| Sexy scoffs
Is it true that the way to your partner's heart is through his stomach? Find out with our delicious but healthy menu If you are looking to reignite the spark in your romance, instead of facing another shopping trip, laden with edible underwear and champagne, treat your sweetie to a homemade gift: a tasty meal. We've included some aphrodisiacs in our list below, but if you want to really spice up the menu, add some tomatoes, chillies, pine nuts, mushrooms or sweet potatoes, and eat at your own risk. One thing to remember when you're preparing any or all of these special dishes: keep it light, low-fat and watch the alcohol. Otherwise, you'll find he's fallen asleep before the pudding. Each meal below serves two. We've calculated the calories and fat per person in case you're watching your (or his) waistline. Enjoy. Breakfast 2 medium-sized pancakes, topped with 12 strawberries and 4 tbsp Greek yoghurt Mid-morning drink or snack 400ml Passion fruit juice Lunch Vegetable tempura Veggie version120g tofu, instead of prawns Mid-afternoon drink or snack 2 glasses sparkling water flavoured with 90ml elderflower cordial Dinner Veggie version Late night munchies:2 mugs hot chocolate with 8 marshmallows Total daily calories: 1946 calories, 61g fat Other sweet splurges:8 chocolates from a box: 125 calories, 6g fat Next page: recipes for Vegetable Tempura, Thai Broth and more. Recipes Vegetable Tempura 2 1/2 tbsp plain flour Combine flour, cornflour, water, beer and salt in a bowl and let stand for 20 minutes. Heat oil in a pan, dip the carrots and courgettes in the mixture then scoop out with a slotted spoon and drain off any excess batter. Fry for one to two minutes until crisp and golden. Thai Broth 1 fish or vegetable stock cube Dissolve fish or vegetable stock in water, then infuse with lemongrass, red chilli and garlic over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Next, add prawns, mangetout and baby sweet corn to the mixture and simmer for 5 minutes or until prawns turn pink. Sprinkle over basil for garnish. Grilled Oysters 12 oysters Grill freshly opened oysters under highest setting about 3 minutes until they turn opaque. Remove and drizzle over a touch of lime juice, then sprinkle coriander on top. Coq au vin 50g chopped bacon back rashers Brown bacon rashers and chicken quarters in flour and oil. Add shallot, herbs and red wine, then cover and simmer for 35-45 minutes. Add button mushrooms and cook for another 20 minutes. Serve over rice. Champagne Sorbet 940ml water Combine water and sugar in a pan and simmer for five minutes. Stir in champagne, then cool and refrigerate for two hours. Freeze mixture in a shallow dish for four to five hours and whisk every hour until smooth. When the mixture is slush-like, transfer to a serving dish and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Tomato and Sweet Pepper Soup 4 yellow peppers Roast peppers in the oven on the highest setting for 5-10 minutes or until charred. Put them in a plastic bag and let them steam for 10 minutes. Then remove peppers from the bag, peel off the skins and coarsely chop. Sauté onion in oil for about 10 minutes, then combine tomatoes, vegetable stock and roasted peppers and bring to boil. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Transfer soup to food processor and blend until smooth. Return to pan and heat through. Serve with basil over top. Wild Mushroom Risotto 360g risotto Cook risotto according to instructions on packet. Stir in mushrooms about 5 to 10 minutes before risotto is finished cooking. |