Quick and healthy 3 course Valentine's dinner

Valentine's Day is a great opportunity to show your love.

With a vegan version, this three-course Valentine's Day dinner can be prepared in less than an hour. This will allow you to prepare a delicious dinner and enjoy it with your loved one.

1^er course: Beet salad with sunflower sprouts

Ingredients

• 2 whole beets, cooked and cooled
• 1 cup of sunflower sprouts
• 2 tablespoons ofsliced almonds
• 1/8 cup feta cheese (vegan option) super blue fauxmage)
• 8 to 12 fresh raspberries
• Fresh mint leaves
• 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise (vegan mayonnaise if needed)
• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Salt and pepper

Approach

1. Cut (or heart-shaped) beets into thin slices and divide among 4 plates.
2. Place ¼ cup of sunflower sprouts in the center of each plate of beets.
3. Top withsliced almondsfeta cheese, fresh raspberries and mint leaves.
4. Prepare the dressing by whisking, in a separate bowl, the mayonnaiseand the Dijon mustard and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Spread dressing over salad just before serving.

2^ème service: Tomato Linguine with wine sauce

Ingredients

• 15 cocktail tomatoes, sliced in half
• Fillet ofolive oil + 1 tablespoon
• salt and pepper
• 400g of linguine of durum wheat semolina or a gluten-free equivalent
• 1 tablespoon of butter or butter-style vegan spread
• 4 green onions, coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup of pine nuts
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 tablespoons of capers
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• ½ cup Marcello Farms sun-dried tomato pesto (vegan version available)
• 2 tablespoons water

Toppings:

• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• Fresh oregano leaves
• Goat cheese (vegan option) fauxmage brie)
• Ground black pepper

Approach

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Farenheit.   
2. Place cocktail tomatoes face up on a small baking sheet lined with a parchment paper. Drizzle tomatoes witholive oil. Add salt and pepper generously. Place in the oven for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, boil a pot of water and prepare the durum wheat semolina linguine according to the manufacturer's instructions.
4. In a medium skillet, heat one tablespoon ofolive oil and melt the butter. Add the green onions and the pine nuts. Allow to brown for two minutes before adding the garlic and capers.
5. Add white wine, dried tomato pesto and water. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. If necessary, add water if the sauce becomes too thick.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Once the linguine of durum wheat semolina cooked, rinsed and drained, return them to the pot. Add the roasted tomatoes from the oven and the wine sauce.
8. Add toppings including lemon zest, fresh oregano, goat cheese and ground pepper.
9. Serve immediately.

3^ème service: Strawberry, cream and chocolate layer

Ingredients

• 1 case of fresh strawberries, rinsed and sliced
• 1 cup whipped cream (coconut whipped cream if needed)
• A few chocolate bark from Prana
• 4 teaspoons of agave syrup.

Approach

1. In the bottom of 4 medium cocktail glasses, place a layer of sliced strawberries.
2. Top with whipped cream andchocolate bark from Prana.
3. Repeat the first and second steps.
4. Top each serving with a teaspoon of agave syrup.

Happy Valentine's Day!

La Boite à Grains

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Recipe creation and photographs :

Véronique Cousineau, certified naturopath