Kitchen of Love

cucina d'amore/kitchen of love

As February quickly draws near, so does Valentine’s Day. While commercialism causes the adverse effect for many, Valentine’s Day remains a day for love, etching a small moment for adornment and thoughtfulness into our busy lives. And so, I have decided to host an event that celebrates Valentine’s Day and many food aphrodisiacs that offer endless possibilities to this affectionate day.

How to participate:

• Make an appetizer, dinner dish, or side item that includes at least one food considered an aphrodisiac. An abbreviated list can be found on this post. You can also fine tons of links by completing a Google search.
  
  (No desserts please. If you have a dessert, consider making into a heart and participate in Zorra’s wonderful event, A Heart for your Valentine.)
  
• Post about your creation between now and Sunday, February 10, 2008. If possible, include pictures with your post. The round up will be completed by February 12, 2008.
  
  No blog? No prob! Just email me your name, recipe name (with the recipe, if you want), hometown/region and country, along with any other info you want to tell me.


• Add the event logo and link back to this announcement in your post. (Just do a “save as” for the logo from this post, please.)


• Send an email to KitchenOfLove2008(at)gmail.com including
  - your name
  - your blog's name and your blog's URL
  - the recipe name and the post's URL
  - your hometown/region and country


• If you have one, attach a picture that is 200 x 200 pixels
  
• Last day of submission is Sunday, February 10, 2008 at Midnight, Atlanta time.

I hope you're able to participate! I can't wait to read all your entries!

I will start off this Kitchen of Love event with a Warm Arugula, Asparagus, & Fennel Salad, a recipe a found (and tweaked a bit) in a new cookbook I bought, The Accidental Vegetarian by Simon Rimmer. Yup....I bought another cookbook. Actually, it was a bad cookbook week - book fair at school, date at Barnes and Noble....1 week, 4 cookbooks, 1 cookbook stand. Oh well....what's one to do....except cook from the cookbooks and eat!?

This salad has 3 foods considered as aphrodisiacs. Hmmm....I do need all the help I can get. This single-girl status bites! (Ha! No pun intended). Now, all I need to do is cook the salad for someone besides myself.

Warm Arugula, Asparagus, & Fennel Salad
From Simon Rimmer’s The Accidental Vegetarian

10-12 oz. asparagus, cooked
1 fennel bulb, blanched and sliced
2 shallots, roasted
Handful of arugula
1 Yukon potato, sliced, seasoned, and roasted

Balsamic vinaigrette

Toss all the ingredients, except the potatoes, together with the vinaigrette. Garnish with the potatoes. Serve.

Note: While the potatoes "chips"were baking and the shallots were roasting, I cooked the asparagus. When they were done, I placed them in a bowl, and used the same water to blanch the fennel. The order in which everything was completed had this salad on the table in about 30 minutes!

Thanks to Andrew of Spitoon Extra for making sure this event is listed at Is My Blog Burning?