Have fun with cookie cutters! Cookie cutters aren’t just for cookies! Valentine’s Day Sweet Potato Hearts are an easy and adorable side dish for your special Valentine’s Day Dinner.
One of my favorite Valentine’s Day Dinner Ideas is these Adorable Heart-Shaped Lemon Ginger Roasted Sweet Potatoes! You can serve them plain, add whatever flavor you like, or make these Lemon Ginger Roasted Sweet Potato Hearts. Depending on the size of your potatoes, you’ll need 2-3 sweet potatoes, a cookie-cutter, (smaller in diameter than your sweet potatoes) butter, a fresh lemon, fresh ginger, brown sugar, and a bit of olive oil. (Salt, optional)
Variation: Try cinnamon and sugar or honey instead of lemon and ginger, or go savory with salt and pepper.
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TIP: Another fun tip for a romantic meal is to use aluminum foil to shape rolls or stuffed puff pastry into heart shapes for Valentine’s Day! I used my gran’s cornbread cast iron skillet but you can find one online! I filled puff pastry with chopped olives and cheese!
And for dessert…
One of our favorite Valentine’s Day treats is Dove chocolate drizzled berries.
- First, wash and pat the berries completely dry. I leave them wrapped in some paper towel or a tea towel for a few minutes.
- Place the berries on a spare tray covered in plastic wrap or parchment. (You’ll transfer the finished berries to your serving dish(s) after they have set up.
- Combine several chopped milk chocolate Dove Promises with chopped dark chocolate Dove promises and melt them with about 1/8 tsp of coconut oil. Sometimes I’ll use milk and dark chocolate Hershey Bars.
- Melt the chocolate in a small dry cup in the microwave in 10-5 second increments, and stir with a dry spoon until it’s warm and the chocolate starts to melt. (*If you heat it up too quickly or introduce any moisture, the chocolate will seize up and you’ll have to start over.) The bit of coconut oil keeps the chocolate slightly pliable so it’s less crackley.
- When the chocolate is about half melted you can stop microwaving and stir until smooth.
- Use the tines of a fork or a small spoon, or put the melted chocolate in a plastic baggie and cut the tip-off. Then drizzle it over the berries until mostly covered and very cute!
- Allow them to set for several minutes uncovered in the refrigerator and transfer to a serving dish or a newly lined tray until ready to serve.
Variation: Try chocolate drizzled pear slices, or add blueberries to melted chocolate!
For the Morning After…
Why not have more chocolate-covered strawberries! Try my raspberry white chocolate scones cut in heart shapes, or my Holiday Biscotti would be perfect. Just use all red cherries!
Whether you go out, stay home and cook, or order takeout, I hope you find my Valentine’s Day dinner ideas will inspire you to cook up some pretty food!
If you haven’t tried chocolate-dipped or drizzled fruit, give it a try! I think I’ll recreate this steak, cilantro lime shrimp, golden beets, and beet greens dinner from a few years ago. It’s not easy to find perfect golden beets in February with greens attached! Do you have a favorite dessert or dish that you cook up for Valentine’s Day?
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Valentine’s Day Sweet Potato Hearts
Equipment
- 1 knife
- 1 cast iron skillet or cookie sheet
- parchment paper optional, if using a cookie sheet
- 1 zester
Ingredients
- 2-3 sweet potatoes
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 1 lemon Zest and juice (*Variations: Instead of lemon & ginger use cinnamon and sugar, or use salt and pepper)
- ½ tsp fresh ginger About ½ inch of grated ginger. You can substitute by sprinkling ground ginger over the tops. (*Variations: Instead of lemon & ginger use cinnamon and sugar, or use salt and pepper)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar More or less, depending on how large your slices are or how sweet you like.
- ½ tbsp olive oil to oil the pan.
Instructions
- Oil the bottom of a cast iron skillet. (or line a roasting pan with parchment paper)
- Preheat oven to 450°F
- Clean and microwave 2-3 sweet potatoes for 3-6 minutes, or until you can slice through them easily.
- Zest the lemon and use the zester to grate about ½ tsp of ginger. (Variations: Skip lemon & ginger and use cinnamon & sugar, or honey instead, or just olive oil, salt & pepper!)
- Cut each potato into ½ slices, then use a heart-shaped cookie cutter. (You can save and use the scraps for another dish.)
- squeeze half the lemon over the top and bottom of the slices and place them in the cast iron pan, or lined roasting pan.
- Roast for about 10 minutes, or until browned on the bottom and flip each slice.
- Sprinkle some lemon zest and ginger over the tops of each slice. Top with sugar and add a dollop of butter on each slice.
- Roast for 10-15 more minutes or until browned on top.
