Valentine’s Day is upon us! Here are three menu ideas to celebrate:

Pot of Mussels

Recipe: Martha Stewart’s Mussels with White Wine and Herbs

Mussels are one of my favorite meals for a romantic dinner or a party! I serve the mussels in a big bowl, family style with small bowls for each person and an extra big bowl for discards. Make sure to have lots of good-quality bread for dipping in the yummy sauce!

To make it a meal add a side salad or even a simple Bruschetta to start.

Soy Salmon

Receipe: Gourmet’s Salmon Fillet with Soy Glaze

This is the easiest and most impressive way to cook a piece of salmon that I’ve found. The soy glaze is delicious, impressive and only has two ingredients! Also, I do really like the idea of eating pink or red food on Valentine’s Day – silly but true!

I serve the salmon with the recommended Ginger Fried Rice with Shiitake Mushrooms. Buy the rice from your local Chinese place, it should only be about $2, will be perfect for frying and will save you some time and energy. A wilted spinach salad with citrus is the perfect light note to round out the meal.

Blue Cheese Steak

Recipe: Bon Appétit’s Blue Cheese Crusted Steaks with Red Wine Sauce

There is something about steak on Valentine’s Day that just seems right. This version has indulgent blue cheese as well as a red wine sauce that is perfect to drizzle and get in that little something red!

I will actually be serving this recipe for a Valentine’s Day dinner I’m having on Friday with some of my single girlfriends – Yay Single Ladies Valentine’s Dinner! We’ll be having it with spinach salad with strawberries, spiced pecans and goat cheese as well as roasted new potatoes.

Chocolate Lava

Recipe: Bon Appétit’s Chocolate Lava Cakes

Chocolate Lava is the key to my heart! Although I have yet to perfect baking it to the exact point where you can pop them free from their ramekins while still maintaining a “lava” center – they are amazing no matter if over-cooked or under-cooked! Skip the Coffee Custard Sauce and whipped cream in favor of fresh raspberries and good-quality vanilla ice cream (I like Haagen Dazs “5”).

Cookie image courtesy of Whipped Bakeshop via Flickr