Since Valentine’s day is the party of love, it seemed to us no extra luxury to also put the love for animals at the center!
It is quite a contradiction to use a romantic dinner with a massacre, is not it? Finally …
Love goes through the stomach
Even if you are not a vegan, I hope to encourage you to go plant-based this day definitely (more often too;)) and to surprise your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife … with a more responsible menu.
One that is of course also very tasty. Although you should like beetroot 😉
Beetroot? Are you serious?
I know; for many, this vegetable is not very popular (a too much ‘earthy taste’). Often people start to be horrified by the word alone. Bah, bah and bah !!!
As I have often said, however, that is completely unjustified. Believe me when I say that in the past I was not precisely a beetroot fan.
In the case of beetroot, the main thing is to find right combinations with, among other things, other vegetables and herbs that either obscure that ‘earthy taste’ or complement it perfectly. And then you often get delicious things … trust me!
In other words: just try out these recipes – in advance – once.
Is it still disappointing, then you will probably find another vegan recipe on this blog where you can show off with Valentine.
Anyway, you do not have to make them all on that one day. It is not the intention that you are too busy with cooking 😉 The time is not too bad, just work a bit in advance.
Anyway; he who does not try can not Win! And you can make a little effort for love, don’t you? 🙂
Vegan Valentine’s day menu
All recipes are … for two people 🙂
Appetizer: macarons of beetroot & cashew cheese
Ingredients
For the cashew cheese
- 100 grams of cashew nuts – soaked in water for 12 hours
- 30 ml of water
- 2 cloves of garlic – pressed
- 15 ml of apple vinegar
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
- pepper and salt – to taste
For the beetroot (and garnish)
- 2 (small) red beets – pre-cooked *
- 100 grams of mixed lettuce (e.g. rocket, young lettuce, lamb’s lettuce, …)
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- a dash of olive oil
- pepper and salt – to taste
- fresh sprouts of your choice (e.g. alfalfa, leeks, broccoli, …)
- Extras: 1 round metal kitchen cutter of +/- 5 cm diameter.
Preparation
For the cashew cheese
- Put the soaked cashew nuts, the garlic, and 30 ml water into the blender. Mix until it is entirely smooth.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix again to a smooth mass. Add some extra water if necessary.
- Season to taste with pepper and salt.
For the beetroot (and garnish)
- Wash the lettuce and dry.
- Cut the cooked * beetroot into slices of +/- 0.5 cm thick. Using the kitchen cutter, cut nice round pieces from each slice (keep the surplus red beet for the finish) and sprinkle with salt, rosemary, and pepper.
- Heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry the beetroot slices for 2-3 minutes on each side over medium-high heat. If necessary, season with salt. Put them on a plate with kitchen paper to drain.
Finishing the dish
- Brush half of the beetroot slices with a generous amount of cashew cheese. Then place the remaining slices on top and arrange them on a plate.
- Put a handful of lettuce in the middle and a tuft of sprouts on each macaron. Spoon an extra bit of cashew cheese and drizzle the dish with a few drops of olive oil.
Finally, sprinkle with some black pepper and rosemary. Serve immediately.
The beetroot slices do not have to be hot or something. I would not serve this salad, however, ice cold. Just room temperature is perfect.
Main course: gnocchi of beetroot and ‘feta’
Ingredients
For the gnocchi
- 225 grams of floury potatoes
- 120 grams of beetroots – pre-cooked or home-cooked
- 75 grams of wheat flour or spelt flour + extra to knead
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- Boiling water (or juice) from beetroot to cook the potatoes – optional
For the dressing
- 50 ml of olive oil
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 2 cloves of garlic – pressed or finely chopped
- 50 ml of red beet juice
- pepper and salt
For the ‘feta’ and garnish
- 200 grams of tofu feta (purchased or homemade)
- a handful of parsley – finely chopped
- a handful of walnuts – coarsely chopped
Preparation
For the gnocchi
- Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water (or cooking water from the beets, or unsweetened beetroot juice). Drain (collect the cooking liquid).
- Mix the beetroots. Stamp them together with the potatoes and nutritional yeast flakes to a puree as smooth as possible. Do not use moisture!
- Season well with pepper and salt and let cool (if necessary).
- Mix the flour with a wooden spoon or spatula under the potato/beetroot puree until the flour is completely absorbed. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle a large work surface with flour and also do some flour on your hands. Take a portion of puree and roll it through the flour into a long sausage. +/- 1 cm thick. Repeat until all puree is used up.
- Cut the sausage with a sharp knife into pieces (also 1 cm wide) into small ‘cushions’. Gently press the edges with your hands.
- Bring the collected cooking liquid back to the boil (add extra water if necessary) and cook the gnocchi per 6-8 pieces.
The gnocchi is done when they are all floating up. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and let drain on a dry kitchen towel.
For the dressing
- Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a cup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Finishing the dish
- Heat a hefty amount of olive oil in a large wok pan. Fry the gnocchi over high heat for 4 minutes. Stir frequently (but carefully) to prevent burning.
- Spoon the gnocchi onto a plate. Cover with a little dressing and finish with a few cubes of ‘feta’, chopped walnuts and parsley.
- Serve the dish immediately.
Dessert: Eton Mess with pomegranate
One of our readers made me aware of this, many years ago. Eton Mess is a traditional British dessert that originated at Eton College in Berkshire. It was – according to Wikipedia – served during an annual cricket match of Eton’s school team against Harrow.
You can blindly trust British and traditions 😉
The name Eton Mess is pretty well chosen. It is, in fact, a mixture of all sorts of tasty things on a somewhat sloppy heap. The Valentine’s advantage is that you can eat it together from one bowl!
Oh yes, according to tradition, the original contains mainly cream, strawberries, and meringue.
Of course, over the years various variants have arisen on this. I’ll do that too 🙂
My recipe includes vegan (off course!) meringue, white chocolate mousse, and pomegranate (because not exactly the season for strawberries;)).
The recipe is – as promised – pretty easy. The making (read: baking) of the meringue, however, takes about 3-4 hours. Time in which you can, of course, keep busy with the other recipes.
Or you can do a beauty sleep … whatever you want 😉
Ingredients
For the meringue
- 45 grams No Egg (egg replacer)
- 125 ml of cold water
- 1/4 tsp agar agar
- few drops of vanilla extract
- 60 grams of icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp agave syrup
- 1 tsp grated coconut (coconut flour is even better)
For the white chocolate mousse and pomegranate
- 150 ml vegan whipped cream – pre-cooled in the refrigerator
- 50 grams of white chocolate from rice milk (e.g. this one) – chopped into coarse pieces
- 1 pomegranate
Preparation
For the meringue
- Preheat the oven to 130 ° C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Mix No Egg with the agar agar in a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your food processor).
- Add the water and beat to the highest speed for 5 minutes.
- Spat the vanilla extract and – spoon per spoon – the icing sugar through the batter. Then sprinkle the agave syrup through until everything is nicely dissolved.
- Beat the mass again for 5 minutes at the highest speed. The foam will increase considerably in volume.
- Spoon a generous tablespoon of the batter onto the baking tray. Make sure you leave about 4-5 cm distance between each pile of foam.
- Bake the meringue in the preheated oven for 2 hours. Do NOT open the oven door afterward but switch the oven off and allow the meringue to dry out for 1 hour. What you didn’t eat can be stored for up to 2 weeks in an airtight closed box.
For the white chocolate mousse and pomegranate
- Take a large bowl of cold water and cut the pomegranate into four pieces.
- Put the pieces in the water and remove the seeds by hand (this way you avoid too much mess and you can easily remove your membranes around the seeds).
- Pour the seeds in a sieve and rinse thoroughly with running water until all the membranes come loose. Remove the membranes and put the pomegranate seeds aside.
- Beat the cream in a large bowl until a firm mass (+/- 2-3 minutes).
- Melt the chocolate ‘au bain marie’ until it is nicely melted. Rice milk chocolate turns light brown when you heat it. However, you do not have to worry about the color of your chocolate mousse.
- Mix the (lukewarm) chocolate under the whipped cream and stir well. Cover the bowl with foil and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. You will then again get a firm, yet airy mousse.
Finish the dish
- Mix half of the pomegranate seeds with the chocolate mousse. Chop the meringue into coarse pieces and stir them through the mousse as well. Scoop on a deep plate and finish with the rest of the seeds and some meringue grit.
Serve this dessert Immediately (otherwise the meringue becomes soft and tough).
* for the beetroot you can use pre-cooked beetroot or cook it yourself. In a video and text, I’ll show you how to cook the beetroot >>
So, that has become a pretty long article! Let me know for sure if it was a successful evening (only the food part 😉 )
Happy Valentine!!!
5