Knockoffs and goodbyes

Emily is going on med leave for the rest of the semester, and wouldn't you know that on her last day here, the dining halls weren't serving anything she could eat. Typical. Alice decided we should make her a farewell dinner, and for a change, we didn't make Indian food.

This meal was Alice's brainchild. She found a recipe for corn salsa on How Sweet It Is, (which you should be reading if you aren't already) that linked us to What's For Dinner and three excellent recipes: cilantro lime rice, chili-lime chicken, and spicy black beans. Topped with the corn salsa and avocado for those who wanted to partake (all two of us), this meal was amazing. We hardly had to tweak it at all; we just swapped the onions for shallots and left out red pepper flakes in the beans, and it was a delicious, Emily-safe meal that everyone enjoyed. Almost everyone went back for seconds, and since it was a one-bowl meal, we didn't have that awkward juggle where you have to rinse out your bowl if you want to sample a different dish. Caroline would hate it, but if you don't have a problem with cilantro and you want a light meal for warm weather, this is it.

For dessert, I made vegan peanut-butter cookies. These came into my life this past summer at camp, when we were serving African Peanut Soup (bleh), and my boss and I thought it would be funny to serve peanut butter cookies for dessert. These cookies are extremely dry, but really delicious: they're about the consistency of the peanut butter filling in Reese's cups. Last night, I decided to drizzle them with (soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free) chocolate to try and temper the dryness. I'd try more chocolate next time, but just remember to take small bites.

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Yields about twenty-five smallish cookies.

Ingredients
(3) cups flour
(2) cups peanut butter
(1/2) cups oil
(1.5) cups sugar
(2 tsp) vanilla

Directions
1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

2. Roll the dough into 2-inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Using a fork, press a checkered pattern into the top of each cookie.
4. Bake at 400°F for 10 to 12 minutes.

5. (Optional) Drizzle with chocolate before serving.

Notes:

These cookies don’t spread at all, so one tray can fit just about the whole batch. They also don't really change color when they bake: just trust me, ten minutes should be fine.

It's a shame we had to say goodbye to Emily after this meal, but at least it was a nice sendoff.