Celebrate Burns Night & Valentine's Day

Dessert Chocolate Cherry Kirsch Hearts Serves 2 Vegan 1. Use a medium heart shaped cutter (about 3–4 inches across) to draw six heart shapes on a piece of baking parchment. Place on a tray or baking sheet.

2. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water.

3. Spoon into a piping bag and outline the hearts on the baking parchment, then fill in with extra melted chocolate.

4. Sprinkle chopped roasted hazelnuts over two of them and place the tray in the fridge to harden.

5. Lightly oil a 450g/1lb loaf tin and line with baking parchment.

6. Drain the cherries retaining the juice, and reserving 1 tablespoon of cherries.

Ingredients: 7. Put the remaining cherries in a bowl and pour over the kirsch liqueur 150g/5oz good quality plain chocolate* and almond essence.

25g/1oz hazelnuts, roasted 8. Leave to marinade for 2 hours. and chopped 9. Melt the chocolate, creamed coconut and vegan margarine together For the chocolate and over a gentle heat. cherry loaf: 10. Roughly crush the oatmeal digestive biscuits and stir into the 350g/12oz tin black cherries melted mixture with the hazelnuts.

60ml/4 tbsp kirsch liqueur 11. Add the marinated cherries and any remaining liquid.

5ml/1 tsp almond essence 12. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and lightly smooth the 200g/7oz good quality plain top. chocolate 13. Cover and chill for 2 hours.

175g/6oz creamed coconut, 14. Turn out and cut four slices, each 1cm/½" thick. grated 15. Use the cutter to cut out a heart from each.

100g/4oz hard (block) vegan 16. Place a plain chocolate heart on a serving plate. margarine, such as Cookeen 17. Top with a chocolate and cherry loaf heart, repeat, then top with a brand nutty chocolate heart.

200g/7oz vegan oatmeal 18. Use the remaining hearts to make a second stack. digestive biscuits 19. Chill until ready to serve.

50g/2oz hazelnuts, roughly 20. Chop the reserved cherries and mix with a little of the reserved chopped *Not all plain chocolate is juice (sweeten with a little icing sugar if required). suitable for vegans. 21. Drizzle onto the plates around the hearts just before serving. © The Vegetarian Society Not only will the residents enjoy the taste and look of this dish but a recent Harvard medical study has linked the consumption of dark chocolate with a lower prevalence of coronary heart disease.

What a lovely way to keep well!

We hope these ideas have given you some inspiration. If you would like a few more ideas, why not check out the following websites? www.vegetarianforlife.org.uk www.vegetarianrecipeclub.org.uk www.vegsoc.org www.viva.org.uk www.ivu.org Finally, don’t forget VfL’s subsidised caterer training for UK List members. For further details, please contact us or see our website.

www.vegetarianforlife.org.uk Email: admin@vegetarianforlife.org.uk Telephone: 01683 220888 Registered charity number 1120687 Company number 6294709

Celebrate Burns Night & Valentine’s Day with Vegetarian for Life You don’t have to be Scottish to celebrate Burns Night on 25 January, though our members over the border do have an advantage here! Your residents will be glad of some new recipes, and an excuse for a celebration between Christmas and Easter.

Starter The traditional Burns Night starter is cock a leekie soup. As this uses chicken, why not use a traditional leek soup instead, which can be vegetarian or vegan depending on the residents you have in your care?

Extra Special Leek Soup Ingredients: 30ml/2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 medium potato, peeled and very finely cubed 450g/1 lb leeks, washed and chopped 900ml/1½ pints vegetable stock 250g/9oz soft cheese with garlic and herbs (for vegans use dairy-free soft ‘cheese’ such as Swedish Soft or Tofutti) Salt and freshly ground black pepper To serve: 4 slices white bread 100g/4oz soft cheese with garlic and herbs (for vegans use dairy-free soft ‘cheese’ such as Swedish Soft or Tofutti) To garnish: Chopped chives

Serves 4 Vegetarian (can be vegan) 1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently cook the potato until tender. Add the leeks, cover the pan and leave to sweat for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and cook for 20 minutes.

3. Put the soft cheese into a bowl. Add a few spoons of soup and blend together with a fork to make a thick, creamy consistency. Stir into the hot soup and season to taste.

4. Toast the bread on both sides and remove the crusts. Cut into bite sized croutons and spread one side of each with soft cheese. Place on a baking sheet and pop under the grill for a few seconds until golden and bubbling.

5. Heat the soup through gently, but do not boil.

6. Ladle the soup into bowls and top each one with a few croutons. Sprinkle some chopped chives over and serve. © The Vegetarian Society

Dessert Main Course Happy Haggis Ingredients: 75g/3oz fine or medium oatmeal (the pinhead or fine variety works best – available from health stores) 110g/4oz of uncooked brown or green lentils OR 300g/11oz cooked (about 1¼ tins of drained, rinsed lentils) 1 large onion, chopped 1 tbsp vegetable oil 2 large carrots, finely grated 4 to 6 mushrooms, sliced ¼ tsp each of allspice, cumin, paprika and nutmeg ¼ tsp each of dried sage and thyme 1 tbsp soya sauce 400g tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed 60g/2oz mixed nuts, ground 3 tsp yeast extract, eg Marmite 2 cloves of garlic, crushed Salt and black pepper to taste Knob of dairy-free margarine, eg Pure or Vitalite brand

Did you know that you can buy Vegetarian Haggis?

MacSween, who make a vegetarian haggis approved

by The Vegetarian Society, have full instructions on how to organise a Burn's Night Supper on their website www.macsween.co.uk

Serves 4–6 Vegan 100 minutes: 1 hour to soak oats, 35–40 minutes baking time Haggis is usually made from sheep guts, but of course ours is veggie, hence the recipe title. The preparation and cooking can be done while you are soaking the oats – otherwise soak them the night before and drain in the morning. Refrigerate until needed.

1. Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.

2. Put the oatmeal in a bowl and cover with water. Let it stand for at least an hour. Drain thoroughly.

3. If cooking lentils from scratch, place them in a pan of water and boil rapidly for 20–30 minutes or until soft (the time will vary according to the type of lentils). When the lentils are ready, drain and rinse them in a sieve.

Otherwise ignore this stage and go to step 4.

4. Sauté the onion in the oil until it is soft. Add the carrots and mushrooms, and cook for a little longer. Then add the herbs and spices, soya sauce, cooked lentils and about a quarter of the kidney beans. Mix in the yeast extract until it is well incorporated.

5. Using a blender or potato masher, mash the remainder of the beans to form a thick paste (add a little water if necessary to prevent it getting too stiff). Add this to the lentil and vegetable mixture.

6. Finally, add the drained oatmeal, salt and pepper, and the garlic. If the mixture looks too dry, add the margarine.

Mix well.

7. Transfer to an oven-proof dish and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

Burns Night pud is traditionally Cranachan – a dessert made with toasted oatmeal, raspberries, cream and whisky. You could make a version using soya cream if you have vegan residents or just try Raspberry Tofu Dessert, below:

Raspberry Tofu Dessert Serves 4 Vegetarian (can be vegan) Ingredients: 225g/10oz raspberries, fresh or frozen 1 packet firm silken tofu ½ tsp vanilla essence 2 tbsp honey (or use agave syrup for vegans)

© The Vegetarian Society

The next feast is on 14 February – Valentine’s Day. Your residents may not feel romantic and it is unlikely you will want any vegetarian aphrodisiacs – but that won’t stop them wanting to indulge in a little loving when it comes to food!

Why not try the following recipes to tickle their fancies?

Oyster Mushroom & Shallot Tart with Sun Blush Tomato Purée Serves 2 Vegetarian Tomatoes were originally called love apples and are therefore particularly appropriate for Valentine's day…

© Vegetarian Recipe Club www.vegetarianrecipeclub.org.uk

Serve with: Neeps & Tatties (Swede & Potato Mash) Ingredients: Even quantities of peeled potato and peeled swede – enough to serve 4 Salt and lots of black pepper A little soya milk Dairy-free margarine, eg Pure or Vitalite brand

Serves 4 Vegan 25 minutes What the Scots call turnip (neeps), the English call swede – that large round root vegetable which is pale yellow inside, not English turnip, which is smaller and white inside.

1. Cut vegetables into medium chunks and cook in salted boiling water until tender. You can cook them separately or mix in together.

Either way is fine.

2. Similarly, mix each vegetable separately with a little soya milk and margarine or else mash together – by hand. Don't attempt to food process mashed potatoes as they turn into a horrible gloopy mess.

3. Taste, then season with freshly ground black pepper.

4. Serve hot.

Reprinted with kind permission of the Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation, www.vegetarian.org.uk/recipes

1. If using frozen raspberries allow to thaw completely, retaining a few for garnishing.

2. Combine all the ingredients and press through a sieve to remove the raspberry seeds. (This is made easier if first processed in a liquidiser or food processor.)

3. Divide the mixture between four dessert dishes and chill for up to 2 hours.

4. Garnish with reserved raspberries and serve.

Ingredients: 175g/6oz puff pastry 3 shallots 1 clove garlic 25g/1oz butter/margarine 100g/4oz oyster mushrooms 50g/2oz button mushrooms 2 tbsp brandy 100g/4oz sunblush tomatoes Salt and pepper to taste 1 tbsp olive oil To garnish: Sprigs of basil To serve: Rocket and baby spinach or a mixed herb salad

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.

2. Roll out the pastry and use it to line two 10cm/4 inch loosebottomed flan rings. Place on a baking sheet and bake blind for 10–15 minutes until the pastry is golden.

3. Sauté the shallots and one clove of garlic in butter or vegan margarine until golden (about 10 minutes on a low heat). Add the mushrooms and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Add the brandy and cook for a further 2 minutes. Slice four pieces of sun-blush tomato and stir into the mushrooms. Season to taste.

4. To make the purée: Sauté half the remaining tomatoes and the clove of garlic in olive oil until very soft, then add 30ml/2 tablespoons of water and continue cooking gently for a further 5–10 minutes. Season to taste and then purée. Chop the rest of the tomatoes finely and stir into the purée.

5. Divide the shallot and mushroom filling between the two tart bases, place on a baking sheet and warm through in the oven for 5 minutes.

Place each one on a warm plate. Gently heat the purée through in a saucepan and drizzle some around the tarts. Garnish with sprigs of basil. Serve with a spicy or herby salad. Extra purée can be served in a jug on the side. © The Vegetarian Society