Valentine's Day Recipes: How to Make Your Favorite Foods Red or Pink

Valentine's Day romance is easy to achieve and guaranteed to delight when preparing a meal for the object of your affections. Here are some simple ways to dress up a meal without going to too much fuss and bother.

Drain salted, boiled potatoes and add to them a quarter of a cup of grated cheese, a teaspoon of butter, and a few drops of red food colouring. Mash well. Add in a tablespoon of finely chopped Spanish (red) onion and whip the potatoes with a fork until creamy and the onion is evenly distributed. You may add milk or cream to the potatoes if they are too dry. To serve, place a generous dollop on a plate and use a knife or cookie cutter to shape into a heart. Top with whatever meat you are serving. Steak or fish looks very good perched on top. Use a little red wine and cream to deglaze the pan in which the meat or fish was cooked, until reduced to a sauce consistency. Pour over top of the meat or fish, add vegetables or salad. If you'd prefer rice instead of potato, add quarter of a teaspoon of food colouring to the water and cook as normal. When cooked, mix through two tablespoons of finely chopped red capsicum if desired.

Complement the main course with your favourite wine. To make sparkling wine or sparkling grape juice extra special, place a chilled strawberry in the bottom of the glass. It looks great and is delicious to eat when the glass is empty.

Of course no special meal is complete without a dessert. Whatever your favourite dessert is, there are ways to dress it up to look like the perfect Valentine's Day treat. Chocolate cake is a timely classic, but a little treatment turns it into a festive special. Instead of the traditional icing, melt white chocolate and add red food colouring - it will be pink, not red. Pour over the cake, spreading with a spatula, and leave to set. Dip whole strawberries (or any fresh, red berry) into melted milk or dark chocolate and use to decorate the top of the cake. If the cake already has brown icing you can decorate that with the berries, or mix white icing with red food colouring and pipe a message and some love hearts on top of the cake.