Treat Your Loved One With These Healthy Valentine Snacks
This year, have fun creating healthy, themed Valentine treats that need just a little effort and a handful of ingredients. Try these Valentine’s recipe ideas Pottery Barn to delight your friends, family or that special someone. After all, it’s a wonderful time of year to share your love through food!
Hearts of Romaine Salad Bites
This simple salad uses the leaves from the tender heart of the lettuce. You can make it even sweeter and more Valentine’s Day-ready by creating simple radish hearts for a healthy garnish. Unlike many salads, this one’s easy to eat with your hands. You and your loved one can snack together on the sofa while watching a romantic movie.
Ingredients
Small romaine heart leaves separated, cleaned and dried
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Radishes
Shaved parmesan cheese
Black pepper (optional)
Step 1: Create the Radish Hearts
To make your radish hearts, remove the stems from your radishes and wash them. Then, take a paring knife and carefully cut a V shape out of the top of the radish. Cut lengthwise slices in the radish to create small hearts with the V shape on top.
Step 2: Arrange the Romaine Heart Leaves
Take your cleaned leaves and line them up on a serving platter. Feel free to get a little artistic with your arrangement! Create a radiating flower shape on a round platter. Or try a geometric arrangement on a rectangular platter to keep it interesting.
Step 3: Dress and Garnish
Drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the leaves. You can use a bottled vinaigrette instead, too. After dressing the leaves, sprinkle on some shaved parmesan. Carefully arrange a few radish hearts on each leaf. Place the radish heart slices down flat so their cute shape shows up well. Crack some fresh black pepper on top if you want to add a slight spicy kick. Be sure to serve these lettuce boats with some napkins for easy snacking.
Candied Grapefruit Hearts
Whether it’s light pink or ruby red, grapefruit is the perfect jewel tone for this love-focused holiday. Though grapefruit looks ideal, it can be a bit sour without some sugar. Rather than sprinkling white sugar on top, this recipe uses brown sugar to create a crème brulee-like topping. Because you only use a bit of sugar, this fruity treat is an ideal alternative to rich Valentine snack ideas. It’s sweet, cute and pairs beautifully with a glass of champagne.
Ingredients and Supplies
Fresh grapefruit (1 medium fruit per person)
Brown sugar
Heart-shaped cookie cutters (large, medium and small)
Serrated knife
Lined cookie sheet
Step 1: Slice the Grapefruit
Use the serrated knife to make crosswise slices in the grapefruit. Slice in the same direction you would as if you were going to eat the grapefruit in halves. Create medium-thin slices. Remove seeds from each slice as you go. Set the slices aside. Discard the very top and very bottom slices from each grapefruit; you only want the parts with edible fruit.
Step 2: Cut Out the Hearts
Using your heart-shaped cookie cutters, punch a heart out of each grapefruit slice. Scale the size of the cutter to the size of the slice. You want to create heart shapes without any rind.
Step 3: Add the Candy Topping
Place the grapefruit slices on your lined cookie sheet. Use a spoon to gently sprinkle some brown sugar on each slice. Add about a half-teaspoon or so on each heart. Pop the cookie sheet under your oven’s broiler for a few seconds – just long enough to melt the sugar and turn it into a delightfully caramelized topping. Remove the grapefruit hearts quickly to avoid burning.
Step 4: Plate and Serve
Serve the grapefruit still warm, putting a few slices on each plate. Provide a fork and knife to make eating easy. Use dinnerware in a color such as white or blue so these colors can shine through the grapefruit slices a bit. This candied grapefruit makes a great standalone snack. However, it’s also a great garnish for Valentine’s day breakfast dishes, such as heart-shaped pancakes, or a light dessert such as sweetened Greek yogurt an