Romantic Recipes for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a day synonymous with flowers, chocolates, hearts and extravagant meals with the loved ones. This year, why not try a different approach with nutritious and healthy meals that will not only warm your heart, but help keep it healthy as well. Whether it is a family dinner, a romantic dinner for two or a couples' dinner party, it is not hard to sneak in a few healthy additions to the meal.

Occassions like Valentine's Day can be tough on dieters. Here are some tips that you can follow so that you won't break the calorie bank:

1. Cocktails can be replaced by ravishing and healthy mocktails as they are all fruits with no alcohol. They will vitalise you without adding much calorie to your drink. If you still want to have alcohol then opt for a glass of red wine instead of beer or other alcoholic beverages. Red wine is rich with antioxidants called polyphenols.
2. One of the most popular and effective way to present your feelings is by the way of some nice chocolates or chocolate based dish. Choose a dark chocolate over milk chocolate to get the health benefits of antioxidants present in it. You can also prepare some low fat chocolate dishes like chocolate fondue, chocolate pudding or chocolate truffles.
3. If you are eating out, don't forget to order a vegetable soup. It will cover up for your vegetable allowance.
4. Opt for russian salads, as they are diced vegetables in thick yogurt (curd) looking colorful and good. This will add a healthy change to the usually boring feel of salads.
5. Instead of fried starters go for tawa roasted ones. This will help in avoiding the extra fat intake. Steamed or rosted vegetables dumplings with any variety of sauce should be good.
6. Take a romantic walk after your food. It will give you both more time together while also taking care of the extra calories eaten.

Nothing says "I love you" quite like a specially prepared home-cooked meal. Here are some healthy recipe ideas specially for the occassion:

1. Low Fat Chocolate Truffles: Indulge yourself or your dear ones with these rich, creamy low fat chocolate truffles. Using light cream cheese instead of heavy cream, you can enjoy these sweet treats without feeling too guilty.

2. Healthy Chocolate Fondue: A warm chocolate sauce that you can dip fresh fruits like strawberries, bananas, apples, pears, etc into.

3. Pomegranate Jelly: Jelly lovers can make this recipe out of the healthiest fruit of all, pomegranate.

4. Marie Biscuit Chocolate Cake: A simple chocolaty cake made with marie biscuits with no baking involved.

5. Virgin Miami Vice: A mocktail that you can enjoy with your loved one. It is comprised of a layer of blended pineapple and coconut with a blended layer of strawberry and lime on top.