(My three year old was so excited about the above chocolate, I found her trying to hack a piece of chocolate off with a butter knife before I had the chance to take my picture!)
It’s almost Valentine’s Day. I hope that everyone has a wonderful day, whether single, married, or dating. I couldn’t resist giving a few romantic meal ideas (and I would love for you to give more too!). But keep your eye out for my post later today, it will be entitled “Why I think Mops are a Romantic Gift and Why I am Giving One Away Over Valentine’s Day Weekend”.
Meanwhile, here’s a few recipe ideas for main dishes and desserts from my site and elsewhere
Main Dishes
Oysters are known for being an aphrodisiac food. It’s not hard to imagine why with their high zinc content, which is vital for men’s “fertility” if you will. We will start with a few recipes for oysters.
For the adventurous, try raw oysters, like in this recipe.(Epicurious)
Or, for a little tamer approach, try Oysters Rockafeller, baked in a bed of salt with a bread topping. A similar recipe is Baked Oysters with Bacon and Leeks (Epicurious)
I always like soups, so Oyster Soup with Frizzled Leeks sounded delightful to me.(Epicurious)
Broiled Clams with Garlic and Ginger (Nourished Kitchen)
Salmon with Basil Romesco Sauce (Very flavorful and refreshing)
Buckwheat Blini with Smoked Salmon and Cashew Garlic Sour Cream
Pasta with Creme Freshe and Salmon (Super frugal)
Fresh Clam and Herb Sauce over Pasta
Broiled Black Cod on a Bed of Greens with a Blackberry Dressing (Very simple, beautiful and delicious!)
Herbed Chicken Pot Pie with Bacon (Nourished Kitchen)
Beef Stroganov (Nourished Kitchen)
Braised Seven Hour Leg of Lamb (a household favorite)
Desserts
Persian Watermelon Rose Salad (Watermelon isn’t exactly in season, but this is very romantic)
Chocolate Raspberry Coconut Flour Cupcakes (The title says it all)
Brownie Pudding Cake (one of the most frugal cakes!
Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries (another romantic favorite that is a little out of season, but still delicious!)
Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream (So creamy and absolutely divine)
Chocolate Pudding (Made with Coconut Milk ) (Ditto)
Honey Sweetened Blackberry Cream Gelatin (Another creamy and flavorful dessert)
The Best Fudge Ever (This really is my favorite fudge ever).
Roasted Banana Ice Cream with Fudge Sauce (oh, yummy!)
Flourless Chocolate Cake (Looks amazingly rich and delicious, Kelly the Kitchen Kop)
Deep Dark Chocolate Tart (Oh boy, this is for the chocolate lovers)
Lemon Sponge Custard (Light in Flavor and very good)
Berry Chocolate Tart (My newest recipe!)
Fair Trade Chocolate
And speaking of chocolate, the Company “Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate” just announced that they are moving their entire worldwide chocolate line into becoming completely fair trade. Along with some delicious chocolate samples, I got this information from them.
- With this commitment, Green & Black’s will become the world’s leading 100% organic and 100% Fair Trade Certified chocolate brand.
- This Fair Trade commitment will provide farmers with the security of fair prices.
- Green & Black’s will make an additional monetary investment of $485,000 per year for the next ten years for social, environmental and economic development in the farmers’ communities.
Kudos to them for this very important step! But before you go and buy out their whole line, make sure you stick with the dark chocolate choices. First of all, it has higher anti-oxidants, secondly, the milk chocolate has milk powder in it which I do not recommend because the cholesterol will be oxidized (bad news). The ingredients on my Dark Chocolate Espresso bar were the following. “Organic chocolate liquor, organic raw cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic coffee, soy lecithin (emulsifier) organic vanilla extract. ” The soy lecithin was confirmed to be non-GMO, so this set of ingredients was great! And the flavor outstanding (it reminded me of a chocolate covered coffee bean). The Maya Gold flavor they sent me will also definitely be a favorite with hints of orange and spices.
Have any favorite fair trade and organic chocolate companies to share about or recipes for Valentine’s day? I would love to hear from you!
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So much looks good! Thanks!
However, the Oyster Soup with Frizzled Leeks seems to have the wrong link. FYI.
Thanks Jenny! I will check it out.
Great ideas! I love equal exchange dark chocolate, especially because they don’t contain soy lecithin. My favorite is the Organic Panama Extra Dark Chocolate (80% Cacao). Happy Valentine’s Day!
Haven’t tried either of those brands. I must try them soon!:-)
I am not believing it, but I just bought BOTH of those flavors yesterday at Whole Foods and I tell you, you are right they are terrific. I love this brand of chocolate and feel even better about my purchase since they are becoming 100% Fair Trade!!
Fair trade chocolate is so great…thanks for the giveaway!
I just saw the Green and Black chocolate at Target today. I love buying local and from small scale companies, but it’s nice to be able to find good stuff at mainstream stores too so I’m glad to see it there.
I had no idea they carried them at Target! Thanks for letting us know. 🙂
Those desserts sound yummy!
Hey Kimi, I’m waiting for your post on mops! Your comment cracked me up because my husband wants a Dyson vacuum cleaner for Valentines Day! I told him we could think about buying one if he could tell me the last time he used our current vacuum cleaner! 🙂
Hi Heather!
It’s coming, I promise! The post is all ready, I just need to get one thing from Ann Marie and I will have it up. 🙂
I love the story about your husband! That cracks me up too.
Hi Kimi – great article on chocolate and some yummy ideas for meals this weekend. I received my Green & Black’s samples in the mail this week and we’ve been enjoying them. I really don’t care for milk chocolate at all, but my son has been enjoying it. And, I’m definitely not on board with the milk powder G&B and some other brands use in their chocolate.
My favorite chocolates are Xocai – I’m an independent distributor of this brand (and it’s pretty healthy as far as that sort of thing goes), Equal Exchange, and Theo. Like G&B, Xocai is fair trade & has no GMOs. Xocai chocolate also supports sustainable family farms (on the Ivory Coast). All of these brands have minimal ingredients. Those are my important criteria for choosing chocolate! 🙂
Another vote for Equal Exchange and Theo chocolate! I’ve never seen Xocai but will keep an eye peeled for it now. I don’t like it when they use soy lecithin in chocolate, and it tastes so much better without it!
I didn’t try your fudge recipe at Christmas but I just got my coconut oil replenished today, so I think I’m going to have to try it this weekend. Mmm thank you! It should be lovely with some Greener Planet Tempranillo-Garnacha organic red wine! 😀
Thank you for the lovely dessert ideas.
I can tell you why a mop may not be the best romantic gift. Along similar linesm my Father had a way of giving very practical gifts to my mother while raising a family of five children. I still remember the gift of a new stove one Christmas and how she cried . . . Even though I understand the idea that life would be better . . . she didn’t see it the same way. I don’t think she enjoyed cooking for seven all that much.
It is really good news to hear that Green and Blacks uses non-GMO soy lecithin! Did you have to call the company to find out? I seem to recall reading their label and noticing that it did not specify non-GMO, which would seem odd to me because I would think that it would be something they would want to make very clear. Possibly I am confusing them with another company. So — good news!
I’ve also been using green and blacks for years and just recently discovered Trader Joes Organic dark chocolate. All organic without soy Lecithin! I’m not sure if they are fair trade, but do love how they run their business.
Oh my gosh, Green and Black’s dark chocolate is my favorite! I crave that stuff everyday. I don’t eat it every day, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to. 😉
Careful with that dark chocolate, a few ounces has the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. I haven’t been able to sleep all week and I just figured out it’s the after dinner chocolate!!! I had no idea there was so much caffeine or I would not be eating it so late at night.
Chocolate for breakfast anyone?
They are not certified fair trade but Askinosie chocolate is also good.
Fantastic assortment of recipes! They all sound wonderful! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Have you tried Green and Blacks Hot Cocoa? When you don’t have a chance to fix it homemade this is so so good!