Valentines Day 2021: Make These Pretty Plates That Are Healthy Too

Valentine's day should be about celebrating love, where self-love should take precedence.

It does not need a celebratory meal that ends up messing up our digestion or our health.

But that doesn’t mean you need to eat meals that are boring or look drab. Some healthy plates can be really good looking too.

Try these simple ‘red hot’ recipes to spice up and add some right intentioned love to your meals on this special day, all bursting with the colour of love - RED.

Breakfast Delights

1. Amaranth pancake

1. Add 30 gm amaranth flour, 200 ml milk, 30 gm desiccated coconut, a pinch of salt and baking powder, and water (if needed) and mix well.
2. Add 1 tbsp honey and a bit of cinnamon powder.
3. Now heat a nonstick fry pan. Add half a teaspoon of oil and add a dollop of the pancake mix.
4. Spread evenly to give a round pancake shape. Cook from both sides on slow heat. Drizzle some honey on top and enjoy.

2. Quick & Healthy Parfait

Concoct a breakfast parfait with layers of chilled yogurt.

1. Sliced fresh red colour fruit (strawberries, pomegranate, deseed red grapes, dried cranberries etc) and crunchy roasted flaxseeds.
2. Top with roasted walnuts and dig in.

Some Bright Red Drinks

1. Kokum Sherbet

1. Take two fresh kokum fruits, cut them in half.
2. Remove the seeds and then grind them into a fine paste.
3. Make sugar syrup and pour it into the kokum paste. Add cumin and cardamom powder to taste.
4. Put two to three tablespoons of this paste in a glass.
5. Add cold water and ice, and there you go!

You can store the remaining paste in the refrigerator.

2. Beetroot Chaach

1. Puree 1 boiled beetroot in a mixer.
2. Mix it with 1 cup yogurt with 1 cup water and whisk once.
3. Next heat 1/2 tsp oil, add 1/4th tsp mustard seeds, 5-6 curry leaves, 1/2 tsp ginger, and 1 green chilly chopped finely.
4. Add the tempering to beetroot chaach.

Chill and drink up!

For Lunch Options

1. Beet Cake

1. Peel 1 large beetroot and 1 small potato, and grate them.
2. Season with salt, pepper, add one egg white, and 2-3 sliced almonds.
3. Grease a non-stick pan with very little oil, place the potato and beet mixture into it, in a thin layer, and press down a bit.
4. Cook till until golden brown on one side, then carefully flip to cook on the other side.

Eat it with a salad of your choice.

2. Bean Spread

1. Mash 1 cup boiled rajma (kidney beans) and mix with 2 tbsp plain yogurt.
2. Add spices and herbs - a pinch each of mustard, salt, rosemary and pepper, and bit of olive oil.

Spread over toasted rye sourdough bread and eat.

Some Salad Dinners

1. Apple and Potato Salad

1. Mix roughly sliced carrots and apples and capsicum, chopped pineapple, and sliced and blanched baby corn.
2. Add roughly grated firm boiled potatoes.
3. Make a dressing by mixing 1 tsp each of olive oil, vinegar, and sugar, add 1/2 tsp tabasco and salt and pepper and red chilli flakes to taste.
4. Now fold in this dressing in the salad.

Chill and enjoy!

2. Beetroot Salad With Berries and Greens

1. Place thinly sliced boiled beetroot on a plate. Keep aside.
2. In a bowl add red salad leaves, strawberry salt & pepper, and drizzle olive oil.
3. Mix it and place it on top of a thinly sliced beetroot.
4. Add some crumbled goat cheese on top of the plated leaves salad.

Eat chilled. Pair it with any healthy bread.

(Kavita is a nutritionist, weight management consultant and health writer based in Delhi. She is the author of Don’t Diet! 50 Habits of Thin People (Jaico) and Ultimate Grandmother Hacks: 50 Kickass Traditional Habits for a Fitter You (Rupa).)