1 pound fresh spinach, washed with stems removed
2 cups strawberries, hulled and halved

1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper

1. Combine spinach and strawberries in a bowl.
2. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over the spinach and strawberries. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

2 chicken breasts
3 ounces goat cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper

2 large red peppers, roasted, seeded and skinned
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon tomato paste
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine goat cheese, garlic, basil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a food processor to form a paste.
3. Cut a slit into the thickest part of the chicken breasts and stuff with the goat cheese mixture.
4. Bake until chicken is cooked completely, about 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare roasted red pepper sauce.
6. Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the shallot until tender.
7. Stir in the tomato paste and heavy cream and bring to a boil.
8. Combine with roasted red pepper in food processor and season with salt and pepper.

Makes 2 servings

12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons instant espresso
3/4 cup boiling water
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

12 ounces frozen unsweetened raspberries
1/2 cup sugar

1. Position the rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
2. Line bottom of a 9" springform pan with wax or parchment paper and greased all sides.
3. Pulse chocolate, sugar and coffee in a food processor until finely ground.
4. Pour boiling water through the feed tube with the motor running, mixing until chocolate has completely melted.
5. Scrape down the sides if necessary and continue adding the butter, then the eggs and vanilla.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake until the edges are puffy and the center has just set, about 55 minutes.
7. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
8. Combine raspberries and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar is completely dissolved and the berries have lost their form.
9. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a boil.
10. Refrigerate the liquid and serve over sliced torte.

Makes 8 servings

1 pound asparagus, trimmed to 3" (reserve stalks for other use)
12 small crimini mushrooms
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup butter
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons parmesan reggiano (optional)

1. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and add the lemon juice.
2. Stir in the mushrooms and saute for several minutes.
3. Add the asparagus tips and continue cooking until asparagus is just tender, about 4 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper, top with parmesan and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

Valentine's Day is one of those holidays that I know is coming, but always seems to surprise me when it's actually here. I spent the better part of yesterday trying to decide if I should go about buying roses and chocolates and teddy bears, but opted for the homemade card. I think after this long Shannon has grown to accept me for being the penniless and cheap boyfriend that I am and can at least appreciate the thought that goes into the creation of a good card.

What I mean to say is that I blew all of my money on dinner and wine. When either of us thinks of decadence the first dish that comes to mind is roasted red peppers stuffed with goat cheese. I think for most people it'd probably be chocolate cake or something similar (and we've got that covered, too.) Tonight's dinner was a Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce. There's nothing richer or more satisfying than creamy goat cheese. The pictures with the sauce did not turn out (thanks to romantic ambient lighting and my unsteady hand) but rest assured that this dinner is sure to woo anyone with taste buds.

Strawberries have been making their presence known in the supermarkets lately and they're actually pretty sweet. As a salad we had Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Poppyseed Dressing that had a nice fruity tartness to it that went quite well with the roasted red pepper. It also went well with our wine, which was a 2005 Rosemount Estate Riesling from Southeast Australia. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about wine whatsoever. In fact, I was surprised to find that this wine was sweet and sparkling when I expected it to be dry and fruity. At least it was white when I thought it was, in fact, white.

Our other side dish was Asparagus Tips and Crimini Mushrooms. Apparently asparagus is an aphrodisiac and it is still abundant and inexpensive, so I figured we'd make use. I like the more wild taste of crimini mushrooms and they go quite well with asparagus. I cooked them in a simple lemon butter and topped them with some fresh parmesan reggiano; simple and delicious.

For dessert we had Chocolate Torte with Raspberry Coulis. I must admit I was a bit disappointed in this recipe. I've had many tortes, but there is one in particular I really enjoy. There isn't a single hint of sweetness to it and it's extremely dense and rich and probably my favorite dessert of all time. I looked for several hours to find a picture accompanying a recipe that resembled it, found one, made this and it was not the same at all. It was more like a crispy, dense chocolate cake. Of course, there's nothing wrong with crispy, dense chocolate cake whatsoever and it was easily devoured, but it just was not what I was trying to accomplish.

Anyhow, happy Valentine's Day! I hope it went well for you. I've heard that you're not supposed to eat onions and garlic on a date, but as long as both of you are eating them and there's a bottle of wine involved, it hardly interferes with the kissing!