My love language is food. When I care about someone, they sure can expect me to shower them with home-cooked meals. So what better way to show my beloved how much I cherish him than making him a lavish Valentine’s Day dinner? And it is a good thing that he loves to eat. So, I have prepared a three-course menu that will make him smile and win me girlfriend points. Since we both work full time, I will keep a few ingredients prepared beforehand like marinating the chicken so when I get back from work on Valentine’s Day, my dinner can be ready within two hours.
Let’s see the menu first:
- A leafy winter salad
- Oven roasted chicken and potatoes
- Apple pie with buttery flaky crust
I will let you in on a secret: these are the three things that I make perfectly without any missteps, hence the choice.
Appetizer: Leafy Winter Salad
This winter salad is packed with a handful of leafy greens, roasted vegetables, and beans. It is a nice pick to get us started as the main course gets ready in the oven. You’ll need lots of lettuce, kale, arugula, and cabbage. Add cucumber and onions if you like. Serve it slathered with a lemon mustard dressing. Find the full recipe.
Requirements for Salad:
- A whole head of Batavia lettuce (about four cups when shredded)
- Half a cup of kale and Swiss chard
- One cup of rocket arugula
- One cup of mixed beans boiled (Red beans, kidney beans, black beans, and chickpeas)
- One cup of sweet potatoes (cubed and oven-roasted)
- Half a cup of button mushrooms cooked
- One small onion julienne cut and vinegar-soaked
- 2 tablespoons of chopped dried cranberries
- One small head of broccoli (one cup)
- One cup of diced cabbage
- Salt
- Pepper
(For Lemon Mustard Dressing)
- One cup of extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of two big lemons (about 6-8 tablespoons)
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- Three garlic cloves confit
- Two tablespoons of Dijon mustard
- One tablespoon honey
- Zest one lemon
- 3 tablespoons of parsley or coriander
Main Course: Oven Roasted Chicken and Potatoes
Nothing beats the juicy, moist oven roasted chicken and potatoes cooked in chicken juices. It is a hearty meal that takes less time than expected and allows you to work on the dessert while it cooks. Find the full recipe.
Requirements:
- Whole chicken 3 lbs
- Small potatoes halved 1 lbs
- Extra virgin olive oil
- One lemon cut in half
- One onion quartered
- 3-4 rosemary sprigs
- 2-4 thyme sprigs
- 3 tablespoons garlic confit
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 3 tablespoons chopped coriander/parsley
Dessert: Apple Pie
One of the easiest dessert recipes ever, this apple pie calls for sweet and tart apples smothered in warm fall spices and covered with buttery pie crust. You can use homemade or store-bought puff pastry for this recipe, but the result will be 10 times better with a homemade pastry. Find the full recipe.
Requirements:
- Homemade pie crust (or store-bought if you’re feeling lazy)
- 2 lbs Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored, and cubed)
- Juice of a lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
- One tablespoon of cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon of allspice
- One cup of granulated sugar
- 2 cubes of unsalted butter (or salted)
- Pinch of Salt
- Pinch of freshly ground pepper
This is my plan to win brownie points with dinner recipes. What are you doing for your Valentine this year?
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