Four Course Valentine's Day Meal

Fettuccine with Cashew-Chardonnay Sauce

I've always been a big fan of trying new things. With that being said, this year I decided to try not to dislike Valentine's Day. In the past, I always looked at this holiday as commercialism exploiting love. Or, a holiday to make lonely people feel really, really sad. Or, a holiday that always disappoints your lover no matter what you do. So, usually, my husband and I never celebrate Valentine's Day and instead celebrate Chocolate Day (a.k.a. February 15). 

This year I decided to try something new. I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day with my husband. The concept of celebrating love for another person out weighs the aforementioned cons. I showed my love the best way I know how: I cooked a four course meal.

I used the meal outlined in the Jan/Feb 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, which consisted of four dishes I had never made before. I had good intentions of practicing each of these dishes prior to V-day, but life happened and practicing did not. 

How to Cook a Four Course Meal without Going Crazy

1. Plan ahead! 
2. Allow plenty of time between courses
3. Drink lots of wine

Plan Ahead!

I decided on my menu far in advance. Then, I reviewed each dish to determine what parts I could do ahead of time. I made the soup, balsamic reduction, salad dressing, and poached pears days before the actual meal. I also sketched out the tasks I needed to do the day of the meal, keeping in mind that I wanted to have about 10 minutes between each course.

Grilled Romain Salad with Poached Pear

Allow Plenty of Time Between Courses

Between each course, I prepped, cooked, and assembled the next course. I also washed the dishes (with the help of my husband!) between each course so that by the time we ate the dessert, we only had a handful of dishes to do. 

Drink Lots of Wine

This is supposed to be fun! Recognize that things will go wrong. When they do, there is wine. :) When I nearly started a fire grilling the vegetables on a stovetop grill pan, fell into a panic attack, and Oreo escaped onto the balcony, there was wine (once I could breathe at a normal pace again, of course). 

Bananas Foster

The Menu

Red Pepper Soup with Balsamic Reduction (not pictured)

Fettuccine with a Cashew-Chardonnay Sauce

Grilled Romaine Salad with Poached Pears

Bananas Foster

Red Pepper Soup with Balsamic Reduction

8 servings

Tips: The thickness of your reduction is up to you; for this, I kept it fairly thin and then I was able to use it to make the salad dressing, which was superb! However, a thin reduction will sink in the soup and thus won't be as pretty as a thicker reduction.

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup agave nectar

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium red onion

1/2 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 medium Yukon gold potato, peeled and diced

1 large shallot, diced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 clove garlic, minced

6 cups vegetable broth (I used Rapunzel no-salt vegan bouillon cubes)

2 large red bell peppers, diced

1. Make the balsamic reduction: Bring vinegar and agave to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until as thick as you like. Cool.
2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, potatoes, and shallot. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add spices and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes. Add broth and bell peppers. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
3. To serve, drizzle each serving with balsamic reduction.

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Fettuccine with a Cashew-Chardonnay Sauce
2-3 servings

Tips: This sauce is so good you may find yourself licking out the pot. While the cashews do make this high in fat, it is much better for you than traditional alfredo sauce. All the alcohol gets boiled out of the Chardonnay, leaving behind the flavor; therefore, it is crucial that you select a Chardonnay you like. Also, blend the cashews using a blender instead of a food processor. My food processor leaked cashew water all over my kitchen. It was a messy sight. Also, the original recipe grilled the veggies. I thought this was more work than it was worth; I recommend steaming instead.

1 cup raw cashews
1 cup Chardonnay wine
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 ounces uncooked fettuccine
12 asparagus spears, cut into 2 inch lengths
1/4 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1. Blend cashews and 1 cup water in a blender until smooth. Pour through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth to catch the solids. Keep liquid and discard solids. Simmer Chardonnay in a small saucepan for about 10 minutes, or until reduced to about 1/3 cup. Add the cashew liquid, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and black pepper. Stir well to combine and keep warm.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add fettuccine and cook for about 12 minutes, or until al dente. Drain.
3. Steam the asparagus and bell pepper. 
4. Assemble on each plate: Start with pasta, top with sauce and then veggies. Enjoy!

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Grilled Romaine Salad with Poached Pears
2 servings

Tips: I ran out of balsamic vinegar, so I ended up using the balsamic reduction instead of the vinegar - the result was delicious! The grilled romaine had a fantastic flavor; however, the oil reached its smoke point and caused chaos in my house. I will make this again, but only when it is warm enough to grill the romaine outside. Poached pears, on the other hand, may need to become a staple. Wow are they delicious! By far one of the best salads I've ever had!

1 Bosc pear, peeled and halved
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1/3 cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (or reduction)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 romaine heart, halved
1 cup mixed greens, washed
1 green onion, thinly sliced

1. Poach the pear: Place apple juice, agave nectar, lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon, and cloves in a small sauce pan. Add the pear halves, round-side down. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, or until tender. (This boils over very easily, keep an eye on it!) Let cool in liquid.
2. Whisk balsamic vinegar/reduction, maple syrup, and olive oil together. Brush romaine heart halves with the dressing. Place romaine heart halves on a medium-high heated grill for about 5 minutes or until slightly wilted. Chop coarsely.
3. Assemble salad: Place mixed greens and green onion on a plate. Add grilled romaine. Drizzle lightly with dressing. Slice pear halve and fan off to the side. Repeat with second plate.

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Bananas Foster
1 serving to share

Tips: I made extra hot rum sauce for later ice cream indulgences. When I warmed up the hot rum sauce later, it cooled quite quickly on the ice cream and became more like caramel. Equally delicious, but a much different result from the initial serving of the sauce.


2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon rum
1 firm banana, halved
1/2 cup dark chocolate ice cream (vanilla would also be delicious)

1. In a small saucepan, combine 1 tablespoon butter, brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in rum and cook for 1 more minute. Keep hot.
2. Heat remaining butter in a skillet. Place banana halves cut side down into the skillet. Cook until lightly browned.
3. To serve: Place banana halves in a bowl. Top with ice cream and the hot rum sauce. 

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Roasted Eggplant Salad

What is a salad?

Seriously.

As a vegetarian, I'm often told at restaurants "Well, there's always a salad for you to eat." Not true! The vast majority of salads served at restaurants contain meat or have meat in the dressing (e.g., Caesar Dressing has anchovies). Sometimes the meat can be left off, but not always.

But seriously - what is a salad?

This question came up a few weeks ago when I first made a Roasted Eggplant Salad. The roasted veggies are warm, I serve it over warm couscous, and yet I'm calling it a salad. Why?

I did some internet searching and some stomach searching and decided a salad is the catchall phrase for whatever you want. Um... Jello Salad anyone?

It's not just raw foods (potato salad) and it's not just cold (Roasted Eggplant Salad, hot potato salad). Maybe it's a combination of raw and cooked ingredients melded together with a dressing. I'm not sure. What I do know is that I'm calling this recipe a salad. As a bonus, it happens to be vegan and have cocoa in the dressing. What!?

In other news, the remodel project continues.

Original Bed 

New Bed (with drawers!) Oreo approves.

We have shelves up, and now I'm playing around with different arrangements of my things on the shelves. The mirrors will eventually be hung on the wall above the long gray DVD case.

New Living Room Shelving

I also started to improve the wooden table. I used the magic substance aptly named "Liquid Gold" to make the table sparkle again. OMG this stuff is AMAZING! I also removed the top of the table since it was rotten. The next step is to make a beautiful mosaic pattern on the top. Crafting in February - the perfect Minnesotan activity!

With all the redecoration work, I treated myself to a mouthwateringly good cake from my favorite bakery in town: Patisserie 46.

Flourless Chocolate Cake from Patisserie 46. I should have bought two...

I have been doing more cooking now that the redecorating has slowed down. One recent meal consisted of Creamy Celery Risotto (seriously, this tasted like cream of celery soup but better!) and roasted beets - chioggia beets that is.

I love this variety of beets because they don't bleed beet juice all over everything and they have a lovely sweet flavor that is more mild than the traditional beet variety. On the outside, they look like large pink turnips. On the inside, they look like candy canes!

I also tried a variation on my Blueberry Bliss recipe that I call Cranberry Bliss.

I think I like this version better! A friend of mine gave me the idea of the Cranberry Bliss variation, and I brought it over to a party the other day. They were a huge hit. Plus, they can be made several days in advance! I'm have a stockpile in the freezer - they are perfect for a little energy boost. These little balls also happen to be vegan.

If you have other variation ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Cranberry Bliss
Makes 30+ balls (depending on the size), 30 minutes

2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup almonds (I used slivered; use what you have on hand)
4 teaspoons maple syrup
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (unsalted preferably)
1 cup shredded coconut
1 orange, zest only

1. Add the cranberries and almonds to a food processor and blend for a couple of minutes. You want the pieces to be minced and almost blending together but yet not forming a paste or a nut butter. 
2. Add the maple syrup, sunflower seeds, shredded coconut, and the zest of the orange. Blend again until all the seeds are small pieces and the mixture starts to stick together a bit. Don't worry about getting this perfect. As long as the mixture sticks together, you are good.
3. Place a teaspoon of the mixture into your hands and roll into balls. If you want, you can roll the balls in some additional shredded coconut, but that isn't necessary. 
4. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. I like them best chilled or even frozen. 

Print this recipe. Adapted from Blueberry Bliss.

Roasted Eggplant Salad
4 servings, 35 minutes

1 eggplant
1 fennel bulb
1 cup diced tomato
1 tablespoon fresh basil
1 tablespoon minced fennel fronds
1/2 cup couscous
3/4 cup vegetable broth or water
1/4 cup olive oil (plus more for greasing the pan)

Dressing:
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon grated garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder (yes, that's right!)
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder (or 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced)

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil. Brush lightly with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.
2. Slice off the ends of the eggplant and cut into 1 inch cubes. Place in a medium mixing bowl and pour 1/4 cup of olive oil over the eggplant. Mix well. Eggplant is like a sponge and will soak up the olive oil in a second, so pour slowly and mix often to ensure all the eggplant is evenly covered with the oil. Spread eggplant on the prepared pan and lightly salt.
3. Slice the ends off the fennel. Slice the bulb in half. Thinly slice the bulb and place the sliced in the same mixing bowl you used for the eggplant. Stir to cover with the olive oil (if needed, add a teaspoon or two of oil to the bowl). Place the fennel on one end of the prepared pan and lightly salt. Depending on the size of your eggplant cubes and fennel slices, the fennel may cook at a different rate than the eggplant. Keep all the fennel together so you can easily remove it from the pan early if needed.
4. Place the pan in the oven and roast until the veggies are cooked, stirring occasionally to ensure the eggplant isn't sticking to the pan. The fennel will be browned on the edges and soft when finished. The eggplant will be shrunken and brown on the edges when finished. Estimated cooking time: 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, make the dressing. Put all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well to combine. This may take a few minutes to incorporate the cocoa powder. 
6. Bring the vegetable broth (or water) to boil. Add the couscous, stir well, cover, and set aside.
7. When the veggies are done roasting, place in the same medium mixing bowl as before and add the dressing. Stir well. Slowly the eggplant will absorb the majority of the dressing. I like to use a rubber spatula to stir so I don't break the eggplant. Add the tomatoes, basil, and fennel fronds to the bowl and gently stir to combine. 
8. Fluff the couscous with a fork and serve the salad over the warm couscous. Basmati rice is also delicious with this salad. The salad will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator, but I prefer it on the first day since the eggplant and fennel are warm and contrast well with the room temperature dressing and tomato. 

Print this recipe. Adapted from Eggplant and Basil "Caponata" Salad in Fast, Fresh, and Green by Susie Middleton.