The Gathering

It's Friday night, and I'm having a houseful of people over on Saturday. I haven't started cooking or gone shopping for the ingredients. Heck! Is there a menu? Oops! I don't have that either.

What am I to do? Start scrolling and praying, Dr. Vegan has some new recipes for me to follow!

Scroll, 2, 3. And again! Nope. Scroll past that one. Oh. This looks promising.

Twenty minutes later, I have 3 recipes chosen, ingredients written, and an eclectic menu planned for my guests.

Menu

1. NatashasKitchen.com - Easy Chicken Chili

2. NatashasKitchen.com - Creamy Tuscan Chicken

3. Dr. Vegan - Crispy Potato Salad

4. All Nutritious - Blueberry Yogurt Cake

The Recipes - What Worked - What Didn't

Easy Chicken Chili

The ingredients:

Chicken, Onion, Chicken Broth, White Beans, Corn, Rotel Tomatoes, Spices: Chili powder and cumin, Ranch mix, Cream cheese, and Lime juice

What did I change? Not much!

After I boiled and shredded the chicken, I placed it in the fry pan with a few teaspoons of Ghee, added salt and ground black pepper. I stirred until the chicken was coated before adding it to the crock pot.

I slow-cooked the chili for several hours and it was crowd pleaser. The ranch seasoning really does give this recipe a wonderful flavor.

Creamy Tuscan Chicken

The Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, sea salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, light olive oil, unsalted butter, brown mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, green onions, garlic cloves, heavy whipping cream, Parmesean cheese, baby spinach

What did I change? It's more like, what did I omit? I'm not a fan of mushrooms in any shape or form, so I left them out. I didn't tell anyone they were supposed to be there, and everyone loved the chicken. Please forgive me for their absence.

Beyond my mushroom folly, I followed the recipe as she outlined. The flavors were amazing. This was a big hit!

Crispy Potato Salad

The Ingredients:

For Potatoes: 2 medium potatoes, olive oil, and salt

For Dressing: tomato paste, paprika paste (or additional tomato paste), ground red pepper, salt, black pepper, chili powder, cumin, pomegranate molasses (or balsamic cream), large red bell pepper, chopped onion, pickles, walnuts, parsley, spring onions

Dr. Vegan's Variations:

Add protein (roasted chickpeas or grilled tofu), nut-free, add additional spices (a dash of cayenne), or extra greens (arugula or baby spinach)

What I made vs the Recipe

I could not find paprika paste, so I doubled the tomato paste. My local grocery store didn't carry pomegranate molasses, and I didn't have time to order it, so I used balsamic glaze.

Omissions: pickles and walnuts

Why: Well, it all boils down to preference.

What I loved: The dressing was amazing. Lots of flavor. I would make this again and again.

The one thing I would change: I would prefer if the potatoes were cut into cubes rather than the thin slices. That was the general consensus around the table, too.

Blueberry Yogurt Cake

The Ingredients:

Unsweetened plain Greek Yogurt, powdered sugar, eggs, cornstarch, and blueberries

Substitutions: Strawberries for blueberries

Why: Because that's what I had in the refrigerator

Substitutions: Doubled powdered sugar because I didn't have a full cup of cornstarch

This recipe isn't sweet. I served a caramel sauce, and my guests drizzled it over the cake. Overall, my guests enjoyed the cake, although they thought it was a bit dense.

I hope you enjoyed my journey through planning my gathering. The recipes were fun to cook and I added a few of my own tweaks as I went along. I'd definitely cook them again!