Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Beeting Hearts and Half-Eaten Chocolates

Yes, I know February is over... all the Valentine's Day flowers have shriveled and died, the last few half eaten truffles have been forgotten in the heart-shaped box, and all the card companies have moved on to the next commercialized holiday (I guess that would be Easter?). But I still thought I would blog about an amazing dinner and everyone's favorite on Valentine's, boxes of chocolates.

For dinner, I made seitan piccata and stuffed mushrooms, both from the Candle Cafe cookbook along with roasted beets sprinkled with celtic gray sea salt and a dribble of balsamic glace. I had to use my heart cookie cutters on the beets, because honestly, when else can you use them if not on Valentine's day?
After seeing a post on the always fabulous Girlie Girl Army about the delicious treats from Allison's Gourmet, I decided to splurge and buy myself a box of truffles (thinking there was no way that John would figure out a way to get vegan chocolates). The box included three types of truffles (hazelnut, mocha, and almond) and three types of caramels (pecan, peanut, and chocolate) Next year I will be ordering a box full of the caramels (pecan was my favorite)! Not that I didn't like the truffles as well, but I had plenty of those to choose from....
Because to my surprise, John did a little online searching on his own and ordered me a box of truffles from Rose City Chocolatier. I was seriously impressed with his effort. This one had all kinds of flavors (hazelnut, vanilla, mandarin, coconut, pistachio, strawberry to name a few). Quality-wise they weren't quite up to the standard of Allison's truffles, but it was kind of fun to eat a box of chocolate the way I used to... take a bite and if it was a less than stellar flavor (the mandarin), I just put the uneaten half back in the box!
And as if I didn't have enough chocolate... I made chocolate covered strawberries drizzled with the last of my white chocolate chip stash. What the strawberries lacked in ripeness, the chocolate more than made up for in sweetness. The strawberries, chocolates, a bottle of champagne, and the Lush sex bomb bath bomb made for quite a relaxing evening.

38 comments:

Lauren said...

Wow!! Amazing LOVE food! :) Hubs got me chocolates from Alisons a few years ago, I ate the whole box on Valentine's day! Haha! :)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Lovely meal!!

Isn't Allison's Gourmet a FABULOUS company??? Love their goodies.

Hope all is well!! I miss keeping in contact!!

Bianca said...

Ha! I love that you ordered yourself chocolate when you figured your man couldn't figure it out. I'm gonna do that next year! I know my bf wouldn't even begin to know how to find vegan chocolates online...of course, yours came through with a big surprise! Yay for John!

Anonymous said...

Wow. The food looks amazing. You always cook such lovely things.

allularpunk said...

i am envious of all your chocolate! and i love your heart shaped beets...so cute. and yummy! sounds like your valentine's day totally ruled.

Virginia said...

i need to order some of these vegan chocolates!

Amey said...

oooh la la!
my goodness, what a romantic evening. The meal looks totally delicious... and TWO boxes of chocolates, plus chocolate covered strawberries! It's like a decadence overload. Personally, I can take it or leave it when it comes to truffles, but I'd get in a shoving match with a baby over caramels. Another great caramel brand to check out is Sjaaks "nuts and chews" assortment. It's out of this freaking world.

xo Amey

jessy said...

2 boxes of yummy chocolates is the best! very cool on ordering yourself some, and Kudos to John on ordering some for you as well! that's so sweet! too funny on putting back half eaten chocolates - i used to do the same thing. my grandmother used to nibble on the bottoms of the chocolates to figure out what flavor they were - when we were little we used to freak out because all the chocolates would have tiny bites taken out of the bottoms! ahhahahahaa!

your meal looks glorious, especially those beets. i looooove beets!

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

What a lovely way to celebrate Valentine's Day! I was always a caramel-filling person as opposed to a truffle person, so I'm with you on the all caramels box! How sweet of your husband to research and order you vegan chocolates, too! I prefer Sjaak's to Rose City and have yet to try Allison's Gourmet. Maybe next year... ;)

Tami said...

Such a lovely and romantic Valentine's Day!

Love those beets!

Anonymous said...

That dinner looks amazing - you are a true talent Amanda!

The Voracious Vegan said...

Wonderful valentines day food! So much chocolate, just my kind of celebration.

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

beet hearts - they are so cute!! the chocolates look so yummy as well.

Anonymous said...

What a meal! That was very sweet of John to find you some chocolates. I was promised some chofu pie last week but I have yet to see it. I think it's time I put my foot down and demand some pie! :P

Champagne sounds wonderful! I haven't had that stuff in a long time, probably since before I was even legal to drink! Could you recommend a brand? I'll have to pick some up soon, perhaps to accompany my chofu pie.

MeloMeals said...

That is a beautiful dinner!

Theresa said...

That sounds like a lovely way to spend V-Day, Amanda. Glad you're back!

The Vegan Snorkeler said...

I've recently become obsessed with Lush products! I love your heart-shaped beets. So healthy and pretty!

DJ said...

Yay for Lush Bathbombs! And thoughtful husbands who do their homework for Valentine's Day!

dreaminitvegan said...

What a lovely dinner. The stuffed mushrooms are one of our favorites.
In the summer we use this recipe to stuff portobellos and throw them on the grill. Lovin' the heart beets!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the kind words on my embroidery. I still can't get knitting down. It is slowly becoming my arch nemesis. Ugh!

Anonymous said...

I think heart-shaped food just tastes better, really. Don't you?
I think John is super sweet for doing the research- A++ any of those chocolates left?

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

The chocolates sound good, but the strawbwerries even better! What a sweetie John is :)

Vaala ◪ said...

Wow, your valentines dinner looks amazing...especially the beetroot. You can never have too much chocolate - those are some seriously impressive boxes you had there!

aTxVegn said...

That is one beautiful Valentines dinner! I love that you bought yourself some chocolates. I'm proud of John for buying you some too!

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

Oh those are the chocolates VeggieGirl sent for my birthday!! Aren't they the best? The hazelnut truffle was probably my favorite one but I loved them all!

How cool that you got two boxes of chocolates! Even though the one wasn't as good as the other one, chocolate is still chocolate! :)

Your chocolate covered strawberries look too good and so pretty!

Kristen's Raw said...

Ahh! Chocolate - I love it so much!!!

Cheers,
Kristen

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

DAMN, so much yummy chocolate! I love the beet hearts.

Bert said...

Sounds like a perfect Valentine's Day meal! Two of my favorite things - beetroot and chocolate. But not in that order. Must say I have never done much with beetroot, usually just try to find young tender ones, wrap them in foil and bake them. Chocolate of course is another story. Great photographs as always!

Sheree' said...

That is a perfect meal and good job, JOHN!!!! My DH would never figure out how to get Vegan candy. You are an amazing cook! Love those strawberries!

Unknown said...

Chocolate, food of the gods!

Brandie said...

Oh yum yum yum I want truffles !!

Amy said...

Mmmm that piccata looks wonderful! I've made the sauce, but got lazy with the seitan I put it on and it didn't look nearly so yummy! I love the beetroot hearts too!

And yay for vegan chocolates!

Anonymous said...

Even though Valentine's Day is over I am glad you shared your yummies with us. Those strawberries look fabulous!

VeganWoman said...

mmm...great post. so yummy!

vko said...

Be still my "beeting" heart- sounds like a perfect evening! Can't wait to see you in May-am sure you have a busy schedule, but let's squeeze in a meal together!

Cakespy said...

Holy crap, it all looks so amazing!! This post is pure pleasure overload!

A_and_N said...

Wow those Beet hearts look delightful! And it looks like you had yourself a very chocolatey V-Day :) Way to go :)

jd said...

Wow, Ms. Fancy Pants - that dinner looks pretty darn amazing!

And I love that John made the special (covert) effort to buy you a box of vegan chocolates for Valentine's Day. He's definitely a keeper :)