Valentine’s Day Dinner Ideas

Valentines day is just around the corner. If you don’t want to spend lots of money on a gift, but you still want your sweetie to enjoy the day, you may want to prepare a Valentines dinner. There are a lot of great foods that you can prepare, so here are some ideas that will keep you from staying in the kitchen all day.

Most people associate Valentines day with desserts and candies, so making dinner can be a bit of a challenge. Of course, you can also prepare dessert if you really want to impress your loved one. Think about your Valentine’s favorite foods, and try to come up with a dish that incorporates at least two of them. For instance, if your husband likes chicken dishes, and you cook chicken pretty regularly, start looking for a new recipe. Using a spicy rub with ingredients like cayenne pepper and onion powder will give the main course more of a Cajun taste. Or, for a more exotic Valentines dinner, you can marinate the chicken with curry, and prepare a Moroccan rice dish with almonds or raisins. If your wife has been trying to watch her weight, but you still want to prepare a dish that she’ll enjoy, you can prepare a salad with roasted portabella mushrooms and vegetables like sautéed green beans and roasted rep pepper. Try making your own dressing using various types of vinegar, herbs, and infusions of berry flavors for a main course she’ll love.

If you don’t eat out much during the year, it’s a good idea to plan a Valentines dinner at a great restaurant in the city. If you know that you want to take your valentine out to eat, you should make reservations as early as you possibly can. This will help to ensure your spot, since there will be a number of couples in the restaurant when you arrive. In order to make your date night a little less cliché, you can make a dessert and bring it to the restaurant with you. This is a great way to end the meal, and will make Valentines day even more special. You can also hire a musician to come to the restaurant and play your loved one’s favorite song during dinner.

If you live in an area where the weather is fairly warm during February, a Valentines dinner in the form of a picnic can be extremely romantic. You can make a number of light dishes that are easy to carry, but make for great presentation. For instance, an assorted berry fruit salad has a nice pop of color that looks great on a plate; the you can toss the fruit with a dressing of honey, cinnamon, and lime juice for a pleasant aroma.