Valentine Dinner Ideas

If you're planning to cook up a storm for your sweetheart to celebrate Valentine's Day, you might search for red, pink-colored or heart-shaped dishes. You could start with heart appetizers, a heart-shaped pizza and finish with heart-shaped chocolate cookies. This might sound cheesy but I think whether the menu you've planned is simple or super complex, your sweetie will appreciate the effort that you put into it.

Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Recipe (Heart-Shaped Cookies)

Yesterday, my husband's sister Lya (she's a high-schooler now) told me she was secretly in love with a boy when she was in fifth grade. For Valentine's Day, she was too shy to say anything so she gave him heart-shaped chocolate cookies and a sock monkey anonymously. The guy never knew it was from her. Now that she goes to an all-girl school, I told her we should find the boy and give him the same Valentine presents. She said: "No way!", plus she's totally moved on from her first school crush. Ahh kids!

Of course, we still baked the cookies. I made a few changes by flavoring the chocolate cookie dough with raspberry extract and covered the top with raspberry chocolate. I used Hershey's raspberry kisses, which are available in stores this Valentine season.

Ravioli with Cheese Tomato Sauce

Keeping in mind that Valentine's Day is only a few days away, this recipe captures the romantic spirit, while requiring minimal effort to produce lots of flavor. To make the dish I used store-bought, heart-shaped four-cheese ravioli pasta. All you need to do is boil the ravioli, pan-fry them so the texture isn't soggy and accompany it with a tasty sauce. I made the sauce fairly simple so the ravioli are still the shining element in the dish. The base of the sauce is a blend of oven-roasted onion wedges and Parmesan cheese. I also topped the pasta with sautéed oyster mushrooms and fried green onions.

It's a quick and easy dish, so you still have time to give your hair and makeup some TLC. Not only food needs to look good!

Tapenade Stuffed Mozzarella Cheese Appetizers

Bite-sized food is one of the best ways to create a romantic atmosphere for your Valentine dinner. That way you can feed each other while talking and kissing in between! To that end, I created cheese appetizers using small mozzarella balls that I emptied and stuffed with homemade tapenade. The preparation is quite simple if you prep everything in advance.

I made the tapenade using kalamata olives. I love the way the blackish deep-purple color contrasts so well with the white mozzarella; they're also the best choice because of their rich and fruity flavor. I served the mozzarella appetizers on herb-Parmesan crackers, so they're easy to pick up and eat in one single bite.

Clementine Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe

My garden is filled with ripe citrus fruits right now, so I gathered two full baskets of clementines. Even though the rain hasn't been all that great this season, the fruit is incredibly sweet. We're lucky! I usually peel fruit right after dinner, leave them at the dining table and let everyone help themselves right away. But this time, before peeling the clementines, I gathered the zest to make my husband Lulu's favorite: chocolate lava cake. It might look complicated, but fear not, it's just a matter of timing. Like love!

If you're planning to surprise your sweetheart for Valentine's Day this year, a decadent chocolate dessert should be at the top of your list. First, it's delicious, and second, I love the idea of Googling aphrodisiacs in preparation for Valentine's Day!