Salsa Anniversary Weekend

This weekend, my honey and i celebrated our anniversary, and it just happens to fall on the same weekend as the annual Salsa on St. Clair weekend party. Since we live in the heart of the party, we hosted our own felicidies and then went to see what all the fuss was on the streets. It was also a great way to showcase some of my anniversay flowers!

We decided to go in theme, of course, and made various dishes, mainly from the cookbook "A Vegan Taste of Central America." They're the ones that are starred (*). It has some really great recipes, but is published in the UK, and thus has all the ingredients based in weight. Good thing i have a handy scale! We also thought it would be fun, and less work, to make the dishes into tapas and thus not as big nor as much work for us - so we all could sit around and chat together. Unfortunately, i got so carried away, i only took one photo of the food!

On the menu was:

Appetizers
Chips
Roasted Red Pepper and Black Bean Salsa
Black Bean Dip (recipe to follow)
Guacamole
Mains
*Pupusas with beans and (vegan) cheese
Coconut Crusted Tempeh- from Fresh
*Cornbread
*Tostadas with hearts of palm and (vegan) cream cheese - see photo above
Noodle Salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, (vegan) feta and (vegan) cesar dressing

Drinks
Various Latin beers like Corona, Brahma, Negra Modela, Dos Equis
Sangria (recipe to follow)After a busy night of madness on the streets, J and it went to Toronto Islands to enjoy a relaxing day. We took our bikes, books, and a blanket and just relaxed - what a wonderful way to spend the day!

Black Bean Dip
1 can of black beans
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 jalepeno pepper, diced
1 tomatoe, chopped
1 tbsp garlic tarragon vinegar
1 tsp chili powder
1 garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
handful of cilantro, chopped

1. Mix all ingredients in a food processor and puree. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you like it more or less spicy, watch your chili powder!

Sangria
1 bottle dry red wine (i prefer Shiraz)
1 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup Fresca
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup additional liquoir like rum, Chambord, Cassis, Grand Marnier, etc - optional)
1/2 pint each of the following fruits - raspberries, blueberries, golden gooseberries, oranges, peaches, apples, lemons (all or some of them)

1. Clean and then cut the fruit. Use a large pitcher, and one you don't mind getting red wine stains on. Put the fruit in the pitcher and add the wine.
2. Continue by adding the other liquids, except the Fresca (or other carbonated drink). You will add that last.
3. Allow to saturate for at least 3 hours to overnight - the length will directly impact the overall taste and thickness of the fruit.
4. Right before serving, add the fizzy drink. Be careful when pouring as the fruit all sits at the bottom.