VeganMoFo Day 15: My Dinner with Barack & Michelle

Today's MoFo Prompt: "OMG, Barack Obama is coming over, because he knows you make awesome vegan food! What are you going to make?"

Mr. VE&T attempts to talk some sense into me

Um, okay. I may have gotten a little carried away with this prompt. I started really overthinking it, ha ha. I mean, honestly, if ever had the honor of cooking for Michelle and Barack Obama, I would seriously go All Out. I would plan and plan and revise and dream and hopefully come up with something fantastic. I started getting pretty wrapped up with this, and then I was like... geez, I just need to make dinner. Ha ha. Still, I will offer you an insight into my enthusiastic over-analysis: 

Before dinner, we would definitely work up an appetite with a fun dance party together! Especially since Michelle's Let's Move program is aimed at getting Americans (especially kids) up and active. 

First of all, I invited Michelle to join us. I mean, President Obama seems pretty cool, but Michelle seems pretty fun and smart and fantastic too, and I would love to meet her. Next, I did some research into the President's favorite foods. It seems that he is generally a healthy eater, he likes veggies (yeah!), he likes spicy food, and (of course) he loves nachos and guacamole. 

If I really did have the opportunity to cook a vegan meal for the President, I would have a lot on my mind, since -- first and foremost -- I would want to represent veganism well. But also, I would want the meal to be abundant with the beautiful local, organic produce grown here in Santa Cruz County since I am proud of my hometown. In honor of Michelle, and her efforts at encouraging vegetable gardens, I decided to also include produce from my own garden. I was going to make it all from scratch, but Mr. VE&T had a good suggestion that I include some products from small businesses participating in the new vegan economy. This way we could demonstrate that there is an economic future for veganism... with that in mind, I included Heidi Ho's spicy chia cheese sauce and Field Roast's Chipotle Sausages in my meal plan... things were starting to come together.

Plus, as long as I'm over-thinking things... I got to thinking about the President and his needs. He's going to want a meal that's filling and satisfying, but also not too heavy. He's a busy guy, and he's gonna have a long list of meetings and babies to kiss and hands to shake after our meal together -- he's definitely not going to enjoy feeling heavy and weighed down afterwards, nor would he appreciate feeling hungry again 30 minutes later. Plus, he's gonna need some protein to keep going and to keep himself strong for his basketball games.

So, that was a lot to think about. After an inordinate amount of fretting as though this was actually going to happen... I finally settled on a plan. And so I present you:

Amey's Mexi-Bowl for The Obamas

Loosely inspired by the Pizza Bowl from Isa Does It, I sauteed some kale, onion, and garlic with 2 chopped Field Roast Chipotle Mexican Sausages. The garlic was from my garden, and the kale and onion were from the farmers market. Next I made homemade Pico de Gallo salsa - with tomatoes, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, and jalepeno. SO GOOD and so easy. Plus, as a nod to Michelle, the tomatoes, limes and garlic were all from our garden! I also made a batch of the Cilantro Lime Rice from Viva Vegan - just a touch more tasty and interesting than straight-up white rice. In the middle was a carefully arranged spread of avocado... and all drizzled with Heidi Ho Spicy Chia Cheeze Sauce. All local & organic produce - and even the rice was from California!

those secret service guys are so serious, they wouldn't even sit down and eat with us! 

What a delicious meal! Mr VE&T both absolutely loved this meal and I felt it hit all the marks - Mexi-inspired, a little spicy (it could have been spicier), hearty and healthy and filling, and a strong showing for the joys of vegan eating. I kept asking "Do you think Michelle and Barack would like it?" ha ha, what a nut. Anyway, we certainly did, and I will definitely make this again. It wasn't hard and it really was a delicious meal.

Watermelon Granita

Of course, I'm not gonna let my dinner guests leave without something for dessert. I know the Obamas like to eat healthy, so I had that in mind. Plus, it has been hot and summery, and I wanted a flavor that would compliment the MexiBowls for dinner... so I settled on homemade Watermelon Granita. This was my first time ever making a granita (I used this recipe, and halved the sugar), and it was fun and easy and tasty. Mr. VE&T was glad the Obamas weren't actually here, so that he could have more granita.

I hope the Obamas enjoy all their vegan meals today!