- Hi!
Hi! Hi!
OK.
Hey, I'm Lee Kalpakis, segment chef at Thrillist
and this is "$30 Dinner Party."
Woo!
Thrillist is sending me all over New York City
to help people just like you throw killer dinner parties
for very little money.
None of this, only this.
We're gonna plan, we're gonna shop, we're gonna cook,
and we're gonna serve your people incredible food
without breaking the bank.
Plan, shop, cook.
It's not hard, it's totally easy.
Do you like exercise? Me neither.
And I'm gonna show you how it's done.
Mel is currently transitioning careers into education
and is super-passionate about sustainable urban agriculture.
Right now money's tight, but she wants to prove to her
carnivore friends once and for all that plant-based food
can be a delicious dinner for anyone.
- Ya gotta eat your spinach if ya wants to be strong.
- To help plan the perfect menu to win over
even the most skeptical meat eaters --
I'm looking at you --
we went to YouTube's resident vegan superstar, Edgy Veg.
- Today on "The Edgy Veg," I'm going to show you how to make
bean and cheese taquitos, pumpkin chili,
black ice cream, because it's cool and gimmicky.
I'm Candice, The Edgy Veg, and I just wrote a cookbook.
It has really good food puns.
- [Lee] Is there, like, a recipe
that doesn't have a pun in it?
- No. I just did a pumpkin video and I said, "Oh my gourd".
- [Lee] That's a 10 out of 10.
- [Candice] Thank you. - [Lee] Mmmmhmm.
You know about our friend Mel, right?
- Now I think I can relate to Mel a lot,
because I have friends that eat meat.
You know, when you tell someone you're vegan or plant-based,
right away they're like, OK, you eat, you know,
salad, and granola, and I think when people think "vegan,"
they think that you have to buy
really over-the-top ingredients.
$8 almond milk. - Yes.
- But you can actually make a lot of this stuff at home
from scratch, using ingredients
that you already have in your home.
So I think we could definitely
nail like a really good dinner party for $30.
- Hi!
- [Candice] Hi!
- Can I hug you?
- [Candice] Of course! - [Mel] I'm so excited!
- Thank you so much for coming.
- I'm nervous but I feel like
it's like you have a very chill vibe,
so I feel like I'm absorbing it, or trying to.
So I feel like as a plant-based person,
a lot of times I'm super excited about,
you know, the newest seitan or tempeh recipe
and my friends are like, "That sounds disgusting."
- We're trying to convince your friends that,
like, plant-based is awesome and cool,
and can be really hearty, so,
like a pulled jackfruit sandwich with some slaw --
really meaty, lots of barbecue sauce.
- That's a rule, I think that every meat eater
loves barbecue, that's a fact,
We can all agree on that.
- And then, like, a nice salad, but like a good salad,
not a boring salad, so like a kale salad?
Maybe with some pesto? - Yeah.
- [Lee] That's nice and hearty for a salad,
I like that, that's pretty good.
- So for the dessert I'm thinking something
really quick, easy, cheap,
we could make a coconut-based ice cream?
Grab some fruit, strawberries.
- I don't know if on $30
in New York, that's gonna fly.
- I'm a bit skeptical myself,
but I think we can pull it off.
- I'm willing to try.
- I'm a little nervous.
- I know what this is, but do you?
- [Lee] If I smell it, I'll know.
- [Candice] Smell it.
- [Lee] Horseradish. Actually it just smells like dirt.
These are those kiwi berries!
- [Mel and Candice] What? - [Lee] You bite into it
and it's like a baby kiwi.
- Stop.
- It's the cutest thing ever.
- This is like the size of a child. Like you could like...
- [Lee and Mel] Yep.
- [Candice] Let's go get some greens.
- Let's start with the salad.
Let's start with the pesto for the salad.
You can buy a smaller amount of basil
if you use the entire thing.
The stems taste exactly like the basil itself.
Half the sunflower seeds here,
and then we'll use the other half as a nice crunchy garnish.
Some salt, and about a quarter cup of oil.
My favorite way to cut kale is
to roll it, and then cut it on an angle.
Most people find kale to be bitter, the typical heath food.
- [Lee] Yeah, but then Beyoncé wore a sweatshirt
that said "kale" on it, and now...
- Now everybody loves kale.
- [Mel] I feel like kale kind of is like
the hip and trendy thing, so I feel like my dinner guests
are gonna be excited for a kale salad.
- Hip and trendy.
- Hip and trendy!
We're so hip and trendy!
- That's what it should be called,
"Welcome back to 'Hip and Trendy.'"
- [Candice] Toss the dressing in there.
We're going to wash our hands and start massaging.
- OK, let's make some pulled "pork" sandwiches.
This is young jackfruit, and you can do it in water or brine --
just not syrup, or else you will have a syrupy, sweet,
disgusting mess.
Salt, pepper, little bit of cayenne pepper,
and then some garlic powder.
And toss it right into the pan here
with a little bit of oil.
Cook that down, and make some homemade barbecue sauce.
Because we're on a budget.
- [Lee] We're gonna start with a ketchup base,
and then we have some maple syrup.
Most barbecue sauce has Worcestershire -- anchovies
in that -- so instead, we have liquid smoke, totally vegan,
[and] just a little bit of soy sauce.
Some white vinegar, some hot sauce.
- [Candice] Take half of this beautiful homemade sauce,
and once we've thrown that into the pan,
we can turn it down, and just let it simmer
for about 15 to 20 minutes
or until the fibers start to fall apart a little bit.
Mash the heck out of it. You can also do this with a fork,
but I find the potato masher is the quickest and easiest
way to do it. Plus, you can get out some aggression
that you've been holding on to from a long week.
So for the slaw, you can just buy a super-cheap slaw mix.
And then we can put together a nice little dressing,
with just some apple cider vinegar, some oil, some salt,
and some garlic powder, and some cayenne.
- [Lee] This is breaking apart really nicely.
That's amazing. - [Candice] Right?
- [Lee] Yeah, it looks like pulled pork, that's so cool!
- [Candice] Isn't that wild?
- [Lee] Yeah!
- [Candice] Nature is amazing!
So for dessert, we are going to make
a super-simple strawberry ice cream.
Start with the strawberries. To help it break down,
you can add a little bit of sugar.
And then squeeze some lemon juice on there,
some coconut cream.
You want to incorporate half of this into the ice cream
so there is a consistent strawberry flavor throughout
the whole thing, and then a little bit of vanilla extract,
about a teaspoon, and then blend it up again.
So you can pour that right into the pan,
and then we are going to fold the remainder
of the mashed strawberries into the ice cream.
And put it in the freezer, for I would say at least
four hours, but it's much better overnight.
OK Mel, I have all the confidence in the world
that you can pull this off.
I know your friends will love this meal
that you're putting together.
- [Mel] Hopefully I can convince
some non-vegetarian or vegan people that eating that way
is awesome and tasty and just like what
they're eating every day.
- [Candice] Exactly, and you know what? I know you will.
- I'm a little bit nervous, I'm like really excited.
I love dinner parties, but I really don't know
how my non-veg friends are gonna feel about this meal,
I think it came out really well, and I think
Candice had some really good tips
but we'll see what they think.
- I'm a little skeptical, I don't know what's gonna happen.
- I'm a little on edge.
- I definitely think you can make a really nice
gourmet dinner for $30,
you just have to be really smart at the grocery store.
- Tastes like barbecue.
- [Friend in black shirt] Yeah, that's so good!
Do you like it?
- It's OK.
- [Friend in black shirt] All right.
This is really good.
- I think it went swimmingly, I mean,
everyone seemed pretty well-fed, it was on a budget,
we had a good time, there was good conversation,
what's not to like?
- I thought Mel did a really awesome job.
She made some incredible vegan food,
she threw a really cool party,
and she impressed her skeptical friends,
all for just under $30.
I think it's safe to say that we won this one.
As for me, it's taco time.
- [Man] Taco time, I like that.
- [Lee] Yeah! All right!
- [Man] She's good, she's good.
- [Lee] I'm good at tacos!
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