Planet VegMel picnic

It has been aaaaaaaaaaaaages since I last blogged due to slackness, tiredness due to non sleeping toddler & general life stuff getting in the way but am feeling a bit inspired at the moment so am going with it!
Today was the Planet VegMel picnic (also world fingerpainting day - who would have guessed??) & it really reinforced why I started blogging.  To sit in the sun eating amazing food with fantastic people who I would not have met otherwise is a pretty awesome thing.  I remember when I was thinking about going vegan & I used to read all these blogs & read about potlucks & it sounded like an amazing little community that I wanted to be a part of & now I am a part of it & it really is an amazing & supportive community.

So on to the food.  I decided to make rice paper rolls with a peanut dipping sauce after Mandee mentioned them during the week & I could not get them out of my head!  Unfortunately these were really bland &  boring & I was generally pretty unhappy with them & didn't even take a photo. 
My dessert on the other hand, I was really happy with.  I wanted to make something peanut buttery & when cleaning up my bookmarks I came across an incredibly easy recipe for peanut butter balls so decided to make them.  Yum!  They were like peanut butter cups in ball form but did end up a bit melty at the picnic.

Peanut butter balls (adapted from The Kitchenarian)

Ingredients

•  3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
•  7 tbsp almond meal
•  3 tbsp maple syrup
•  Dark chocolate (I used about 3/4 of a Whittakers block)
  

Method

1. Mix peanut butter, almond meal & maple syrup together until well mixed.
2. Roll into balls & refigerate 
3. Melt the chocolate
4. Roll pb balls into the chocolate & refigerate until set.

And this is what happens after you eat too much & are all tired out from trying to grab food & chase after birds, aka, post potluck nap.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Pesto

For the last couple of months I kept buying pumpkins with the intentions of making this but only just got around to it last week & it was so easy & delicious that I should have made it sooner.  I would have liked a bit more texture though, so next time I make it I will toss through some whole pine nuts before serving.

Pumpkin Ravioli

INGREDIENTS

• 500gm pumpkin cut into smallish evenly sized pieces
• Half a packet of silken tofu
• Half tub of Tofutti better than cream cheese
• I packet of wonton/gow gee wrappers 

METHOD

1. Roast pumpkin until soft & starting to brown
2. In a food processor blend the tofu & cream cheese until smooth & well combined
3. Add the pumpkin to the food processor & blend into the tofu & cream cheese, add salt & pepper to taste
4. Put a teaspoon of the pumpkin mix into the centre of a wonton wrapper & press the edges together.  I used a dumpling press because I have one & because it seals the edges really, really well so when you are cooking the ravioli they don't open up.
5. Add the ravioli to a big pot of boiling salted water & remove & drain once it floats to the top.
6. Heat the pesto in a frypan & toss the drained ravioli in the the pesto.

Pesto

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bunch basil
• 1 tbsp miso paste
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

METHOD 

1. Toast the pine nuts in a dry fry pan until starting to brown
2. Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until well combined