A Foolproof Guide to Cooking Her Dinner on Valentine's Day

Save your wallet and your relationship with these simple dishes from Food52.

February 12, 2013

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Preparing a Valentine's Day dinner can seem daunting, especially for someone who's an amateur in the kitchen. But if you can chop kale, mash squash, and spread ricotta on toast, you can pull off this menu.

Each of these dishes have limited ingredients, require only a few short steps, and best of all, are forgiving of your limited skills on the stove.

Dust off your oven: A Foolproof Guide to Cooking Her Dinner on Valentine's Day

And if all goes wrong, there's always champagne. Lots of champagne.

Written by Food52 (@food52)

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Champagne Cocktail

If you can pour champagne, you can make this classic cocktail, which requires nothing more than bubbly, sugar, and Angostura bitters. Bonus points for making a fancy twist. Get the recipe here.

Bruschetta with Ricotta, Honey and Lemon Zest

You can make toast, right? Just slice Italian bread, smear it with ricotta, and drizzle it with honey. Top it off with a sprinkle of lemon zest, and repeat until there's no bread left. Get the recipe here.

Kale Salad with Apples and Hazelnuts

Rather than getting stressed while she's at your apartment, you can toast the hazelnuts, shave the Parmesan, and even dress the kale the night before Valentine's Day. Then, when it's time to serve, just slice the apples and toss them in. Get the recipe here.

Suspiciously Delicious Cabbage

Cabbage may not be your go-to veggie, but with the subtle addition of ginger and fresh cream, it will be your (and her) new favorite. It's almost impossible to mess this up: Simply cook it until it tastes good. Get the recipe here.

Spatchcocked Roast Chicken

Spatchcocking sounds scary. It's not. It's probably the quickest, most forgiving roast chicken you'll ever cook. Get the recipe here.

Butternut Squash Puree

Butternut squash, olive oil, and cream. Mashed. Yes, it's that simple. Get the recipe here.

Crispy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can make these cookies in advance, and then test a few to make sure they're good (hint: they will be). Serve with top-notch vanilla ice cream, and you're ready to go. Get the recipe here.