Vegetarian Menu

Vegetable Sushi, Quinoa with Tofu and Veggies, and hot Sake
(All served after the start which was the Brown Rice Tea and Ginger Martini and Edamame.)

First Course:

Vegetable Sushi with Peanut Sauce

Peanut Sauce:

1/2 cup unsalted peanuts crushed
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tsp. soy sauce
salt if necessary
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
dollop of honey
Mix all ingredients and blend together (blender, Cuisinart, etc.) to form a smooth sauce, if too thick add more oil.

Vegetable Sushi:

Sheets of Nori (dry Seaweed)
Red onion thinly sliced
Bean sprouts
Bunch of Cilantro coarsely chopped
Green Chilis seeded and sliced in strips
Cucumber in thin strips using veg. peeler (I prefer Hothouse or English)
Carrots in thin strips " "
Cooked Vermicelli Noodles (chilled)

Place Sheet of Nori on bamboo mat for rolling.
I actually wrapped a stiff place mat in plastic wrap and used that to roll.

Second Course:

Quinoa with Tofu and Veggies.

I was inspired to use Quinoa after reading Tea's Tea and Cookies blog post about using it with Seaweed, Ponzu Sauce, and Avocado. Not only does she have lovely recipes, but her story telling talents make her posts a joy to read.
I had never used Quinoa before. The Yellow Quinoa variety is similar to that of Moroccan Couscous, but a little larger. Tea used the Brown and Black variety of the Quinoa which seems to be a larger seed and of course darker in color. It being the first time cooking with Quinoa I opted for the smaller Yellow variety. When raw, the yellow looks like that of Couscous, but once cooked has a flatter, seed like appearance.

Quinoa with Tofu and Veggies:

2 cups Yellow Quinoa
4 cups water
1 8-10 ounces of Tofu, cubed
3 plum tomatoes diced
3 cloves garlic chopped
Half of Lime juiced
Handful Cilantro coarsely chopped
1/4 cup bean sprouts
3 sheets Nori coarsely chopped (dry seaweed)
3 to 4 Tbsp Soy sauce
1 Avocado sliced
Add Quinoa to cold water and place over medium to high heat until boil then reduce heat to simmer and cook 20 minutes. Then turn off heat and let rest 5 to 10 minutes.
Toss in all ingredients except Avocado and gently fold to mix together.
Plate individual portions and place a few slices of Avocado on each.