This is a very hearty and filling meal. We really enjoyed the flavors. I didn’t have any quinoa on hand, so I made confetti couscous using orange bell pepper. We will be having this tasty meal again. We hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as we did.

We enjoyed the cashew basil cream sauce with pasta as a main meal with lightly steamed green beans. The recipe is perfect and easy to make. Do give it a try, you will be quite pleased I am sure.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 10 carrots, diced
• 2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne or Tabasco to taste
• 4 cups of vegetable stock
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup cashews,
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil and add the onion and carrots.
2. Sweat and become really flavorful for 10-15 min.
3. Add the ginger, garlic, cayenne and cardamom, stir well and let this cook for 2 min.
4. Add the stock and cashews and bring to a boil and simmer for 10 min.
5. Puree the soup, add the coconut milk, make sure it is really smooth.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper or even a splash of agave or maple syrup.

This salad from Closet Cooking was not only delicious, but very nutritious. It is easy to make and the instructions are simple to follow. The only thing different that I did was to make my own vegan “fish” sauce using 2 kinds of seaweed, ground to a powder, some lime juice, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, chili soy sauce and water. The recipe made enough for four people, or two to enjoy the next day.
Although Kevin’s “Closet Cooking” blog is not vegetarian or vegan, he does include many good healthy recipes that are, and many others that are easy to veganize. Kevin has a wonderful sense of blending mixtures and flavors which result in very tasty recipes. We hope you make some of your own vegetarian fish sauce, and give this recipe a try, it’s really nice.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons light vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 broccoli, stem and florets, cut into pieces
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 vegetable bouillon cubes
• pinch nutmeg
• 2-3 cups water
• 1 cup raw cashews
• salt and pepper to taste
• dill (optional)
• red bell pepper as optional garnish

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot.
2. Saute the onions until glassy.
3. Add the broccoli, cashews, garlic, vegetable bouillon and water and cook with the lid on until the broccoli is soft but not over cooked, as you want it to remain bright green in color.
4. Puree with an immersion blender.
5. Add the nutmeg and season to taste with additional salt and pepper.
6. If you like the flavor of dill, add 1-2 teaspoons of dill to the soup.
7. The soup is likely to be very thick, if you would like it thinner, add more water.

If making the optional garnish:

1. Saute 1-2 tablespoons of fresh red bell pepper, chopped into small pieces.
2. Serve the soup warm garnished with the red bell peppers.

Notes:

If you can not get the raw cashews, roasted ones will do in a pinch.
adapted from http://www.thedoctorcooks.com/2008/03/homo-obesus.html

Serving Size: 6

Ingredients:

for the pie shell:

• 150 grams hazelnuts
• 50 grams coconut (not sweetened)
• 150 grams fried cherries or dried mixed berries
• 150 grams dates, pitted
• 1-2 Tbs. cold water or apple juice

for the filling:

• 150 grams raw cashew nuts, soaked overnight
• 75 grams maple syrup, agave or pomegranate juice
• 1 tsp. freshly grated ginger or 2 teaspoons ginger powder
• lemon juice
• salt

topping:

• 500 grams fresh cherries, halved and pitted

Directions:

1. The day before, place the cashew nuts in a bow l of water and allow to soak overnight in the refrigerator.
2. The next day line the tart forms with plastic wrap.
3. Using a food processor, “grind” the hazelnuts, coconuts, fruit pieces and dates together.
4. Gradually ad a bit of water so that it becomes a mass.
5. Press 1-2 tablespoons worth of the mixture in each of the tart forms to make an even crust.
6. Put the tart forms in the freezer to become hard.
7. Pour off the water from the soaking cashews and place them in a blender.
8. Add the liquid (maple syrup, pomegranate syrup) and blend to a smooth consistency.
9. Add a very small pinch of salt, a splash of lemon juice and the ginger and once again blend.
10. Season to taste with extra lemon juice or ginger.
11. Remove the tart forms from the freezer, take them carefully out of the tart form and remove the plastic wrap.
12. Arrange them on a serving platter.
13. Fill each of the tarts with some of the cashew mixture and set in the refrigerator to chill and harden.
14. Clean and cut the cherries in half and remove the pits.
15. Arrange the cherries on top of each of the tarts.
16. Optionally a few mint leaves can also be used as garnish.

Notes:

I made the almond cream pink for Valentine’s Day by using pomegranate juice. It’s really not necessary that it is so sweet, as the crust is sweet.

Inspired by “De Rauwkost Keuken” by Marysia Morkowska & Armin Zogbaum

Other Valentine’s Day recipes:

• Apricot tarts with chocolate sauce
• Easy raspberry tarts
• Hearty Ravioli