Supper Clubby Love Vibes

As we are just days away from Valentine’s Day, a holiday I’ve long believed is nothing more than a marketing ploy to break up the monotony of winter, (just me?) my thoughts turn toward food.  What else?

Food has always been my love language, with or without the $20 rose bouquet or heart-shaped chocolate box. No offense to rose bouquet or heart-shaped chocolate lovers, but we deserve every day to dabble in the things that bring us joy, whatever those things may be.

Delicious food and wine (insert your favorite beverage) can drape sensory magic and sublime seduction over any otherwise vanilla day.

Lately, “Valentine’s Special Menu” ads have been bombarding my inbox and social media feeds.  Typically, this ‘lovers’ menu is a shared cheesy appetizer, some form of beef or seafood (or both) and a decadent and gooey chocolatey dessert.

Being a plant food lover, my creative juices start to flow with the myriads of ways I could treat this feast of love and indulgence to a cheese less, meatless makeover. 

First, I’d start with a crispy sourdough crostini or baked puff pastry cup (many puff pastries are accidently plant-based, just check the ingredients/label) dolloped with tangy almond ricotta and apricot jam. 

For a savory starter, I’d mix up an Italian relish, using finely chopped sundried tomatoes, kalamata or green olives, capers, lemon juice, basil, oregano, balsamic vinegar, crushed red peppers, olive oil and garlic.  Tumble the kaleidoscope of relish over the almond ricotta crostini or scoop into a  baked mushroom cap along with the ricotta and enjoy stuffed mushrooms a la puttanesca.

PSA: Don’t give garlic breath a thought…as Rachael Ray has said for years, “two people eating garlic together cancel each other out” so enjoy, get close and smooch away!

There are literally thousands, maybe millions, of delicious plant-based main dishes to be enjoyed on special occasions.

That said, recreating my experience of the celebratory ‘Supper Club” vibe of Valentine’s Day fare, the visual I get is a dazzling center-of-the-plate beauty drizzled with succulent sauce topped with fresh herbs nestled alongside creamy potatoes with a side snuggle of veggies.

A seductive main dish can start with any meat or seafood replacement of choice. All these plant foods can emerge as inspired and creative entrée showstoppers:

• Baked tofu or tempeh. Shredded tofu can also become crab cakes!
• Roasted slices of hearty cabbage, cauliflower, carrots fennel, squash, eggplant, portobello, lion’s mane or oyster mushrooms.
• Store-bought seitan, a “wheat-meat” that has an incredible “meaty” texture. If you’re gluten-free or sensitive, use one of the other options, as vital wheat gluten is what makes seitan so gloriously chewy and satisfying.

Now go wild and amp up the sauciness, herbiness and spice factors of these revelatory meat and seafood replacements!

When I say spice, I don’t necessarily mean heat spice, but savory spice cabinet creations that lend the same flavor packed indulgence to plant-based stars of the show as their animal alternatives. Ransack your spice cabinet and pantry for dried herbs and other spices that are all simply dehydrated plants pulverized into aromatic flavor bombs of deliciousness.

Sauces really make the world of plant-based eating go ‘round and some of my favorites for a special occasion are mushroom marsala, lemon herbed tahini, Béarnaise,  peppercorn or ‘steak Diane’ sauce with cognac or brandy. Go ahead and flambe it!  It’s your party!

All sauces can be made plant-based by swapping out the butter and cream with your favorite dairy-free versions, store-bought or homemade.

After a beautiful fiber-filled meal, dessert could be light. Nibbling on fresh cut fruit, sipping espresso,  Limoncello or Grand Marnier (all good for topping a scoop of vegan vanilla bean ice cream!) or taking a walk under the stars, would be the exclamation point on any day!