Vegan Finger Foods

I love hosting little house parties. They give me a chance to play Vegan Martha Stewart and make hors d'oeuvres and decorate my house. Throw in a box of wine or a pitcher of cocktails, and it's party time. But honestly, deciding what to make is always a challenge. Sometimes, I get into party planning ruts and make the same ole nooch fondue or vegan pigs in blankets.

But a new book — Vegan Finger Foods — will certainly help get me out of those "same old, same old" ruts. It's by Celine Steen and Tamasin Noyes, two of my very favorite blogger friends from way, way back. We've all been blogging for years, and I remember when they were just starting out and working on their first cookbooks. Now they've both produced several books, some on their own and some with other authors. They even have one previous book together, Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day. 

But Vegan Finger Foods may be one of their best works to date. The subtitle is "More Than 100 Crowd-pleasing Recipes for Bite-size Eats Everyone Will Love." And that's exactly what it is. This book is loaded with ideas for vegan party food. There are chapters on finger food, things you eat with your hands, bread-based bites, foods that are stuffed or dipped, and bite-size sweets.

You may remember from my post on Paul's 34th birthday party back in April that I made the Portobello BLTs from Vegan Finger Foods.

These are so good, and they were such a huge hit at Paul's party. The "B" is homemade mushroom bacon that is so smoky and delicious, and that's placed atop lettuce, tomato, and guacamole on bruschetta. Many of Paul's friends are not vegan, yet everyone absolutely loved these.

I haven't hosted a party since April, but one can enjoy party foods without having folks over. This week, I made the Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Onions as a side dish to a vegan lasagna. 

This is more of a small plate than a finger food, but this would be perfect to serve at a casual dinner party. The Brussels are sauteed until lightly charred and then they're topped with onions that have been coated in flour and fried. A vegan mayo/Dijon/lemon sauce goes on top. I've always been a Brussels sprouts fan, but this is by far my favorite way to enjoy them. This will certainly go into heavy rotation in my kitchen.

There are so many more dishes I want to try! Twisted Bread Sticks, Antipasta Tofu-Stuffed Shells, Mean Bean Taco Cups, Baked Frittata Minis, Baked Buffalo Tofu Bites. There's even a recipe for Sweet Nachos (apple and pear slices topped with almond butter, brown rice syrup, chocolate, pom seeds, almonds, and coconut). Before you plan you're next party, you need this book.