I have been hired as the chef for a ten-day Conscious Social Change Retreat near Hanover, NH. The weather has been glorious – intense blue skies with soft summer breezes and most of the meals have been served outside overlooking the pond. The menu is vegetarian, and luckily I have not been challenged by any dietary restrictions. (During a previous retreat, I had one woman who did not eat soy or garlic, one who was gluten intolerant & one who was vegan! Creating a menu that met everyone’s needs was interesting.) Here is what I have served the first few days of this retreat:

Day 1
Dinner
Pasta Primavera
Massaged Kale Salad with Sesame Oil
Brownies with Raspberries & Whipped Cream

Day 2Lunch
Veggie Bacon BLTs
Potato Leek Soup
Carrot Sticks
Apples

Dinner
Fried Rice with Peas, Water Chestnuts, Mushrooms & Scallions
Pot Stickers with Ginger Dipping Sauce
Stir Fried Snow Peas, Mushrooms & Carrots
Fortune Cookies

Day 3Lunch
Veggie Patties on Rolls with Lettuce & Tomatoes
Blue Corn Chips
Carrot Sticks
Apples

Dinner
Spinach & Mushroom Quiche
Tossed Salad
Sour Cream Cake with Berries & Whipped Cream

Day 4
Lunch
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches on Multi-Grain Baguettes
Tomato Soup
Oranges

Dinner
Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos with Avocado, Tomatoes, Scallions, Cheddar & Sour Cream
Blueberry Lemon Curd Tart

Day 5
Lunch
Curried Tempeh Salad Sandwiches
Pasta Salad
Blue Corn Chips
Carrot Sticks

Dinner
Grilled Vegetables in Pita Pockets with Tzatziki Sauce
Corn in the Cob
Watermelon

Day 6Lunch
Vegetarian Chili
Jalapeño Corn Bread
Oranges

Dinner
Mushroom Risotto
Green Bean, Mozzarella & Tomato Salad
Frosted Brownies and Sliced Strawberries

My recipe for the Blueberry Lemon Curd Tart:

Crust
1 1/2 c. flour
3 T. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable shortening

Lemon Curd
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice
4 large egg yolks
5 T. butter, cut into pieces

Blueberry Topping
2 quarts blueberries
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch

Directions:
Crust – Blend flour and sugar in bowl. Cut in vegetable shortening until it is crumbly and looks like small peas. Add 7 T. ice water and mix with a fork until it forms a ball. Turn out on floured surface and roll until 1/4 inch thick. Fold in half and fold in half again. Set it gently in a greased tart pan or pie plate and unfold. Crimp the edges. Place a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper in the bottom on the pie shell. Fill with rice or dry beans and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove from oven and discard paper and rice or beans. Prick the bottom of the pie shell with a fork and return to oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove from oven.
Lemon Curd- Whisk sugar and lemon juice in a heavy medium saucepan to blend. Whisk in egg yolks and then. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it begins to thicken (about 8 minutes). Remove from heat and spread on prepared pie shell.
Blueberry Topping – Measure out 1 c. of he blueberries and place in a medium saucepan together with sugar and 1/2 c. water. Bring to boil over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and 2 T. water. When water and blueberries have come to a boil, lower the heat and simmer, stirring constantly for 3 to 4 minutes or until the blueberries start to burst. Stirring constantly, add the cornstarch mixture and simmer for a minute until the mixture becomes translucent. Immediately remove from heat and add remaining blueberries. Carefully spoon the mixture over the lemon curd in the pie shell. Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate.