In my experience, Valentine’s Day is the WORST time to make a reservation to go out to eat. Restaurants are full… Service tends to falter… I do not have the best memories of dinners eaten at a restaurant on Valentine’s Day.
However I do believe it’s the perfect opportunity to be romantic with your significant other and to have some private dinner action.
In my opinion… set attainable expectations. Under-promise and over-deliver has always been a personal motto of mine. Do not try to make anything extremely complex or that will take you days and days to make. Instead, go for something simple yet delicious. Something that people might think you slaved over yet it was very easy to put together. This will give you time to focus on what’s important… celebrating the feelings that have brought you together up to this point.
The other day a friend over at FaceBook asked about what would I make if I were making a Valentine’s Day dinner for my significant other. The parameters:
3 courses
No more than 3 things in each course, in other words, SIMPLE
Here was my suggestion to the group, which they all received very, very well:
First Course:
Spinach-Stuffed Mushrooms with a micro green garnish dressed lightly with a Meyer lemon dressing. The garnish is to make it fancier, but it’s not strictly necessary at all.
Second Course:
An Asparagus Tart with caramelized onions and goat cheese with a side salad of mesclun greens, grape tomatoes, pickled onions, gorgonzola cheese and walnuts with balsamic vinaigrette.
Third Course:
A Papaya Strawberry Sorbet… and if you don’t have papayas near you, a Very Berry Sorbet will do in a pinch.
This is simple dinner supper idea that can be done super quick… and it’s mostly assembling. I have personally impressed with each and every recipe in this menu. They’re easy to make and with ingredients that are readily available in your local supermarket. Nothing too fancy, yet when put all together… makes a nice statement.
If you would like other ideas for easy impressing a significant other on Valentine’s check out these other options:
This is my go-to “impress a new boyfriend” recipe…
This is a close second “impress the new boyfriend” recipe… Haven’t tested it yet on a new boyfriend, but many friends have been awed already. So much, they’ve requested it time and time again.
Very similar concept to the Asparagus Tart… but with tomatoes.
This is time-consuming, but not difficult at all. You just need to plan a little more in advance…
A dramatic interpretation of the crepe… you can still just make the filling and fold the crepe up just like the French do. It’ll taste just as delicious. Believe me.
Happy Valentine’s Day…
KarmaFree Cooking 