Valentine's Day Menu Ideas

Ryan and I don't like to go out for Valentine's Day anymore. Restaurants tend to be more crowded and there is so much pressure to have the perfect meal. Instead, we discovered a few years ago that we have much more fun coming up with our a menu together to cook at home.

Much like our One Year Anniversary meal, we like to make it special, but simple. Our meal planning always starts around the protein, which in this case will be Alaskan King Crab Legs if we can find them. Don't worry, we will share pics and recipes!!

Here are a few menu ideas for a nice home-cooked date night.

Cocktails

Valentine's Day usually involves a drink of some sort. Whether it be a really good bottle of wine from the cellar, crisp champagne or a fancy cocktail, it is nice to begin the meal with a wind-down and toast to your relationship. Since I am starting to find blood oranges around, Ryan requested that we start with a Blood Orange Martini or Old Fashioned.

We will probably pull out a bottle of wine to finish the night and hope to not be feeling it the next morning! 

Appy

Next up is a nice appetizer to keep your appetite at ease while making dinner. This is also a good way to prolong the evening and slow the meal down. We just picked up some yummy goat cheese from the Farmers' Market, so we will probably make Roasted Grapes with goat cheese and crostini. 

A simple cheese and crackers are a good choice too, but don't eat too much and ruin the star of the show! 

Main Course

We usually like to get seafood, something that we don't purchase a lot. We are straight up seafood snobs, and not afraid to admit it! My regular readers know from previous posts that I rarely spice up seafood. If it is fresh, then none is needed! Lobster tails are a great idea for main course because they take very little time to cook. The prep work (cutting of the shell) can all be done ahead of time, so your attention can be on your date or loved one and not the food! 

We tend to stay away from attention seeking dishes that fall into the "labor of love" category, like risotto. Same goes with the side dishes. A simple vegetable or rice pilaf works great. Occasionally we will spruce up something with a sauce, but most of the time we keep it light so we aren't painfully full at the end of the meal either. This just better prepares us for the best part - dessert! 

Sweets for my Sweet

Yes, I love saying that and LOVE making desserts for Ryan. I always offer to make the dessert for our special meals. This year we are going to take a crack at a chocolate soufflé. My advice would be do any chocolate dessert such as:

• Chocolate Cherry Brownies
• Chocolate Stout Cake with Macerated Blackberries or Raspberries
• Chocolate Raw Brownies (for the gluten free fare)

We are looking forward to having a nice date night at home with delicious food. Hopefully we can find the Alaskan King Crab legs! 

Happy Valentine's Day :)