A Valentine’s Meal to Remember
By Emerson Shams
Valentine’s Day – a day when romance is in the air, or at least love. And what better way to show this to a loved one than preparing a meal for them – the best ingredient in food is love, after all. This three-course meal manages to feature multiple aphrodisiacs as well, so it’s the perfect meal to help make a perfect night.
Aperitif: Pomegranate Salad
Ingredients
- Mixed lettuce
- Parmesan or feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate vinegar (Balsamic works as well)
- 2.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 plum/cherry tomatoes
- Pomegranate seeds
- Croutons
- ⅓ to ½ red onion (optional)
Method
Halve tomatoes. Slice up onion. Mix together in a bowl and add all the ingredients.
Main Course: Honey Lemon Salmon with Spaghetti
Ingredients:
- 2 Salmon Fillets (chicken thighs can also be used and prepared similarly)
- Honey
- 1 Lemon
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 1 Shallot or ½ red onion
- Salt + Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Oregano (optional)
- Spaghetti
Method
- Dry salmon (or chicken) off with a paper towel.
- In a small bowl, mix together honey, ½ lemon juice, salt, pepper, and oregano.
- In a skillet, turn heat up on high, when oil is shimmering, but not smoking, add salmon fillets, skin side down. Cook for 5-7 minutes, depending on thickness. It’ll be ready to flip when it’s golden brown and the skin gets crispy and releases from the body of the fish.
- Add sliced shallot, 2 lemon slices, and 3 sliced garlic cloves to the skillet. Flip the salmon. Add Honey-lemon sauce to pan.
- Cook skin side up for two minutes, then remove from the pan.
- In a pot, boil water. Add salt, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and spaghetti. Cook as directed on the box.
- Serve salmon with sauce over the olive oil.
Note: If choosing the chicken option, cook on medium for about 10 minutes, flipping regularly, then place on high for 3 minutes on each side. Add sauce after and let sauce warm up around the chicken.
Finale: Wine and Cheese Board
Now this is really simple. You’ve spent time cooking in the kitchen, this just requires cutting some cheese up and opening up the wine. I recommend a nice sweet white wine such as Moscato – but really that’s your preference. But for the cheese and crackers, a nice combination is a creamy brie, a fresh mozzarella ball, a goat cheese roll, and some cheddar. As for the crackers, it’s good to get a variety. I like the beetroot and the ones with seeds, but the normal butter crackers are good to add to the mix.
There you have it: a lovely three-course Valentine’s dinner which will have whoever you are cooking for on cloud nine.
Image: Pixabay
