9 Days of Valentine's: Part 2...

Day 2 was a little simpler and more low-key then Day 1 of our Valentine’s Week. I went Italian this time, with a simple yet delicious dish from Chloe Coscarelli’s book “Chloe’s Vegan Italian Kitchen.” Pasta in Pink Sauce. I’ve made Pasta in Pink sauce before and it’s always delicious, but since we haven’t had it in a while, and since I’d never made Chloe’s version, and since it’s PINK! - Hello Valentine’s Day! - I thought I’d try this out for our week of celebration.

If you’ve never had pasta in pink sauce before it’s basically just a thick pasta - like Bucatini, but I used Fettuccini ‘cause that’s what I had - in a tomato cream sauce. Chloe makes her sauce with garlic, crushed tomatoes, basil, cashew cream, salt and pepper, and sugar. It’s quick, easy and amazing! Since pasta is so hearty, I didn’t make anything to go with it, instead we used some of the leftover bread from the night before to mop up extra sauce.

I did however make a dessert, and for dessert I went French with Mark Reinfeld’s Chocolate Mousse from his book “The 30 Minute Vegan’s Taste of Europe.” This was a really simple mousse to make, though a lot different then other vegan mousse’s I’ve made in the past. It used chocolate chips, coconut milk, coconut oil, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, maple syrup, salt, flax, and it’s garnished with strawberries. Honestly, as easy as this was - and quick too - It didn’t get as ‘fluffy’ as a normal mousse does. Nor did it come close to being as fluffy as other vegan mousses I’ve made. This was more like a thick pudding, it was however delicious, if a bit rich. I couldn’t eat a whole serving in one sitting and had to ration it out because it was just too powerful for me. Still it was worth making and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Check back tomorrow, to see what we’re having on Day 3. I’ll give you a hint, we’re going French again!