Valentine’s Day meals to impress your loved ones

Michelle Choy, News Editor • February 1, 2024

Love fills the air as Valentine’s Day quickly approaches, crowding the quad with roses and chocolates. Show your appreciation and affection for family, friends, a significant other, or even yourself with one of these homemade meals that will surpass any other gift!

Roasted Beet, Grapefruit, and Warm Honey Salad (FoodandWine.com)

A bright red saccharine delight, every ingredient in this coquette salad fits the Valentine’s Day aesthetic and has a natural sweetness. The warm, fragrant honey with rosemary ties together the polar opposite of earthy beets and juicy grapefruit. Add ingredients like pomegranate, edible rose petals, cherries, or strawberries for a delectable scarlet surprise!

Ingredients:

♥ Grapefruits

♥ Beets

♥ 2 tablespoons honey

♥ Olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Season whole beets with olive oil and salt. Wrap beets in aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.

2. Cut beets and grapefruits to bite size pieces. Scatter on plate.

3. Warm honey on a saucepan and add rosemary. Pour onto salad. Enjoy!

Chickpea-Stuffed Mushrooms (our own recipe!)

These mushrooms are stuffed to the brim with nutty chickpeas, sweet peppers, piquant garlic, and love. From the crunchy parmesan to the soft, chewy mushroom, each bite introduces an explosion of flavor that will simply melt you away. Serve either as the star to a romantic dinner or an appetizing side dish that steals the show.

Ingredients:

♥ Mushrooms

♥ Parmesan cheese

♥ Chickpeas

♥ Vegetables to stuff (ex. Peppers, spinach)

♥ Garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, any spices

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Remove stems from mushrooms.

2. Sauté the chickpeas, vegetables, and chopped stems with oil and spices in a pan. Blend these ingredients in a food processor and stuff the mixture into the empty mushroom caps.

3. Top mushrooms with cheese and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Fettuccine with Mushroom Alfredo Sauce (tastesoflizzyt.com)

A classic staple as a fulfilling dinner, this creamy and savory fettuccine alfredo is the perfect way to treat yourself on a Wednesday night. The secret is in the sauce: add plenty of spices like cajun and basil for a sharp and tangy twist. Aside from umami mushroom, including chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, or spinach will elevate the dish to your preferences.

Ingredients:

♥ Fettuccine

♥ Mushrooms

♥ Heavy cream

♥ Parmasean cheese

♥ Butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, flour

1. Cook fettuccine, drain. In a skillet, cook mushrooms with olive oil until tender and set aside.

2. Melt butter in a skillet and whisk in the flour. Add in the chicken broth, heavy cream, parmesan cheese, and garlic. Bring sauce to a simmer and stir constantly for one minute.

3. Add mushrooms, other optional ingredients, and fettuccine into the sauce and stir.

These simple, yet mouth-watering recipes can act as a kitchen adventure filled with chaos, a romantic rendezvous surrounded with warm candles, or a picnic amongst lovely scenery. No matter what, cooking these meals will leave you with a smile and plenty of joyful memories this Valentine’s Day!

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About the Contributors

Michelle Choy, News Editor

Michelle Choy is serving her final year with Gamut as a News Editor and, despite being in her Senior year, still plans to work just as hard researching and communicating the facts. Some of her many hobbies include bike riding, roller skating, dancing, reading manga, and playing video games like Overwatch 2. She considers herself a foodie and likes eating a lot, but overall eats healthy. She also enjoys traveling and seeing the world, but her all-time favorite travel destination is Hawaii. Michelle considers herself similar to a panda because of her passion for food and comforting nature which helped her reach the position of Vice President in the Big Brothers Big Sisters club. When it comes to reading, her favorite book series has been "The Hunger Games". A fun fact about her is that she has helped foster over fifteen cats in her lifetime. Beyond Gamut, Michelle intends to pursue a career in either economics or business administration.

Rowan Lee, Art/Layout Editor

Aside from finally graduating, Rowan Lee is looking most forward to serving as The Gamut’s Art and Layout Editor for their final year of high school. Their go-to hobbies are drawing and painting: an explanation as to why they immediately applied to join The Gamut staff after learning there were drawing positions available, along with their having illustrated for The Gamut for the past 3 years. Outside of the Gamut, Rowan takes their fascination with Japanese culture to the OA Japanese Club, where they serve as Tech Chair. When they’re not busy taking on their various roles at school, drawing fanart for Jujutsu Kaisen (their favorite anime of all time), or jamming out to their 3-hour long SE SO NEON playlist, Rowan guiltily admits that they spend their free time playing Valorant or watching VTubers (virtual YouTubers). Rowan honestly confesses that their Senioritis has been kicking in since Junior year, but as the diligent worker they are, they vow to push through till the very night they toss their cap into the air at Handel Stadium.