add to vodka or tequila for a berry-inspired cocktail, and plenty of vegetables and grains to represent the vegan foods they were able to prepare. I even picked up some walnut-raisin rolls that I'll be spreading with tofutti cream cheese (since I won't use goat cheese) and thin slices of apples, a simple treat straight from the book!
I was at Le Pain Quotidien for a breakfast meeting and found an earthy, woodsy bulgar recipe in their cookbook that seemed appropriate for the theme so I made some for tomorrow. I think they missed a step so this might not be the exact recipe but I like how it came out! Since you probably won't be hosting a similarly-themed event, I wanted to share it with you as a nice dish for the holiday.In a large stock pot, pour in 8.5 cups of water, 2 tsp salt, 2 sprigs of thyme and 2 bay leaves and bring them to a boil.
Julienne sun-dried tomatoes (they recommend those packed in oil), 2 stalks of celery, and 4 cloves of garlic and add that to the boiling liquid with 150grams of bulgur (I'd estimate that at about 1 cup.)
Once the bulgur is fully cooked, about 10 minutes later, drain the liquid, add 2-3 TBSP of EVOO to the stock pot, but the bulgur back in, add 2 TBSP of fresh, finely chopped basil and season to taste.
Enjoy! And if you have any great books to recommend, please share!
