2/14/08

Vegan Valentines Feast!

I just got to wake up Valentines Day and have a chocolate-cherry-creme cupcake! Why, you ask? Because I am waiting tables tonight, and therefore made a Valentines feast for my fam and some friends last night. (My bf, unfortunately, was unavailable.) Amazingly enough, this meal turned out truly great. Seriously. I very rarely concoct a dinner and have everything go off without a hitch, but this really was delicious... not one of the non-vegans had anything left on their plate.

For an appetizer I made little mini heart-shaped pizzas. I used the Joy of Cooking pizza dough recipe I love so much, but divided the dough into four balls, rolled them out, and shaped them vaguely into heart shapes before brushing with EVOO. While the dough had been rising, I roasted two heads of garlic in the oven at 350, and marinated some sliced heirloom tomatoes in EVOO and salt and pepper. When the garlic was all roasted, I squeezed each bit out of its crunchy shell and into a bowl, where it was mashed with a little more EVOO and set aside. Finally, I caramelized a few sliced shallots. (To be fair, I had some time on my hands while the dough was rising to get all this inspiration.) To put it all together, I rubbed the garlic paste onto the pizzas and topped it with the tomatoes, shallots, some sliced roasted peppers (from a jar), and some red pepper flakes. I then cooked it for about 15 minutes at 425. They turned out really flavorful and delicious. This may be my new go-to pizza recipe.

I also made a simple strawberry salad with some spinach, sliced strawberries, hazelnuts, and a homemade dressing recipe I got from Vegetarian Times. I can't find it online right now, so let me just tell you, you combine:
-1/2 c. sliced strawberries
-3 T. Sugar
-3 T. Balsamic Vinegar
-1/2 a shallot
-1 clove garlic
... in a food processor or blender, then slowly add in 1 c. EVOO. The dressing is really creamy and thick, and the balsamic complements the strawberries perfectly.

For the main course, I made an old standby: grilled portabello mushrooms over mashed potatoes with asparagus. The mushrooms were marinated in some steak seasoning, EVOO and soy sauce before grilling and the asparagus were similarly coated in some Earth balance and salt and pepper before going into the oven at 375 for about 10 minutes. To make things EXTRA decadent, i made a "port wine reduction" for the shrooms, which is just a fancy way of saying "boil 3 c. wine in a saucepan until it reduces to a syrup." It was sooooo good over the potatoes too. But be forewarned- it takes longer than you think, so get started way before any grilling occurs.

To finish off, I made my absolute favorite cupcakes from VCTOTW. Since I was in such a hurry to get everything else cooking, I didn't have time to make these as pretty as they were the last time I made them. But trust me, they were still decadent and delicious.

Mmm. Especially for breakfast.

Have a happy Valentines Day!

7 comments:

J said...

What a lovely V-Day feast!

How cute are those heart shaped pizza, and roasted garlic, mmmmm, you are speaking my language.

What is EVOO?

I like the sound of that strawberry dressing. I like sweet salad dressings.

Your old standby sounds delish. I love mushrooms, mashed potatoes, and asparagus! That port wine reduction sounds pretty fancy and complicated, but I'm sure it was worth it to bring out the best in your meal.

OK seriously, I have seen some amazing looking treats from VCTOTW all over the vegan blogosphere, I think I'm going to have to break down and get this cookbook.

Hope you have a happy V-Day, and maybe get to spend some time with your bf. :-)

T said...

EVOO is simply extra virgin olive oil-- as you can tell, I use copious amounts on just about everything.

You should definitely get that cookbook, it is AWESOME. Everything I make out of it gts shrieks of delight from vegans and non-vegans alike.

Happy V-Day to you too! I know you and your boy probably have something special cooked up. :)

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Oh my gosh, those pizzas are ADORABLE! And the cupcakes don't look to bad either ;o)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Anonymous said...

Those pizzas are soooo cute!

Monika K said...

Great blog! Your vegan V-day feast looks awesome, but even better are your plans to see Europe this spring! [Insert jealousy here] You'll have such a blast! I think the best places I found for vegetarian and vegan food were the ethnic places (Turkish, Indian, Chinese etc). But shopping at the grocery store or markets would be a great way to save money - and eat fresh, local fruits and veggies. How cool - I can't wait to see your pics and here how it goes!

Cheers! (From one travel junkie to another.)

Monika K said...

Oops! That should be, I can't wait to HEAR how it goes...typing too fast. (-:

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Thanks for the food processor idea! Anything with garlic and chick peas sounds like a winning recipe to me :o).