Well, Valentine’s Day went swimmingly! It’s been tradition over the past three years for Adam and me to celebrate with a home cooked meal, safe from long lines and $24 heart-shaped lobster ravioli (how naïve we were). Since then, cozying up and eating in has been more than delightful.

As you might know, I am an occasional pescetarian. As long as I know where the fish comes from (farming conditions can be deplorable), I’ll sometimes cook salmon or other nutritionally dense fishes. For Valentine’s dinner, I decided to switch things up with Maple-Soy Salmon and Orange Wild Rice. I finished it off with Mocha Chocolate Brownies topped strawberries and vanilla bean ice cream...  

After I somehow survived gathering ingredients at the clusterf*ck that is the Columbus Circle Whole Foods on a Sunday, I hurried home and sorted my ingredients. I was prepared to spend all day in the kitchen, but finished the entire meal in two hours! More time to practice self-restraint from eating it all before dinner…

Adam came over around 7:30 with gorgeous roses, a food-themed mix-tape (“She Don’t Use Jelly,” “C’est Bon, Les Oeufs,” “Sex & Candy,” etc.) and some impressive chocolate selections.

"I figured you'd like the real thing instead of the crappy heart-shaped stuff," he said.
I melted...

On to dinner...

My very talented friend, Chef Kathy Gold, gave me the Maple Soy Salmon recipe. She runs the wonderful In The Kitchen Cooking School in Haddonfield, NJ, great for serious chefs and first-timers alike. The recipe is super easy and extremely flavorful:

Ingredients:

4 skinless salmon fillets (there might be left-overs)
1 C maple syrup
2T grated ginger
4T fresh lemon juice (1-2 whole lemons) Zest lemons and hold aside as garnish
3T low sodium soy sauce

Directions:

1. Put salmon aside and heat other ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes until glaze becomes thick. Let glaze cool down.

2. Heat oven 350F. Line a shallow roasting pan or cookie sheet with sides with foil. Get 3 bunches of scallions (use greens only) and lay them down on pan. Put salmon on top of scallions.

3. Spread most of glaze all over salmon. Put in oven for 25 or more minutes until completely cooked.

4. To serve: drizzle remaining glaze and sprinkle lemon zest on top of salmon.

*Tip from Chef Kathy: The sauce is great on tofu, too!

Here’s the recipe to my very own tasty Orange Wild Rice concoction:

Ingredients:

5 cups cooked wild rice
1 8oz can sliced water chestnuts
3 Tbsp chopped scallion
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp unsalted butter or margarine (I like Earth Balance)

Directions:

1. Melt butter on medium heat in saucer. Add lemon juice, orange zest and orange juice. 

2. Pour over cooked wild rice. Add chopped scallion and water chestnut.

Ta-da! Super easy, light and flavorful. I love pairing citrus with fish, and this dish complemented it wonderfully. 


My Mocha Brownie dessert was also the easiest thing ever:

Ingredients:


1 box Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 Tbsp instant coffee


Directions:

1. Prepare brownie mix as instructed on box. (It involves water, vegetable oil and an egg)

2. Mix in instant coffee (I chose a French vanilla flavor)

3. Grease muffin pan and fill 1/3 with batter

4. Place a handful of chocolate chips in center of mixture

5. Pour more batter over chocolate chips until it fills ½ of the tin

6. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes (this involves an enormous amount of self-control)

7. Top with vanilla bean ice cream and garnish with sliced strawberries. Yum!

This was a total hit. When we cut into the Brownie, we found a gooey chocolate center from the melted chocolate chips. The instant coffee added such depth to the chocolate flavor, and the cool vanilla ice cream brought it to a whole new level. If you’d like to make the brownies from scratch, kudos to you! But by using the box, I cut the time and price in half.

Enjoyed with white wine and mellow music, this delicious meal was the perfect way to stay away from all the February 14th craziness. It was light, flavorful, and certainly didn’t put me in the kitchen all day long. Not to mention, I had pretty great company.

(Cue the “awww’s”)

 Any Valentine’s Day recipes you’d like to share? Comment or send it in to thesavvysoybean@gmail.com!