Celebrate Spring With This Vegan Dinner Party

We're springing into action on the first day of the season with this plant-based dinner party!

It's the first day of spring, and we're ready for it! Enough time has elapsed from the holidays for us to feel inspired to entertain again, and we're kicking things off this season with a vegan dinner party that's as delicious as it is fun to look at!
We decided to keep the decorations simple, and really let the colorful rainbow of food take the spotlight. We opted for a few pops of color from linens, and fresh seasonal blooms straight from the farmers market. Simple white platters and plates set the stage for our plant-based feast to shine!

The star of the show was this couldn't-be-easier crudite board, complete with Giada's
White Bean Dip, Roasted Carrot Hummus, and Warm Marinated Olives. To keep things natural in the name of spring, we hollowed out cabbage to use as bowls for our dips (for our tips on building the perfect Italian crudite board, check out our video). We love using food as the centerpiece of any tablescape, and this spread does just that. Not only is it beautiful, but it's an incredibly easy entertaining solution: make the dips a day or two ahead of time along with the marinated olives, and you can even hollow out the cabbage the day before as well and wrap with a damp paper towel. That way, on the day of, all you have to do is some creative veggie-placing for your Insta-worthy platter (which, honestly, is a lot of fun!).


Plate - Crate & Barrel
Linens - Heath
The rest of our family style spread includes some of our very favorite vegan, plant-based recipes from Giada. Moroccan-style swiss chard rolls have a hearty filling of a blend of rice, golden raisins, earthy curry flavor and diced tofu. Better yet - you can fully assemble the rolls a day ahead of time, cover them up in the fridge, and pop them in the oven 30 minutes before it's time to eat! We opted for two of our favorite vegetable side dishes, including Giada's Smokey Candied Carrots (just omit butter!) and Roasted Cauliflower with Capers and Almonds (no Parmesan!). 

Bowl - Giadzy Shop
We opted for Panzanella, which is essentially a bread salad hailing from Tuscany-- and it's always a crowd-pleaser at any gathering. This particular recipe calls for grilled eggplants, zucchini, heirloom tomatoes, scallions and fennel, but the real star is the rustic grilled bread. There's something magical about bread, olive oil, and a hot grill!
 


Copper Bar Set - Amazon
Of course, no party is complete without cocktails. We chose an easy favorite that we turn to time and time again - Giada's Ginger Kombucha and Gin Refreshers! These zippy cocktails are the definition of refreshing, with gingery kombucha, lime and mint with just a shot of gin. Set up a station for guests to whip up their own and let the partying really begin.

We can't throw a party without offering a take-home gift. Infused olive oils are a great send-home party favor that you can customize with a label of your choice. We made three varieties: red pepper flake, lemon, and rosemary. Simply fill glass bottles with your favorite olive oil and infusions- whether it be lemon peels, garlic or herbs, these are as pretty as they are delicious.
Cin cin to springtime!