Compassionate Holiday Cuisine

Vegan Valentines Recipes

Love Apple Soup

Tomatoes were originally called love apples and are therefore particularly appropriate for Valentine's day. If you are able to find plum cherry tomatoes they have even better flavour. Serves 2.

Ingredients
·675g cherry tomatoes
·4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
·60ml/4tbsp olive oil
·1 small onion, chopped
·450ml light vegetable stock
·salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

to serve:
·heart shaped croutons
·chives, finely chopped
·soya cream - optional

-Preheat the oven to 200C/400F
-Place the tomatoes and cloves of garlic in a roasting dish in a single layer. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and roast for about 30 minutes until the garlic is tender when pierced with a knife, and the tomatoes are colouring and splitting.
-Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a saucepan and gently fry the onion until transluscent.
-Squeeze the garlic out of the skins and add to the onions, together with the roasted tomatoes and all the juices from the roasting pan.
-Pour in the stock, bring to the boil and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Cool, then blend until the soup is very smooth (make sure all the tomato skins are well blended).
-Return the soup to a clean pan, season to taste and gently reheat.
-Serve in warmed soup bowls topped with heart shaped croutons, a sprinkling of chopped chives and a swirl of soya cream if liked.

Amorous Artichoke Risotto

Ingredients
·600ml vegetable stock
·50g fine green beans
·15 ml/ 1tbsp olive oil
·1/2 onion, diced
·1 cloves garlic, crushed
·175g arborio rice
·100-200ml bottle dry white wine
·2.5ml/ 1/2 tsp dried oregano
·40g/ pine nut kernels, toasted
·200g bottled artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
·handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
·handful fresh basil, torn
·50g vegetarian Parmesan cheese (optional - available in most health food stores)
·salt and freshly ground black pepper

-Heat the stock to a bare simmer and keep simmering over a very low heat.
-Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the green beans for three minutes.
-Remove from the water, drain and set aside.
-In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the onion.
-Cook for 2 minutes then add the garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes.
-Add the rice and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
-Begin adding the stock a ladle at a time, allowing the rice to absorb all the stock before adding more.
-Continue stirring.
-When half the stock has been used, add the wine and oregano, stirring constantly.
-Continue adding the remaining stock, total cooking time will be about 20 minutes.
-When the last ladle of stock has been added, add the beans, pine nuts, artichoke hearts and herbs.
Cook for an additional few minutes, the rice should be al dente, with a bit of a bite in the centre.
-When cooked, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the Parmesan if using and season to taste. Serve immediately.

Chocolate-Cherry-Kirsch Hearts

Note: the chocolate and cherry loaf ingredients make far more than you need for this recipe, but it's so delicious you're bound to eat it up anyway!

Ingredients
·150g good quality plain dark chocolate
·25g hazelnuts, roasted and chopped

For the chocolate and cherry loaf:
·350g can black cherries
·60ml/4 tbsp kirsch liqueur
·5ml/1tsp almond essence
200g good quality plain dark chocolate
175g creamed coconut, grated
100g vegan margarine
200g vegan oatmeal digestive biscuits
50g hazelnuts, roughly chopped

-Use a medium heart shaped cutter (about 3-4 inches across) to draw 6 heart shapes on a piece of baking parchment, place on a tray or baking sheet.
-Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. Spoon into a piping bag and outline the hearts on the baking parchment, then fill in with extra melted chocolate.
-Sprinkle chopped roasted hazelnuts over two of them and place the tray in the fridge to harden.
-Lightly oil a 450g/1lb loaf tin and line with baking parchment.
-Drain the cherries retaining the juice, and reserving 1 tablespoon of cherries. Put the remaining cherries in a bowl and pour over the kirsch liqueur and almond essence. -Leave to marinade for 2 hours
-Melt the chocolate, creamed coconut and vegan margarine together over a gentle heat.
-Roughly crush the oatmeal digestive biscuits and stir into the melted mixture with the hazelnuts. Add the marinated cherries and any remaining liquid.
-Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and lightly smooth the top. Cover and chill for 2 hours.
-Turn out and cut 4 slices, each 1cm/1/2" thick. Use the cutter to cut out a heart from each.
-Place a plain chocolate heart on a serving plate. Top with a chocolate and cherry loaf heart, repeat, then top with a nutty chocolate heart. Use the remaining hearts to make a second stack. Chill until ready to serve.
-Chop the reserved cherries and mix with a little of the reserved juice (sweeten with a little icing sugar if required). Drizzle onto the plates around the hearts just before serving.