Valentine's Day Meal Recipes

February 9, 2014 -- A popular Valentine's Day treat is to cook for your sweetheart, especially if you don't want to venture to a restaurant in this cold weather.

If you don't usually cook, it doesn't mean you can't dine like a king or queen. Marlena Jayatilake, Owner/Spice Merchant of Love That Spice, and her assistant, Heather Cenek, came into our ABC 7 Eyewitness News studio to show us how to make a great meal.

Marlena's Recipes:

Pan Seared Lamb Chops with Harissa

Ingredients:

2 dried Guajillo chiles
10 dried Pequin chiles
1/4 cup sweet Hungarian paprika
2 tablespoons pink Himalayan sea salt
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon cassia cinnamon
2 teaspoons dried lemon peel
2 teaspoons garlic flakes
1 teaspoon caraway seeds

Method:

Drizzle lamb chops with olive oil, and rub the fresh ground spices onto the lamb chops.

Moroccan Carrot Slaw

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander 
1/4 teaspoon Harissa 
1/4 teaspoon scallions
Pinch of coarsely ground seeds 
1/3 cup olive oil 
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 
1/4 cup fresh orange juice 
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint 
1 pound carrots peeled and coarsely grated 
4 cups mixed baby greens 
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced

Method:

Whisk spices in a large bowl. Whisk in oil, lemon juice, orange juice, and mint. 
Next add carrots and baby greens, toss to coat. 
Season with salt and pepper. Top with onion and serve.

Stuffed Strawberries

Ingredients:

1 mango peeled and diced
4 ounces of cream cheese
1 teaspoon sugar

Method:

Add the ingredients to a food processor, and puree. 
Take 12 strawberries and peel off the stem/leaf. 
Turn the strawberries upside down and make 2 slits forming a cross at the point. 
Stuff the strawberries with the mango cream cheese filling