Before you start stressing over cooking, why not take a look on Hello Fresh for a tasty meal recipe that won’t take you all day to cook? If you feel like you’re in a cooking rut and want to try new recipes, Hello Fresh is a great option. You can choose your favourite recipes for your subscription box every week. Hello Fresh will then deliver the fresh, pre-portioned ingredients straight to your door so you can cook delicious meals from scratch without any stress. Simple!
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They key to planning a romantic meal is to keep it light. You don’t want to eat a five course meal and feel overstuffed. The steak is a popular Valentine’s Day dish – with the fillet being a favourite, however I opted for a decadent duck breast with caramelised apple and spring greens from my weekly Hello Fresh box. It makes a really impressive special occasion dish but it’s actually easy to make and ready in 40 minutes.
{Disclaimer} I replaced the lentils from the original Hello Fresh recipe with courgette and added red onion instead of shallot.
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C, take the duck out of the fridge to come to room temperature. Remove the ends of the carrot and courgette and chop into roughly 1/2cm cubes. Peel, quarter and core the apple. Chop into 1cm cubes. Halve, peel and finely chop the red onion. Finely chop the parsley.
2. Heat a splash of oil in a saucepan on medium heat or use a knob of butter instead if you have some. Add the apple, a sprinkle of sugar and a splash of water. Pop a lid on the pan and cook until the apple has softened, 10-15 mins. Remove the lid for the last few mins of cooking time so the apple can thicken. Take the pan off the heat and set aside with the lid on to keep warm.
4. Heat a drizzle of oil in another frying pan on medium heat. Add the chopped carrot, courgette and red onion and cook until soft. Once the veggies are soft, stir in the stock pot and water (75ml). Cook for 3 mins, then take the pan off the heat and set aside until it’s time to serve.
5. Once the duck is cooked, remove from your oven and leave to rest for a few mins. Pour out all but a drizzle of oil from the frying pan you used to fry the duck and pop on medium-high heat. Once hot, add the spring greens. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Fry until softened, 3-4 mins.
6. Reheat the veggies, stir through the parsley and divide between your plates. Serve the spring greens on the side. Carve the duck into slices and arrange on top of the veggies with a generous spoonful of caramelised apple. Enjoy!
No matter what’s on the Valentine’s Day menu, your table setting requires a little extra attention too. There’s nothing that says elegance like good tableware at the dinner party you are throwing. This year I wanted to keep things simple, yet sophisticated and opted for a beautiful new dinnerware set from Wayfair. I needed a classic, timeless dinning set and Wayfair had the most reasonable priced items.
The rest of the dinnerware (including the champagne flutes, the tumbler glasses and the cutlery set) is from Wayfair too. They have such an incredible selection of home goods to suit any style and budget. The shipping is simple and fast too!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Credits:
Cheltenham 16 Piece Dinnerware Set | Heritage 3L Stoneware Round Casserole | 60 Piece Cutlery Set | Desiree Aalborg Platter | Laura Glass 200ml Champagne Flute | 4 Piece Premium Tumbler Set | Porcelain Jug | John Lewis Copper Cookbook Stand | Asda Copper Effect Salt And Pepper Shakers
Thank you Wayfair and Hello Fresh for sponsoring this post!
