Valentines Date Night Recipe with Lucy Pea
Lucy Pea shares a delicious, quick and easy recipe, perfect for Valentines Day.
Valentine’s Day – always a controversial day with a bit of a Marmite vibe. Some people love it, some hate it. None the less, it’s a good excuse to get in the kitchen and cook something special for your loved one, housemate, best mate etc. So, here’s a really tasty, quick and easy recipe that everyone will love.So, who am I and why am I here - I’m Lucy, and I’m a self-confessed food lover. I’m literally obsessed. I’d spend every waking moment thinking about, talking about, cooking or eating food if I could. I officially work in advertising, but feeding people is what I SHOULD be doing.Follow me @LucyPea_Cooks and I’ll feed you virtually. DM me with a tempting enough proposal, and I’ll happily actually feed you.This Asian influenced marinated salmon dish is so easy, it’s my go-to when I want to recommend a stress-free recipe to friends. I’ve paired it with a colourful slaw salad, which is well worth the little bit of chopping required. You can easily put this together after work.The slaw champions seasonal ingredients that are readily available in the colder months of February, and the salmon is so easy you’ll (hopefully!) return to this again and again for a post-work feed!Top off your Valentine’s evening with my ready in no time pudding, satsuma segments dipped in chocolate and sprinkled in sea salt.
Asian influenced marinated salmon, with a colourful slaw salad
For the Salmon:
1 stick lemongrass, finely chopped (I cheat and use lemongrass paste)
½ thumb of ginger, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 bunch coriander
2 salmon fillets
1 tbsp runny honey
1 chilli, finely chopped
1 lime, zest a quarter
For the Slaw:
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 cabbage, grated
2 carrots, grated
½ pepper, finely sliced
¼ cucumber, peeled into ribbons
4 radishes, finely sliced
Method:
1.Mix the lemongrass, ginger, and garlic with the soy sauce and lime zest. Rub all over the salmon fillets. Leave to marinate for an hour if you can, or 4 hours + if you’re really prepared.
2.Pre-heat your grill to 200C. Whilst the salmon is marinating, prep and chop all of the ingredients for the salad, mix all the vegetables together.
3.When you’re ready to cook the salmon, brush the ginger and garlic pieces to the side of the salmon (if they’re on the top, they’ll catch and burn on the grill). Brush the salmon with a little runny hunny and put under the grill.
4.Depending on how aggressive your grill is, after around five minutes your salmon should have a nice dark colour. If, like mine, your grill is a bit temperamental, keep half an eye on the salmon whilst it’s in there so it doesn’t blacken too much and start to burn. Once the salmon has browned on top, turn off the grill, close the door and leave the salmon in there for another five minutes.
5.Pour the marinade from the salmon into a bowl, add the juice of the lime and mix. Serve the salmon and salad, pour the marinade on top, and sprinkle over the chilli and chopped coriander.
If you’re particularly hungry, serve the main dish with cooked rice noodles or sweet potato mash.
If you really want a special evening, the best wine for this dish would be a dry Riesling or a Gewürztraminer, both which should hold their own against the richness of the salmon and the Asian flavours in the dish (I worked in wine before I worked in advertising. I like to pair food and wine…).
And for pudding...
If you want to make a simple pudding, why not make these chocolate-salted dipped satsumas too. They’re a tasty, winter-version of the chocolate dipped strawberry (save this for the summer when you can buy local, juicy-sweet strawberries). They are super simple and only take around half an hour to firm up in the fridge.
Salted chocolate dipped satsumas
250g dark chocolate
2 satsumas
Maldon sea salt
Method:
1.Peel the satsumas and take off the pith and separate out the segments.
2.Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (aka in a heatproof bowl on top of a simmering saucepan of water).
3.Once the chocolate has melted, dip a half of each satsuma segment in the chocolate, put on a plate and lightly sprinkle with sea salt.
4.Pop in the fridge and bring them out when you’re ready to eat them! These will also keep for a day or two in the fridge so they’re perfect if you want to make them ahead.
