Valentine’s Day Dinner Recipes On a Budget

By Stephanie, February 3, 2012, Events, Food & Dining Out

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and are you already breaking out in cold sweats thinking about calling around for restaurant reservations and trying to budget for a fancy dinner for two? Stuck trying to figure out a good Valentine’s Day date idea? Why not just stay in this year and surprise your sweetheart with a delicious home-cooked meal!  This way you don’t have to worry about over-paying for Valentine’s Day’s specials, calling around to multiple restaurants to see who still has reservations open, or be rushed through dinner in an over-crowded restaurant.  As long as you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and spend a little time in the kitchen you can create a romantic and memorable dinner for two while still keeping to your resolution to stick to a budget. Here are two ideas for Valentin’s Day recipes for main courses to help you get you started on planning your special night.

Roasted Chicken is an easy and classic meal that almost anyone can enjoy.  You can also chop up some budget friendly root vegetable such as potatoes, carrots, or turnips to roast with the chicken.  Use this recipe as a starting point but feel free to substitute your own herbs and spices to transform a cheap meal into something more elegant.

Roasted Chicken

(Recipe courtesy of AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon white sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 (4 pound) whole chicken
  • 5 cloves garlic, crushed
 Directions
  1. In a bowl, mix the salt, sugar, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Rub the chicken with the mixture. Cover chicken, and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
  2. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
  3. Stuff the chicken cavity with the garlic. Place the chicken, breast side down, on a rack in a roasting pan.
  4. Roast 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C), and continue roasting 15 minutes. Baste chicken with pan drippings, reduce heat to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C), and continue roasting 30 minutes, to an internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Let stand 20 minutes before serving.

Another great dinner idea is steamed mussels.  Mussels are almost always the least inexpensive shellfish on the market.  Don’t think because you’re spending so little on a dinner you won’t get the same return on flavor.  This dish is kind to your budget and your taste buds.  Be sure to get a nice crusty loaf of bread to sop up all the liquid (a thrifty note:  you can substitute chicken broth for white wine if you wanted to save some extra money without sacrificing any of the flavor).

Classic French Steamed Mussels

(Recipe courtesy of About.com)

Ingredients:

  • 2 lb live mussels
  • 1 T unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup white wine
  • 2 chopped scallions or 1 chopped shallot
  • 2 chopped green garlic shoots or 2 cloves chopped garlic

Preparation:

  1. Scrub and debeard the mussels. The “beard” is the fibrous hairy thing hanging from one side of the tasty bivalve. Pull it off with a side-to-side motion.
  2. In case you are wondering, a mussel is alive if it reacts. Its shell should be closed. If it is open, sit the mussel on the kitchen counter for a bit. It may close when you are not looking.
  3. Heat the butter over medium-high heat in a large, wide-bottomed pot with a lid; I use a Dutch oven. Saute the shallot or green onion until it is soft but not browned. Add the garlic cloves if using — if you are using green garlic, leave it out for now.
  4. Add the white wine, and bring it to a boil. Add the mussels in one layer if possible.
  5. Cover the pot and let the mussels steam for 3-8 minutes. After three minutes, check the mussels; many should be open. You want them all open, but some will do this faster than others.
  6. As soon as most of the mussels are open, turn off the heat and toss in the green garlic, if using. Cover for a minute while you prepare bowls and plates.
  7. Spoon out plenty of mussels and broth, which should be briny enough to not need any more salt. Throw out any mussels that did not open.

Serve with crusty bread, more white wine — and an extra bowl for the shells.

(Photo by Sarah_Ackerman)

Bounce Energy is offering a special Valentine’s Day promo for new customers!  From now until February 14th 2012 you can earn a $50 gift certificate to Restaurant.com and two movie passes through Fandango.com!  Click here for more information.

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