Dinner for 8

Yesterday I had a request to prepare dinner for a holiday party at St. Francis Hospital's Preventive Medicine Center. Nothing fancy smancy, just the entree (and then I threw in a dozen double chocolate chocolate chip cookies for good measure).

It’s been awhile since I worked at a restaurant, and as a personal chef cooking primarily for families I generally prepare a maximum of 4 servings for each entree. This was a little different from my normal routine, but I quickly relearned the process of completing multiple servings of an identical meal so that they’re all done at the same time. So it was assembly line time in the kitchen of Well on Wheels.

I chose a menu that looked festive with plenty of bright red bell pepper red and mustard greens green for contrast. The flavors were equally complementary, with a sweet and spicy theme from the peppers, caremelized onion and spicy mango sauce and sharp bite of the mustard greens. I think I may have to make this one for myself soon.

This recipe was inspired by one I found in the January issue of Vegetarian Times which called for a sauce made with spicy mango chutney. I’m really loving this shredded mango chutney made by Kitchens of India. It works well in this tofu sautee, and I bet it would be equally delish accompanying a rich coconut curry.

I’m also thinking… I know this sounds kinda weird… a little dollop atop a scoop of vanilla soy ice cream, or better still Purely Decadent coconut ice cream, would be heavenly. oooo… if only the health food store was open past 7:00.