Nashville weddings

Eco-Friendly Resources for Your Nashville Wedding: A Green Menu for Vegans and Carnivores Alike

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Hi All!

Ashley Currie again, founder of iHospitality and now a girl with a growing love for blogging, cheesy but so true. 

Okay, as you are starting to notice, green is not only about treehuggers and Birkenstocks.  It is truly about supporting local, making a conscience effort to pay attention to your total lifestyle and the choices you make.  This is my little motto I try to incorporate daily plus a great segue into my post for this month.  I wanted to provide a genuine look into the life of a green caterer and show why and how easy it is to incorporate this style of catering into your wedding day.

Kindy Girdley is the owner of The Chic Pea Catering Company.  She was raised in Indiana and had a family farm in Kentucky allowing her first dibs on great free-range beef and more.  Her childhood really nurtured her love of cooking and she boasts her dad as teaching her everything she knows.  Kindy became a vegetarian over 13 years ago, as her mom was diagnosed with colon cancer leading her to realize meat was not the key to survival.  This realization, along with her love of food, is the foundation for The Chic Pea Catering Company.  Her seasonal menus offer vegan, gluten-free and locally grown ingredients.  Kindy’s catering gives you a dose of simple flair, tasty food and green living all wrapped into one for your big day.  Check out what you can expect if you go green with Kindy for your big day menu.

Impressive Seasonal Menu:

Kindy personally works with each of her clients to create a menu full of the freshest ingredients, bold flavors and healthy undertones.

Sample seasonal menus you need in your life plus a handy legend for the "green" newbies out there (wf=wheat-free, gf=gluten-free, sf=soy-free, vg=vegetarian, v=vegan, suf=sugar-free, df=dairy-free).

For the Vegan:

Polenta Cakes with Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese & Honey (wf) (gf) (sf) (vg)

Port Poached Figs Wrapped, Stuffed with Goat Cheese (wf) (gf) (sf) (df)

Mushroom Puff Pastries (vg) (sf) (suf)

Veggie Pate (v) (wf) (gf) (sf) with Rosemary Crackers (v) (sf) (suf)

Alfalfa & Spinach (wf) (sf) (gf)

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Brown Sage Butter (vg) (sf) (suf)

Steamed Broccoli, Garlic & Cranberries (v) (wf) (gf) (sf)

roasted potatoes

For the Carnivore:

Sweet & Spicy Meatballs (vegetarian, beef, lamb, chicken or turkey) (df)

Assorted Cheese & Platter (wf) (sf) (gf) (suf) (vg)

Stuffed Grape Leaves (wf) (gf) (sf) (df) (v)

Roasted Red Pepper & Feta with Toasted Crostini & Vegetables (wf) (gf) (sf) (vg)

Warm Mediterranean Lentil Salad (wf) (gf) (vg) (sf) (suf)

Rosemary & Lemon Roasted Chicken (gf) (sf) (df) (wf)

Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes (v) (wf) (sf) (gf)

lentils -  left; lemon roasted chicken - right

Locally Grown Ingredients:

Once you have finalized your big day meal, Kindy will submit her orders to her local farmers along with a usual trip to the Farmer’s Market.  Many times, her famer’s will personally hand deliver her orders or provide via a designated CSA (community supported agriculture) location.  Some of the local farms Kindy works with are: Delvin Farms, Bountiful Blessings, Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese, Drew Brews, and Lazaroli’s Pasta.

Locally grown ingredients are a true stimulus for your community’s economy.  It gives people a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing where their food came from and who produced it. 

A Caterer Who Cares:

It may sound cliché, however Kindy is passionate about food and the clients she serves.  Her green lifestyle is not just for show and you can see this through the dishes she prepares.  Many times caterers are looking to "go green" for the sake of marketing and not truly embracing what it actually means.  I asked Kindy, what are a few tips she would recommend to brides looking for green catering options and she stated "do your research, ask for references and the vendors they use. Be very specific about what you are wanting and be involved with the process so you know things are being done responsibly."

Kindy is truly a caterer after my own heart and is not stopping at The Chic Pea Catering Company.  She will be opening up Thrive Kitchen with Melissa Brown near downtown Nashville.  It will boast a cafe, meal delivery service and cooking school.  You can follow Thrive Kitchen as it progresses via The Chic Pea Catering Company Blog 

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send   Posted on November 10, 2011 | Filed under: Cakes & Food, Eco-Friendly Weddings