Creating a great dinner party should not be stressful or overwhelming. Start with a few recipe ideas and pull it all off by using great ingredients. That’s why I partnered with Club House to bring you some inspiration, tips and ideas for hosting your own dinner party!
You know how much I love cooking, obviously! But I'm really all about encouraging your confidence in the kitchen too. I've already seen so many people take to cooking great vegan food by watching hot for food's videos and reading this blog and it makes me so happy!
Let’s be honest, the next best restaurant really is your own kitchen. So start making a guest list and watch my video below for my 3 easy recipes ideas using Club House herbs and spices.
herbed nut cheese log
This soft cashew cheese is tangy, creamy, and delicious and will impress all your dinner guests!
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Servings: to 12
Ingredients
- 2 C raw cashews, soaked for 20 minutes in hot water
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil (solid at room temperature)
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon Club House organic garlic powder
- 8 full turns Club House oregano grinder
- 8 full turns Club House parsley grinder
- 12 full turns Club House freeze-dried basil grinder
- ½ C dried cranberries, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Drain and rinse cashews from the soaking water and add to a high-powered blender along with lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, nutritional yeast, sea salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, oregano, parsley, and basil.
- Blend this mixture until smooth. It will take some working with the blenders baton to push the mixture into the blade while the blender is running, or by stopping the blender to push excess mixture down the sides and mix it around before running the blender again. If you do this it will get smooth eventually!
- Scoop out the cheese mixture onto a large piece of plastic wrap in a lengthwise fashion as you will be shaping a log in the plastic wrap. The log is approximately 7” long x 2” wide. Wrap the sides of the plastic around the cheese mixture and gently roll a log, also tightly twist up the ends of the plastic and kind of flatten the front and back ends of the log at the same time. Once you generally have a log shape place this in the fridge for at least 6 hours or longer until you’re ready to serve the cheese.
- When you’re ready to serve, remove the cheese from the plastic wrap and it should be solid enough to handle and reshape gently with your hands if there’s any misshapen parts. Place it on your serving platter and gently press roughly chopped dried cranberries around the outside of the cheese log. Sprinkle with a little more basil and serve immediately!
pulled bbq spaghetti squash sliders
This is a super unique and delicious way to use spaghetti squash for a light but comforting pulled 'pork' style BBQ sandwich!
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Servings: sliders
Ingredients
pulled BBQ spaghetti squash
- 1 spaghetti squash
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- sea salt & ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ C onion, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Club House Organic garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Club House Organic cumin
- ½ teaspoon Club House Organic paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Club House Organic crushed red pepper
- 2 tablespoon low-sodium vegetable stock
- ¼ C Club House La Grille Wild Whiskey Smoked BBQ Sauce
coleslaw
- 4 C pre-made bagged coleslaw mix
- ⅓ C vegan mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ground black pepper, to taste
sandwiches
- small buns, lightly toasted
- dill pickles, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Prepare the spaghetti squash by cutting it in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the inside seeds and pulp. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil per side, and sea salt and ground black pepper. Use your hands to spread the oil, salt, and pepper evenly around the inside flesh of the squash.
- Place the squash inside down onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or in a wide baking dish. Bake for approximately 45 minutes (depends on the size of the squash) until tender and you can easily poke the outside skin with a fork.
- While the squash is baking, prepare the coleslaw by combining vegan mayonnaise and dijon mustard with the coleslaw mix. Add ground black pepper to taste and refrigerate this until ready to assemble the sliders.
- Just before the squash is finished baking, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for 2 minutes until softened.
- Add garlic powder, cumin, paprika, and crushed red pepper and sauté for another 2 to 3 minutes. Then add low-sodium vegetable stock to lift everything off the pan.
- Remove the squash from the oven and scrape the inside flesh of the squash out with a fork. Add all of this to the pan.
- Allow most of the stock to be absorbed before adding the BBQ sauce. Once you’ve added the sauce, stir to coat all the squash and heat through for 3 to 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.
- Toast the slider buns in the oven if desired, and thinly slice pickles.
- Assemble the sliders by placing a bit of coleslaw on the bottom bun, then add pickle slices, and top with a good portion of pulled BBQ spaghetti squash. Serve immediately!
Notes
You could bake the squash ahead of time and then prepare it in the pan the day of, before assembling and serving the sliders.
apple pie shooters
These mini apple pie shooters are sweet and crunchy and have just the right amount of dessert you're craving after an epic dinner party!
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Servings: to 12 jars (depending on size)
Ingredients
crisp layer
- 1 ½ C rolled oats (not quick cooking)
- 1 teaspoon Club House Organic Cinnamon
- ¼ C brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- ¼ C chopped pecans
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ C coconut oil (solid at room temperature)
apple layer
- 4 apples, peeled and cubed
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- ⅓ C brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Club House Organic cinnamon
whipped topping
- 2 cans Thai Kitchen Organic full-fat Coconut Milk, refrigerated overnight
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon Club House Organic cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a bowl, combine the crisp layer ingredients. Using your hands pinch together the mixture with the coconut oil until everything is well combined.
- In another bowl combine the apple layer ingredients until the apples are well coated.
- Lay out the apples and the crisp on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or use 2 separate baking sheets for each.
- Bake for 25 minutes, tossing once or twice in between.
- Meanwhile, prepare the topping by scooping out the thick cream from the top of the cans and adding it to a blender along with the maple syrup and cinnamon. Blend until very smooth and fluffy. This whipped topping works best making it right before serving. If you refrigerate it for too long, it will become quite solid liked whipped butter.
- Once the apples and crisp are done baking, assemble your apple pie shooters by adding an apple layer to the bottom of all your small jars or shot glasses, then add the crisp layer.
- Pipe the whipped topping on top of the apple pie shooters by adding it to a piping bag with a wide tip or use a zipper bag, seal it with no air in it and then snip a small corner of the bag. Sprinkle with a little bit more of the crisp layer on top and serve immediately.
Thanks so much to Club House for sponsoring and collaborating with me on this video and blog.
You can purchase McCormick Club House Spices at supermarkets and mass merchandisers nationwide.
Find more recipes and inspiration at www.justcookcanada.com
Follow @Clubhouse.ca on instagram
Tanya
These all sound amazing! Any chance you can tell us the amount of herbs needed for the cheese log when not using the grinders? ie, 1/2tsp?
Lauren Toyota
ya 1/2 a tsp is correct!
Vanessa
Ugh So awesome!!!!
Lindsay
Made the sliders & shooters last night. Yum effing yum. More recipes for the keep pile! Thanks Lauren & John!
Lauren Toyota
YAAY so glad you loved them. Thanks!
Angel
Can I use something instead of coconut oil?
Lauren Toyota
the only thing is it helps make the cheese solid. Because it solidifies in the cold temp. I don't think another oil would work
Lindsey
I used Crisco vegetable shortening because I was out of coconut oil and it turned out just fine!
Aislinn
Made the cheese log and it was THE BOMB!!!! You did it again Lauren!
Lauren Toyota
awesome! So glad you enjoyed it 😀
Clara Maria Haugaard
Looks amazing!! Can you use butternut squash instead of spaghetti squash?
Mrs. H.
We just tried the BBQ pulled spaghetti squash and it was life-changing! Wow! Thank you so much for such an awesome recipe.
Lauren Toyota
YAAAY! so glad you liked it. thank you!
Elise
LOVED the sliders. So easy and filling! I used spaghetti squash I'd cooked the night before though and it held onto enough moisture that I didn't need the veg broth. Fantastic recipe, can't wait to try the others!
Lauren Toyota
AWESOME! So glad you liked it. A great new way to use spaghetti squash 😀
Kim
I made the pulled BBQ spaghetti squash in a burger bun for diner tonight. It was SOOOO GOOOOOD!!! Plus it's super easy to make. Thanks!!!
Lauren Toyota
So glad you loved it 😀 Thanks for sharing the feedback!
Genessee
Where can I find that fromage knife?
Karo
These wonderful, delicious, tasty, ... pulled bbq spaghetti squash sliders... what should I say? Thank you for this recipe! You are amazing!
That's what mine looked like: http://aminoapps.com/page/vegan/7054248/hot-for-food-pulled-bbq-spaghetti-squash-sliders
Teresa
I just made the spaghetti squash for dinner! I didn't have cute little buns, or BBQ sauce, so I made some BBQ Sauce and served the sliders as tacos instead. They were amazing! This is definitely my favorite "pulled pork" that I've made since I went vegan. We tried them with pickles and also with a pumpkin salsa + avocado.
Nicole
The vegan BBQ pulled spaghetti squash sliders are amazing! Even my meat eating husband really likes this recipe. I highly recommend this recipe!!!
Lauren Toyota
Thanks Nicole!
Maegan
What a great idea for pulled BBQ spaghetti squash sammies. I cheated and used jarred BBQ sauce, but I am still calling it a domestic win. Thank you.