If you are skilled in the kitchen, you wouldn’t have to worry about winning your partner over with some food. Come Valentine’s Day, you might want to whip up dishes considered romantic foods for your Valentine menu.
Here are four delicious and healthy Valentine’s Day recipes that will surely win your partner’s heart.
Valentine Menu: Steakhouse Sheet Pan Dinner
For the most part, Valentine’s Day is about going out to get a couple of expensive steaks and a nice bottle of wine at a local restaurant.
Still, you can replicate this Valentine’s Day steak dinner right at home for a more comfortable (and cheaper) meal!
Once you try it, you may never want to go out for a steak dinner again. Here’s how you do it:
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter (and more for greasing the sheet pan)
- 4 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (with the tails on)
- 2 teaspoons of thyme leaves
- 3 cloves of minced garlic
- 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan
- 2/3 cup of heavy cream
- 1 pound of Yukon gold potatoes, sliced
- 2 ounces of cream cheese
- 1 10-ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed and dried
- 2/3 cup of shredded Gruyere
- 2 8-ounce New York strip steaks
- kosher salt
- pepper
Steps:
1. Begin by putting an oven rack in the top third of your oven and preheat it to 450 degrees. Grease up one-third of a sheet pan with butter as well.
2. In the meantime, toss your shrimp with melted butter, a teaspoon of garlic, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Set it all aside.
3. Mix your Parmesan, 1/3 cup of heavy cream, a teaspoon of thyme, half a teaspoon of salt, and a little more pepper.
4. Put half of your potato slices in a single, overlapping layer on a buttered sheet pan and pour your heavy cream mix on top. Top it off with the rest of the potato slices.
5. Cover everything with foil and bake until it turns tender about 15 to 17 minutes.
6. Whisk together your cream cheese, the rest of your heavy cream, and the rest of your garlic in a bowl until it turns smooth. Fold in your spinach until it’s well-coated.
7. Break the mixture into two small ramekins and press the spinach down, so it turns flat and the cream pools slightly on top of it.
8. When the potatoes are done, take them out of the oven, remove the foil, and sprinkle them with Gruyere cheese.
9. Lay your steaks in the middle of the pan and sprinkle them on each side with salt and pepper.
10. Put your ramekins on one side of the empty pan and bake again until the steak is 95 degrees in the middle (for 12 to 14 minutes).
11. Take the pan out and turn your broiler on. For decoration, twist your pairs of shrimp into two heart shapes next to the ramekins (by putting the tails together).
12. Broil the steaks until they turn brown and the middle reaches 115 degrees (for three to four minutes). Let it all sit for five to 10 minutes and serve!
Red Wine Risotto
When was the last time you made a risotto? Although these rice dishes have an unfair reputation as a challenging dish, they end up tasting incredible and are pretty easy if you know what to do. Red wine is also always a great, romantic-feeling addition to a Valentine menu.
If you want to try it, this red wine risotto is a great place to start. Here’s how you make it:
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 cups of canned chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 1 cup of chopped onion
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1 cup of medium-grain white rice
- 1/2 cup of dry red wine
- 1/3 cup of thawed frozen peas
- 1/4 cup of chopped Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan
- salt
- ground black pepper
Steps:
1. Pour your broth into a pan and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover it and keep it warm on low.
2. Next, melt your butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add your onions and cook them for eight minutes until they turn translucent.
3. Stir in your garlic and sauté it for 30 seconds.
4. Stir in your rice and cook it for two minutes until it gets toasted.
5. Add your wine and stir until it gets absorbed, for about one minute.
6. Add 3/4 cup of hot broth and simmer it over medium-low until the liquid absorbs. Keep stirring for six minutes and repeat, adding 3/4 cup of hot broth twice, frequently stirring for 12 more minutes.
7. Refrigerate your risotto and the leftover broth without covering it until it turns cool. At that point, cover it and refrigerate it.
8. Bring your leftover broth to a simmer before covering it and keeping it on low heat.
9. Stir 3/4 cup of hot broth into your risotto over medium until it absorbs (about three minutes). Add the leftover broth and simmer until the rice gets tender and the mix is creamy (five more minutes).
10. Add half a cup of Parmesan and season it with salt and pepper to taste.
11. Finally, scoop it into bowls, add cheese and serve!
Lemon Basil Salmon
If you’re looking for a Valentine menu idea with fish, try this salmon. The combination of flavors here is incredible and will bring a sense of occasion to your home kitchen.
Make it once, and you’re sure to want it again and again. Here’s how you do it:
Ingredients:
- 2 salmon fillets
- 1 tablespoon of melted butter
- 1 tablespoon of minced basil
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
- 1/8 teaspoon of pepper
- lemon wedges
Steps:
1. Begin by preheating your grill on medium heat.
2. When warmed up, put each of your fillets with the skin-side down on a piece of foil.
3. In the meantime, mix your melted butter, basil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Scoop the mixture over your salmon and fold the foil around the fish, sealing it up.
4. When done, cook your fillets on the grill until they flake with a fork (10 to 15 minutes). Open your foil carefully to let the steam escape.
5. Serve the salmon with lemon wedges, and enjoy!
Beef Burgundy with Noodles
We also include this delicious, French-style recipe of beef with egg noodles.
Though this still has all the authentic flavor of other French recipes, it’s a little easier to make and tastes incredible. It’s a great addition to a Valentine menu. Here’s how you do it:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of uncooked egg noodles
- 3/4 cup of Burgundy wine
- 1 1/2 cups of fresh mushrooms, quartered
- 2 tablespoons of diced onion
- 1/2 pound of beef sirloin, sliced into quarters
- 1/4 cup of water (plus two tablespoons)
- 3 tablespoons of minced parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 clove
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/8 teaspoon of pepper
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of browning sauce
Steps:
1. Begin by heating your butter over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or a big non-stick skillet.
2. Cook your beef and onion in the melted butter for one to two minutes until it turns light brown.
3. Add your mushrooms, wine, 1/4 cup of water, two tablespoons of parsley and the rest of the seasonings. Bring it all to a boil.
4. Next, turn the heat down and cover it. Let it simmer for an hour until the beef turns tender.
5. In the meantime, cook the egg noodles according to the package instructions and drain them.
6. Mix your flour and the leftover water in another bowl until it turns smooth. Mix that into the beef mix and bring it all to a boil until it thickens (about two minutes).
7. Get rid of the bay leaf and the clove before stirring your browning sauce.
8. Serve the sauce over noodles, add parsley and enjoy.
Takeaway
This Valentine menu is a foolproof way to a perfect Valentine’s Day dinner date. And we’re sure your partner or spouse would appreciate it more because you’re the one who made them. Who could not swoon over a delicious meal and all your effort to make them?
Sources: Taste of Home, Food and Wine, Delish