In lieu of buying him a birthday gift, I made my boyfriend dinner on Friday night. I wanted to make a fancier meal, so I picked out a few recipes that I’ve collected that are as yet “untested”.

I prefer food to be simple, quick, and easy to prepare, which means I usually don’t use a lot of sauces or dressings. I also don’t usually use the oven for meat, because I LOVE my George Foreman grill for meat! So, this whole meal was an adventure for me…

Appetizer:

Carrot Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups grated carrots

1 tsp almond oil

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp finely grated lemon rind

Pinch of sea salt

Directions:

1) Grate carrots into long, thin strips using a grater or a peeler.

2) Toss grated carrots with other ingredients to taste.

3) Eat raw as a salad, or sautee and eat warm.

This was simple and tasted pretty good. When I made it I chopped the carrots in a food processor, but I recommend using carrot “strips” because the texture would be better. Carrots are my favourite vegetable and I prefer them raw, with no dip, so while this is a great recipe to make them more interesting, I will probably only use it occasionally.

Main Course:

Stuffed Chicken over Rice

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets

1 cup fresh spinach leaves

¼ cup sour cream

¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 clove garlic, crushed

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2) Place spinach in a large glass bowl, and heat in the microwave for 3 minutes, stirring every minute or so, or until wilted.

3) Combine filling ingredients in food processor and chop roughly.

4) Flatten chicken breasts with meat mallet until about ¼ to ½ inch thick.

5) Lay the chicken breasts out on a clean surface, and spoon some of filling mixture into each one.

6) Roll up chicken to enclose the filling, secure with toothpicks, and arrange chicken in a shallow baking dish.

7) Bake uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes until lightly browned.

This is the version I made for my boyfriend (type A), which I’m told was good – it did smell nice! For myself, I made up my own filling of spinach, ground walnuts (had some in the fridge), tomato salsa, and garlic. It tasted OK, but the walnut texture wasn’t great with the chicken, so back to the drawing board on that one. I cooked some long-grain white rice as a side-dish, the FIRST TIME in my life that I have ever made rice! Can you believe that? My family never ate rice while I was growing up. My parents made pasta sometimes, but I have always HATED pasta, therefore I have never made that either. I’ve always been a potato lover, so I always chose that as my side dish before the BTD. Now, I hardly eat grains at all, so the only time I have rice is at restaurants.

Dessert:

Chocolate Hazelnut Torte

Ingredients:

1/3 cup water

1 1/3 cup cocoa

¾ cup ghee

¾ cup vegetable glycerine

1 cup hazelnut meal

4 eggs separated

1 Tbsp cocoa powder (optional)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

2) Grease a deep 19cm square tin and line base and sides with parchment paper.

3) Blend cocoa with hot water in a large bowl until smooth.

4) Stir in ghee, vegetable glycerin, hazelnut meal and egg yolks.

5) Beat egg whites in a small bowl with electric mixer until soft peals form: fold into chocolate mixture in two batches.

6) Pour mixture into prepared pan.

7) Bake for 30-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

8) Stand for 15 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack, top side up, to cool.

9) Dust with sifted cocoa or prepare a sauce to accompany.

Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen or fresh raspberries

¼ cup pineapple juice

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp vegetable glycerin

Directions:

1) Blend raspberries and other ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.

2) Drizzle over desserts to taste.

This dessert was incredible, if I do say so myself! I was very pleased with the texture, similar to flourless tortes I’ve had at restaurants. My boyfriend is not a big chocolate person, but he also liked it. While I was baking this, I felt like it should have some sort of sauce with it, and I like raspberry and chocolate together. So, I just made up this raspberry sauce. The measurements are not exact in that recipe, since I just kept adding stuff until I thought it was done! I preferred the torte without the sauce, but my boyfriend liked the combination.

Bon appétit!