Eat now, kiss later - Valentine's Day dinner - includes recipes

Vegetarian Times, Feb, 1996 by Marlys West

IT'S TO BAD that more romantic dinners for two aren't vegetarian. If you ask me, they should all be meatless. You need a little blood sugar not involved with digestion to sweeten things up after dinner. You want romance, not steak-induced lethargy.

My idea of a romantic Valentine's dinner for two--portobello mushroom appetizer, apple salad with greens, pasta with cream curry sauce, and a fresh fruit dessert--is perfect for a cozy dinner date. Despite the cream sauce, it's not too rich. You can still sit on the couch and smooch a little over wine. I prefer a medium red wine with this dish. Dark red lipstick is also nice.

Set the table beforehand, but keep the dinner plates close by in the kitchen so you can serve the food as soon as everything is finished cooking. Because the main dish cooks all at once, (pasta, veggies and sauce) you need to keep your wits about you. Go easy on the wine, and avoid anything with long flowing sleeves; it's hard to look elegant throughout dinner with sauce or charred material covering your arms.

The meal opens with a stuffed portobello mushroom appetizer. Aesthetically speaking, there's something decidedly unromantic about a single serving of anything, so consider the Would-You-Like-A-Bite Stuffed Portobello Mushroom. You share this. Very sweet.

Next is salad, with leaves torn into bite-sized pieces. Start your salad with greens, add a chopped apple and a simple dressing. You can't go wrong. The apple is a nice opening for the curry. It's also, of course, rampantly symbolic. As you see, you can work the kitchen on many levels.

The main dish is very easy. Boil some pasta, stir the sauce around, then pile everything on top of each other. Sprinkle diced red and green peppers over the pretty yellow sauce and there you are; your beloved is putty in your hands. You can the cooking while sipping nonchalantly from your wine glass. Meanwhile, practice looking gorgeous over the stove.

There are actually three parts to the entree--the pasta, veggies and sauce. Use a smaller farfalle pasta, as the larger butterflies or bows are too large and doughy to complement the sauce. If your butterflies are too big, you also end up feeling like you've plowed through a bowl of starch, and that's not very romantic.

Be sure to steam the vegetables in order to retain their bright color and crispness. Watch them carefully, and when they are almost as cooked as you would like, take them off the stove. The vegetables continue cooking off the heat and you don't want them mushy. The crunch of vegetables is important to offset the cream sauce.

A little of the sauce should be drizzled over the pasta, and I do mean a little. Too much and you will lose the aphrodisiac potential of the dinner. If you drown this dish in sauce, you will also lose all the pretty vegetable colors. Garnish the dish with chopped bell pepper and your date will think you are very clever and creative.

The vegan alternative to the Alfredo-type sauce is both delicious and easy to prepare. Put a 10 1/2-ounce block of firm silken tofu (regular or low-fat, your choice) in the blender with 5 to 6 doves of garlic that have been lightly browned in a small amount of olive oil. Process the tofu and garlic, adding soymilk to the blender until a sauce-like consistency is reached. Then add salt, curry powder and paprika to taste. As you heat the sauce gently in a saute pan over low heat, stir in 1/2 cup chopped reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes'

The curry recipe can also be served over rice. In fact, my circle of friends, which isn't superwide, has yet to catch on that I really don't know that many ways to cook; I just switch the starches.

The dessert--pears and dried apricots in a sauce of maple syrup with orange zest and dried cranberries--is very simple, and it's a lovely finish.

Serve the fruit in one pretty dish with two spoons. Please note that eating this dessert requires close proximity to the dish and to each other. I recommend sparkling water with dessert, and leaving the dishes in the sink. Kiss now, clean later.

Would-You-Like-A-Bite Stuffed Portobello Mushroom

What could be more romantic than sharing this appetizer as it comes out of the oven?

1/4 cup diced sweet onion 1 tsp. olive oil Pinch brown sugar 1/2 cup crumbled firm tofu, squeezed dry Salt to taste 1 large portobello mushroom, cleaned and stem removed Pinch nutmeg Herb garnish of chopped mint, parsley or cilantro

30 MINUTES OR LESS

PREHEAT OVEN tO 350 degrees. Saute onion with oil and sugar over medium-low heat until onion is soft and transparent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add tofu and salt; lightly brown tofu. Remove from heat.

Place mushroom, stem side up, on baking sheet. Mound firing over stem side of mushroom; dust with nutmeg. Bake 10 to 15 minutes on middle oven rack. Garnish with mint, parsley or cilantro. To serve, slice into wedges. Makes 2 servings.

PER SERVING: 83 CAL.; 6G PROT.; 4G FAT; 6G CARB.; 0 CHOL.; 294MG SOD.; 2G FIBER. VEGAN

Simple-But-Symbolic Apple Salad

Tempt your love with a salad of red apple and crisp greens dressed with lemon vinaigrette.