A Very ‘Bloggy’ Dinner Party, Featuring Butternut Squash Risotto and Balsamic Roasted Veggies
One of the things I love the most about blogging is the blog community. I've shared that before, especially in posts like the monthly feature I began in October, Blog Love. I don't feel like the blogging world is competitive or filled with envy or bloggers trying to 'one-up' the others. To me, it's an encouraging atmosphere, where we learn from each other and cheer each other on through good and bad times - and recipes! When another blogger adapts one of our recipes, we're thrilled at their creativity rather than irritated that they didn't use ours word-for-word. Well, I had friends over for dinner last Saturday and what I loved most about it was adapting and using some recipes from some of my favourite blogs, combining those recipes with my own, and putting together a menu that would impress while still being healthy and, of course, vegetarian and naturally sweet.
Crispy Quinoa Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Oh these were goooood. I mean gooooood (in case you didn't get that the first time). The recipe came from my beloved magazine, Vegetarian Times, that comes to my mailbox every now and again (it only does 9 issues a year and I can't quite work out the schedule. I wish it would be monthly!) I had this recipe bookmarked for future cooking but never got around to it. It's so easy to go back into cooking those staple meals you know and rely on, you know? So trying out something new was something I kept putting off. Also, I haven't always had the best success with VT recipes but that could be my cooking skills. Still, I don't think that the recipes they print are exactly foolproof.