Has this ever happened to you? It's been a busy day, and you want nothing more than to sit down to a cozy, romantic Valentine's Day dinner with your special someone. While going out to eat together is nice, staying in and making dinner can be a welcome change.
Unfortunately, no one likes you because your personality, face and mannerisms drive everyone away. That's right! It's another solitary Valentine's Day for you, dear reader.
Is it the way you act? Are you just unpleasant? Perhaps you simply lack the confidence to approach people. Most likely, it's some combination of these things and innumerable other factors.
Fortunately, even if we can't actually fix you as a person, we can at least make your dinner-for-one as pleasant as it can be without someone to actually interact with. Here's how I make my perfect Valentine's Day dinner for one! (God, I'm lonely.)
Goat Cheese and Beet salad with Toasted Walnuts and Arugula
For this salad, you'll need some baby arugula, beets, chevre, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and garlic.
Normally, I would advise against including anything particularly garlicky in a romantic dinner, since nothing kills the mood faster than your date breathing allium-laced air right into your face.
Thankfully, since it's not like anyone is around for you to share this with, you can go all-out on the garlic.
As such, we'll start off with a dressing, featuring blood orange olive oil, dark chocolate Balsamic vinegar and a clove of garlic
We'll toss this with some baby arugula.
Now, we'll want to very lightly toast some walnuts in the oven and roughly chop them.
We'll also roast the beets.
I did so in a foil pouch with a drizzle of live oil for about 40 minutes at 400 degrees F.
Let them cool and cut them into small cubes.
Mix this in with some crumbles of goat cheese.
To plate, lay down a thick bed of arugula, sprinkle on some chopped nuts and top with a neat pile of beets and cheese.
This is one of my favorite salads ever - a meal that really demands to be shared. Or you could eat it alone, I guess.
Salmon en Papillote and Broccolini
This big, luxurious fillet of salmon could serve two (if you weren't eating dinner by yourself). However, given that you're probably eating your feelings because you're lonely, I would suggest this rather large portion size.
Salmon are relatively solitary creatures compared to other fish, and you're spending Valentine's Day alone, so this dish is both delicious and a fitting metaphor for the way your life is going.
I like to make a compound butter to flavor my fish. I use garlic, rosemary, thyme, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and basil.
Just chop the herbs finely and whisk into some softened butter. Freeze it to firm it up.
Cooking your salmon enclosed in parchment paper is a great way to ensure it stays juicy and moist.
You can add some medallions of compound butter and some fast-cooking vegetables to create a complete meal.
I opted for broccolini, but you could use broccoli, spinach, sliced carrots or anything else you like.
Wrap your salmon in the parchment paper and set to bake at 400 F for 20 minutes.
Garnish with lemon and basil flowers.
Rye Brownie with Coarse Sea Salt
Let's finish our dinner off with dessert.
These brownies are relatively bitter, which seems appropriate since you're probably bitter that you don't have a date tonight.
I used this recipe and added a bit of chopped rosemary.
Make the batter as directed and, if you like, shape it into a heart.
No one else will see how it looks, but it's nice to make it a fun shape for yourself, I guess.
Top this with course sea salt.
The kind of salt you use matters! Make sure you're using flaky salt, to give it some extra crunch.
And there you have it.
Listen, there's no shame in making a decadent meal for yourself.
Sure, it's nice to have a special someone to enjoy Valentine's Day with. But we can't always get what we want, can we?
Make it a priority to become comfortable with yourself and maybe, just maybe, next year will be different.
Happy Valentine's Day.