Heart-y

Heart-Beet Rosti with Tempeh and Chard

"Red" Velvet Cupcakes

I was feeling romantically domestic for Valentine's Day and made a Heart-Beet Rosti (Party Vegan) with some chard and sauteed marinated tempeh.  The heart-shaped pans from Target that I used for the Rosti worked surprisingly well, so the hardest part about making it was actually shredding the beets.  I used my mandoline slicer (which I never use since it scares me) for the beets and potatoes because I thought it'd look prettier.  The Rosti was under-salted and the tempeh was over-salted, so it turned out pretty well when I mushed it all together.

I managed to squeeze in some cupcake-making too.  Well, I thought I could squeeze it in quickly so that these could bake and cool during dinner and be timed perfectly, etc.  But I can't ever remember making any cupcakes, especially not vegan ones, so I encountered problems.  Pretty basic baking no-no's such as forgetting that a liquid cup does not equal a dry cup AT ALL.  I put my boyfriend J in charge of frosting and verbally gave the wrong instructions.  He made it work anyway by doubling the recipe, and he even remembered Alton Brown's ziplock-bag make-shift piping-bag trick for pretty frosting (swoon, J's a genius).  

These things turned out fluffy!  (Thanks, Vegan Celebrations!)  Probably because of shortening, which I've never used before.  Kinda gross, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.  On top of everything, the natural vegan food dye that was indeed very expensive DID NOT make my cupcakes red, so it's a good thing they were fluffy.  Despite the mistakes, I felt very 1950's because I cleaned the house that day and wore a skirt, apron, and lipstick to make dinner.  It was a nice change from my usual pajama ensemble.  

I used to shrug off flowers and hearts and romantic things when I was a younger, boot-stomping feminist.  I'm definitely more of a sap now and trying to be a more amorous person overall.  I have a new-found respect for silly heart-shaped things because I want to be a Cardiac Sonographer and have recently become obsessed with learning about the heart.  Flowers are better than candy, making vegan meals together can be more romantic than restaurant food, and expressing love is good for the heart and mind.