Ladies Who Lunch (GF- & Vegan-style)

But not today.

Happy Memorial Day everybody! Hopefully you had some burgers alongside your gratitude for our nation’s men and women of the military. I did consider skipping the beef in honor of my awesome cooking class I took this weekend with the sisters of Spork. But I’m a weak woman. I’m just getting the hang of giving up gluten, anything else might put me over the edge. The edge of what, you may ask? The edge of darkness, my friends. That edge.

But let me tell you what I learned at Spork, alongside my sister-in-law, Amy, who was kind enough to use her birthday gift to learn more about cooking gluten-free. Yes, she is rad.

I’m constantly witnessing the marriage of vegan and gluten-free eating when I try to eat outside of my home, or attend any panel at BlogHer. However, I’m a gal who thinks cheeseburgers are why god invented cows. But this class has put a chink in my carnivorous armor.

First of all, we whipped up some seasonal berry and apple cobbler with an oatmeal (gluten-free facility, of course) nut cookie topping. I lean more towards the cream pies, so I’m going to be stealing this crumble and turning it into another kind of crust. You’re gonna’ want to stay tuned for that.

Then I learned as we whipped up chilled creamy roasted red pepper soup, that potatoes make an awesome substitute for heavy cream. They don’t call me the “Dairy Queen” for nothing, but I’m trying this at home. Finally they knocked me out with cornmeal and herb crusted tofu feta croquettes that made me realize how totally rad vegan eating can be. But never underestimate the rice, this rice —

That is what the ladies of Spork call creamy pistachio pesto over brown rice with sun-dried tomatoes and kalamata olives. Now, I don’t even like sun-dried tomatoes and kalamata olives, but this dish ROCKED. Ladies, your vegan delights have me re-thinking my dedication to meat and dairy. Tomorrow. I’ll think about it tomorrow.