Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and it put me in the mood to come up with some romance inspired recipes for couples to enjoy together for meaningful holidays, or a date night in. Whether you are celebrating Valentine’s Day at home this year with your honey, or have an anniversary or birthday coming up, certain dishes are definitely made for romantic evenings. Foods that taste delicious, have wonderful textures, tease the senses with wonderful aromas and a beautiful presentation on your plate- it’s all perfect when love is in the air!
I was inspired by my Le Creuset Flower Cocotte in powder blue to create a delicious chicken recipe that is perfect for two to celebrate at home on Valentine’s Day, with a side of fig balsamic vinaigrette romaine salad. With some candles, a little wine, and maybe music, you might find enjoying Valentine’s Day at home even better.
Chicken with Lemon Butter Recipe For A Date Night At Home
Ingredients (for two)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 small whole breasts or 3-4 breast halves)
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup organic chicken broth
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup flour
juice of one large lemon
pinch of thyme
pinch of rosemary
sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. In a cast iron cocotte over low heat, melt butter. Raise heat to medium-high and cook chicken breasts in melted butter on each side for 3-4 minutes, until all pink is gone.
2. Add in chicken broth and minced garlic to cover chicken and stir together, cooking an additional 2 minutes until juice starts to boil and reduces a bit.
3. Remove chicken, and add flour, lemon juice, thyme, and rosemary to butter sauce in cocotte to thicken. Add chicken back in and stir together for an additional three to four minutes, coating chicken with sauce (internal temperature of chicken breasts should be at least 165º F). Season to taste.
4. Serve with favorite sides and enjoy!
Bonne Maman means good mom, and in this house, it means a mom who offers her family delicious and all natural fruit preserves (because I’m not the preserve making type, but we are all the preserve eating type). I was sent a selection of fig and strawberry preserves by Bonne Maman for the family, and I saved the fig preserve for our romantic date night, because figs are a known aphrodisiac and it would be perfect to create a Fig Balsamic Dressing for a delicious salad.
Romaine Lettuce Salad with Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon Fig Preserve
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste (optional)
Directions
1. Wash and cut a head of romaine lettuce and a tomato for the salad and set aside.
2. To prepare dressing, combine fig preserve and vinegar in a small saucepan and heat together over low to medium heat, for about 3 minutes. Pour into jar and add olive oil and garlic, and shake well. Drizzle onto salad.
The entire meal was incredibly aromatic and divinely savory, and figs and garlic are known aphrodisiacs, so this sumptuous meal is rife with ingredients designed to elicit feelings of ardor…perfect for an evening alone with just two!
That looks delicious! I also love the color of the Le Creuset – it has a vintage tone to it that I love.
Now that is a romantic meal, I need to cook this for someone!
The fig balsamic sounds just delightful. Our wedding anniversary is very close to Valentine’s Day, so we typically don’t do much. Having a romantic dinner date would be a wonderful treat for us both.
Garlic is an aphrodisiac? Wow, cool! This sounds delicious and I love the blue cocotte!
This would be such a perfect date night meal. Tasty and light.
I’m going to try this for my hubby soon. Thanks.
Oh, my! I haven’t seen the Le Creuset Flower Cocotte before! I have to know, is it new? I am going to have to see if they make it in Caribbean Blue (my color to collect). the Fig Balsamic sounds yummy and would be a big hit in this house. Thanks for sharing!
I didn’t realize figs were an aphrodisiac! This looks like a perfect date night dinner.
That’s one romantic looking meal! Makes me want to prepare it for my adorable hubby!
I think I saw it in another color (a beautiful buttery yellow), so from time to time it’s available in different colors…I collect Caribbean Blue Le Creuset too!
What “sweet” idea 🙂 We really like Bonne Maman but haven’t tried the fig preserves yet.
This would go over so big with my boyfriend. He is MAD about figs!
Oh my gosh I am for sure going to make this! Thank you
Oh I can just imagine with some candlelight on the dining table, a little wine and some soft music playing that this would be the perfect Valentine’s dinner for two. The only thing missing is dessert! (Now I need to hunt through your recipes for something Vanilla flavored, because I think that’s another aphrodisiac!)
I want that Le Creuset Flower Cocotte! And I love everything about this recipe/meal and think it would make the perfect V-Day dinner for my husband and I. Yum!
Yes, I’m totally craving that vinaigrette too. I just can’t wait to give that a taste!
I’ve been craving vinaigrette a lot lately and this looks so good to where I’ll definitely be giving it a try!
Looks like the perfect dinner for two for Valentine’s Day! So delish!
That looks delicious, but my idea of a date night at home includes getting food and bringing it home LOL!
Isn’t it so cute? I need one of those for myself!
WOW – that looks so amazing!
I made this last week and it came out amazing. I can’t wait to change it up a little bit.
Ooh, lemon butter sounds so good right about now. I’m always up for new ways of making chicken!
Yes, I love that idea of a romantic dinner!
I absolutely adore fig and this dressing sounds amazing! As someone who eats a salad almost every day, I can not wait to make this.