Shakespeare once described music as being the food of love. Actually, the food itself is one of the most romantic subjects any couple can enjoy, with candle-lit dinners regularly topping off the list of popular date activities. It’s one thing to book a table for two in an intimate booth in your favorite restaurant, but the romance really is cranked up a notch if you go to the trouble of preparing a meal yourself.
Whether you met through online dating or via some other social setting, showing off your culinary skills is one way to seriously impress your partner. So if you are considering cooking up a sumptuous feast here is a selection of the tastiest dishes you should try out.
Seafood risotto
An ideal recipe for your cozy night in is a seafood risotto. The risotto itself, which is essentially rice cooked in a flavorsome stock, takes some time to simmer. This gives you the perfect excuse to crack open a bottle of chilled wine while you wait. Meanwhile, you roast a selection of juicy shrimp or prawns, then place these on top of your creamy rice base. Complete the tempting meal with salty Parmesan cheese.
Stuffed peppers
If you aren’t accustomed to serving up wonderful meals for dinner guests, there’s no harm in be less ambitious until you find your feet in the kitchen. Stuffed peppers are an excellent choice because they are delicious but also very easy to cook. You can fill them with a variety of ingredients, any combination of beans, sauces, vegetables, eggs or buffalo chicken. It doesn’t take long to prepare, either. Your stuffing can include feta cheese, rice, and onions, seasoned with basil in oil for 2-3 minutes. With such an array of aromas wafting from your dining room, your date is guaranteed to be a success.
Enchilada
Another extremely palatable meal is enchilada, essentially a tortilla wrapped around a succulent filling before being covered in mouth-watering chili pepper sauce. A range of ingredients can be used to pack the tortilla with favors, but spicy Mexican beef is a perennial favorite. Serve on a bed of dressed salad.
Carbonara
You can’t go wrong with pasta dishes, even if your date is known to have slightly fussy taste buds. While you can eventually go as far as preparing your own pasta base from scratch there’s no point in reinventing the wheel, especially when you have a date to be hospitable towards. In any case, the pasta is merely the foundation. What makes the meal so popular with diners the world over is what gets added to this. You can pan-fry sliced bacon or ham, then add these to your base. Lavish this with grated cheese – typically Pecorino – and allow this to thoroughly melt into the carbonara prior to serving. You have free reign to incorporate mushrooms or peas or other vegetables and add a creamy carbonara sauce. Again, experts would think nothing of creating the sauce from scratch but there is always a fine array of these to choose from on the shelves of your local supermarket or delicatessen.
Pasta dishes such as carbonara are also guaranteed to break the ice, especially if you haven’t been seeing each other for very long. There can sometimes be hilarious mishaps while winding in the long pasta strands – ensure napkins are on hand.
Beef Stroganoff
This dish might have originated in Russia but is relished the world over. As before, the base is merely there as a foundation; pasta is more popular, although rice or even mashed potatoes will do the trick. The essential ingredients are the strips or cubes of beef, which are sauteed to capture their flavor, then cooked in smetana cream, which can be quite sour. Because this meal is rich, best to serve with a complimentary side dish of green beans, broccoli or crisp salad leaves.
Butter chicken
Once you feel like stretching your talents further, a terrific way to impress your date is to venture into Indian cuisine. Butter chicken is perfect because it is supremely tasty but cooked in mildly spice curry sauce. Its main ingredients are chicken, butter, spices, green chilies, coriander, and yogurt. The butter sauce can be bought beforehand, and the overall preparation time will be under an hour. A slow cooker will transform the chicken into succulent pieces that melt off your date’s tongue.
Overall, it doesn’t matter if you choose one of the dishes we’ve suggested above or you make your own special dish the main thing is that when you are preparing it for someone you love you will put all the efforts and love into this meal and this is the main ingredient that will make it special.
Thank you all! I’m really glad that you like it!
great post, very good ideas, my favorite carbons
Very interesting recipe ideas!
You sent us very good recipes. Thank you.
Everything looks delicious. Will definitely look up the recipes for my next date night.