Tapas! (mostly)

Due to an inspiration which I shall not mention here, I picked up a couple of Spanish Cookbooks at my local library, bent on veganizing some traditional Spanish recipes. Paging through Penelope Casas' book "¡Delicioso! The Regional Cooking of Spain," I came across two tapas recipes that were already vegan and that looked mighty tasty. That inspired George and I to put together a meal around these two recipes. We came up with this menu:

-Coriander-Scented Batter-Fried Eggplant (which we baked instead of frying)
-Spinach and Chickpeas, Sivilla Style
-Chili, Lime and Cilantro Grilled Tofu
-Pan Grilled Vegetables (zucchini, red peppers, onions, baby bellos and asparagus)
-Roasted Potatoes with Garlic Alioli
-Olives

The first two dishes were from "Delicioso," as was the alioli that George whipped up. The pan grilled veggies came from a recipe in Janet Mendel's "Food of La Mancha: Cooking from the heart of Spain." The tofu recipe was something I came up with on the spot, and is exactly what it sounds like, tofu marinated with fresh roasted chilis, lime juice and cilantro, then grilled on the forman grill.

Photographic evidence:

Chili, Lime and Cilantro Grilled Tofu



Coriander-Scented Batter-Fried Eggplant



Spinach and Chickpeas, Sivilla Style



Pan Grilled Vegetables



The Spread



Plated


The Spinach and Garbanzo Bean Tapas dish was by far our favorite. It was made with this paste that you made by frying bread and garlic together and then adding salt and vinegar. Definitely a keeper. I will work on a fat-free version and then post the results here in the futre.