My Vegetarian Recipe of the Day

Fondue may make you think of the 70s, but it’s made a real comeback. It’s cheese dip with class. So whether you are looking for something delicious and a bit different for a vegetarian New Year’s Eve, something to eat while you’re watching the Bowl Games or something to add to a New Year’s brunch buffet, here are three fondue recipes that will fit the bill. These recipes are adapted from recipes found on The Food Network.

Easy Fondue with Vegetables

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 cup half-and-half
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh chives, snipped or chopped
Your choice of vegetables, raw or lightly steamed
Some suggestions: broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, grilled tofu
You can also choose to use various breads, if you like

To a heavy saucepan over moderate heat, add 1 tablespoon oil and the chopped shallots. Saute shallots for 2 or 3 minutes. Add half-and-half to the pan and reduce heat to low. Cut cream cheese into 1-inch slices and add it to the pot. Allow the cream cheese to slowly melt into the half-and-half, 5 minutes. Add Parmesan and shredded Gruyere or Swiss to the sauce and stir until cheese is melted and fully incorporated. Stir in lemon juice. Season sauce with, nutmeg and black pepper. Place a candle underneath a wire rack or warm a fondue pot. Transfer cheese sauce to fondue pot or place saucepan over wire rack and burning candle. Garnish with chives. Serve with dipping forks or bamboo spears.

Feta Cheese With Walnuts and Parsley

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
6 ounces feta cheese
2 scallions minced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup walnuts toasted and finely chopped

In a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, melt butter the stir in the flour. Stir the 2 together into a paste. Whisk in the milk to create what the French call a bechamel sauce. Drop the temperature a little and simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes so it thickens and the flour taste cooks out. After that it’s easy, just fold in the crumbled feta, scallions, and parsley. Season it with salt and a little cracked pepper. Finish with the walnuts tossed on top. Serve with bread, broccoli, melons, black olives— whatever suits your fancy.

Chocolate Fondue

2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon cabernet sauvignon, optional
Items for dipping
Suggestions: pound cake, biscotti pieces, strawberries, grapes, oranges

In a microwave-safe bowl, mix the sugar, heavy cream, chocolate, and butter together and microwave for 2 minutes. Take out of microwave and give it a quick whisk. Add wine (if using) and whisk again. Transfer to a fondue pot with a flame underneath.

If you want something light for a romantic meal, try this delicious vinaigrette over a spinach salad with mushrooms. Garnish with extra strawberries.

Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing

1 pint fresh or frozen strawberries,
washed and tops cut off
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp. walnut oil
2 Tbsp. honey
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper

Combine first 5 ingredients in a blender and blend thoroughly. Dressing will have a creamy appearance. Season with salt and white pepper.

Risotto strikes me as a particularly elegant, romantic dish. I don’t know what it is about it. Is it the foreign name? The fact that when I was growing up I’d never even heard of a risotto? I’m not sure, but for whatever reason, risotto conjures pictures of candlelit tables and violin players. And it’s not a difficult dish to make. Really. This one has the added advantage of containing the romantic sounding chanterelle mushroom. Serve it with a mixed green salad or one of the delicious asparagus dishes I’ll be posting early next week.

Chanterelle risotto

2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves chopped fresh garlic
2 cups sliced chanterelle mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups Arborio rice
5 cups vegetable broth
2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Cook and stir the garlic and mushrooms in the melted butter for three minutes, being sure to brown the mushrooms little. Set aside.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in rice, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly add vegetable broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently and allowing all the liquid to be absorbed before adding more broth. Continue cooking until the rice is tender to the tooth. Stir in cheese, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe comes from a great blog called 101 Cookbooks. All of the recipes are not vegan (or even vegetarian), but it’s a fun look at cooking and cookbooks.

This romantic recipe is my promised answer for vegans looking for a sweet treat. I know that there may be an issue with sugar in some of these ingredients, but you should be able to find a vegan product that you feel good about to use in this recipe.

Vegan Amaretto-spiked chocolate mousse

1/2 cup organic chocolate soy milk (for this recipe I like to use Vitasoy Rich Chocolate Soy Milk)
9 or 10 ounce bag of semisweet vegan chocolate chips (I’ve had good success with Tropical Source or Sunspire Brand all-natural brands, NOT carob chips)
12 ounces silken tofu
1/4 cup Amaretto or almond-flavored liquor
1/4 teaspoon natural pure almond extract (I use the Flavorganics Almond Extract for this recipe)
Pour the chocolate milk into a small pot and bring to a simmer. Remove the milk from heat and let cool a bit while you melt down the chocolate chips. You can melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or if you are like me, and don?t own a double-boiler, you can cobble one together using a tiny saucepan set under a larger mixing bowl. Fill the tiny saucepan with an inch or two of water and bring barely to a simmer ? place the big mixing bowl with the chocolate chips on top of the tiny saucepan and let the heat come up and gently warm the chips while you stir occasionally until completely melted. Remove from heat.
Add the soy milk and silken tofu to the melted chocolate chips. Process with a hand or regular blender until completely smooth. Stir in the Amaretto and almond extract. Taste and adjust for flavor, adding a bit more extract if needed.
Chill in the big bowl (or in individual bowls) for at least 1 1/2 hours, the longer the better. The pudding will set up nicely as it cools.
Makes 6 decadent servings.

This recipe is courtsey of 24 Hour Fitness. I’ve mentioned a couple of changes at the bottom. I think stuffed portobellas make for a very sophisticated meal. Serve it with a little polenta or perhaps a rice pilaf and a mixed green salad, and you have the perfect romantic meal. Cilantro is on the list of aphrodisiacs, so its addition should really light up your evening.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Cilantro Pesto

Nonstick cooking spray
8 medium-sized portobello mushrooms (5-6 inches in diameter)
1 cup zucchini, finely chopped
1 cup carrots, shredded
3 green onions, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons unseasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup shredded, reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Spinach-Cilantro Pesto:
1 cup loosely packed spinach leaves
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
3 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon fat-free parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons water
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all pesto ingredients except olive oil, lemon juice and water in a blender and pulse blend until coarsely chopped. Gradually add olive oil and lemon juice until mixture is finely chopped. Add enough water to make a paste. Salt and pepper to taste and use at room temperature. Spinach-Cilantro Pesto is also great with pasta and other vegetables.

Rinse mushrooms well. Gently remove mushroom stems without damaging mushroom cap. Chop mushroom stems and set aside. Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat until hot. Add chopped mushrooms stems, zucchini, carrots and green onions and saute until crisp-tender (8-10 minutes). Stir in breadcrumbs and Pesto and mix well.

Divide mixture and gently pack in a mound on the mushroom caps. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange mushrooms on pan and roast at 425 degrees until mushrooms are tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle mushrooms with cheese and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

** My notes on this recipe: I prefer to marinate portobella mushrooms for about 30 minutes before I use them. You can mix olive oil and balsamic vinegar (about 1/2 c. of olive oil and 1/4 c. of vinegar) in a large ziplock bag. Add the cleaned mushrooms, shake them around a bit and let them sit for 30 minutes before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

What’s a romantic meal without something sweet? Fortunately, for ovo-lacto vegetarians, most sweets are acceptable. If you’re vegan things are a bit more tricky, but not impossible. Today’s sweet is appropriate for vegetarians but not vegans. I’ll include something for vegans soon.

One word on chocolate, a large percentage of the chocolate available in grocery stores comes at the cost of young lives. Many cocoa plantations use child labor. Some use child slavery. If at all possible, please consider purchasing fair trade chocolate.

Chocolate Zabaglione

1/4 cup whipping cream, or heavy cream
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or bars
8 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1 t. almond extract (or hazelnut, if you can find it)
Pinch salt
1 pound fresh strawberries or raspberries, hulled and quartered
1/4 cup crushed amaretti cookies (if using the hazelnut, use hazelnut biscotti)
Bittersweet chocolate shavings, garnish

Add cream and chocolate to a heavy small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the chocolate chips are melted and smooth. Set aside and keep warm.
Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, almond or hazelnut extract, and salt in a large glass bowl until blended. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, but do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water. Whisk the egg mixture over the simmering water until it is thick and creamy, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Using a large rubber spatula, fold the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.

Divide the strawberries among 6 footed dishes. Pour the warm zabaglione over the berries. Garnish with cookies and chocolate shavings and serve.

This recipe will make a pretty presentation. You can serve it as a main course, with an arugula salad on the side, or you can serve it as a side to a nut loaf, for example. The recipe includes several reported aphrodisiacs: raspberries, nutmeg and pine nuts. This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe by Julie Sahni, teacher, food historian and culinary author.

Raspberry pilaf with pine nuts

1/2 pint Red Raspberries
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Grated Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Ground Cloves
2 cups cooked Basmati Rice
2 Tbs Toasted Pine Nuts

Set aside half the raspberries for garnish and mince the remaining half.
Combine minced raspberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and 1/4 C water in a nonstick saute pan over med-high heat and bring to a boil.
Add rice and mix until the fruit puree is well distributed.
Continue cooking until the rice is heated through.
Transfer the rice to a heated platter, scatter the reserved raspberries and pine nuts on top and serve.