You probably consider it to be lame when someone says that their food is delicious because they used one (not so) secret ingredient – love. Believe it or not, this is pretty true, because food tastes better when prepared with care and attention, which is exactly what you should do when preparing a meal for you special someone.

Romantic dinners need to be light but filled with nutrients – that way, you can enjoy your whole date without feeling hungry and sleepy because you can’t fully digest the whole meal you just ate. If you’re wondering how to indulge her appetite for Valentine’s day, check out the next five easy recipes – I’m sure you’ll be able to be come up with something creative when it comes to the desert by yourself.

Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley
• 50gr of chopped carrots
• 200gr of chopped white mushrooms
• 100gr of chopped shitake mushrooms
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cooking spray

Start by heating the butter and olive oil in a medium sized pan on medium heat. Start with carrots and cook them for about three minutes until they start getting brown. If you like celery, you can put some in with carrots before adding mushrooms.

Take another medium sized pan, coat it nicely with cooking spray and add white mushrooms first. After a minute, add another coat of cooking spray and put in shitake, as well. Cook that mixture for about five minutes and then mix both of them. Add salt and pepper according to your taste and don’t forget about parsley.

You should bring this mixture to the boiling point on medium heat and leave it covered for thirty minutes on lower temperatures. You can uncover it and leave it for another five minutes.

You can serve it this way, or put the whole mixture in a blender until you get a creamy mushroom soup. Set your table properly, light a couple of candles and enjoy your hot meal.

Seafood Risotto

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 finely chopped red onion
• ½ lemon
• 150gr of risotto rice
• 150gr of frozen seafood mixture
• 100gr of frozen pea
• 50gr of grated parmesan
• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh parsley
• Salt
• Pepper

First of all, we need to cook the rice and that needs to be done carefully because, otherwise, you may burn it. So, for every cup of rice, use two cups of water – put that with a tablespoon of oil and some salt in a medium sized pot on low-medium heat and leave it covered for about twenty-five minutes.

Now take a medium-sized pen and heat the second tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat. The next step is placing in finely chopped red onions and cooking them for about three minutes. After that, you can add your seafood mixture, pea, parsley, and spice it with salt and pepper according to your taste.

Cook this mixture and stir occasionally for about fifteen or twenty minutes and you can mix it in with rice afterwards. This is ready to serve, but if you want it to be crispier, you can put the whole thing in your oven for an additional 15 minutes on 180°C.

In both cases, dress this up with lemon juice and some parmesan. Decorate your table with pearls and a nice center piece and surprise her with a nice gift. Quite a recipe for a perfectly romantic date, isn’t it?

Green Sauté

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 200gr of broccoli, cut, divided into small flowers
• 1 medium-sized zucchini, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 50gr of baby spinach
• 1 garlic clove, cut finely and pressed for juice
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• Salt
• Pepper

Start with broccoli – take one medium-sized pot filled with water, wait until it starts to boil, place in broccoli and cook it for no more than five minutes because we need it to be tender. Now, take a large pan and put it on medium heat. Then, you should add oil and garlic and cook that for about three minutes and don’t forget about steering.

The next thing to add is zucchini; you can put in the rest of it (both spinach and broccoli) after three minutes or so, along with salt, pepper and oregano. The general idea of this meal is for it to be fresh and crispy, so this meal can be served after cooking it for an additional five minutes. However, if you want it to be juicer, you can cook it for ten or fifteen minutes more.

You can top this meal with some grinded cheese of your choosing. Don’t forget to dim the lights and play some romantic music so you can both relax in a pleasant atmosphere while enjoying a delicious meal.

Each of these recipes are quite simple to make and no matter how inexperienced in the kitchen you are, I’m sure you’ll be able to prepare them without any troubles whatsoever. Make sure to take your time and try not to panic – just follow the recipes and you’ll have your romantic dinner ready quite quickly.