Want to indulge on Valentine’s Day but don’t want to overload on the calories? Have no fear with our low-fat Valentine’s Day recipes…

Whether you have a Valentine or not, 14 February is the perfect day to spend time with loved ones – whether it’s a friend, family member or even your beloved pet. After all, what could be better than showing your affection than with food? Want to make something a little healthier this Valentine’s Day that’s just as tasty? Feast your eyes on our low-fat Valentine’s Day recipes. From the vegetarian-friendly beetroot and goats’ cheese tower to the velvety indulgence of our vegan chocolate mousse, all of the below recipes are nutritious, delicious and special-occasion-worthy.

Strawberry and Bacon Roses Salad

If you want to make a deliciously healthy Valentine’s Day starter, this mouth-watering spinach salad turns strawberries into hearts and bacon slices into beautiful, edible roses. Ooh la la.

INGREDIENTS

• 900g baby spinach
• 6 strips bacon
• 4 strawberries
• balsamic glaze dressing
• extra virgin oil or coconut oil

METHOD

For the bacon roses

• Preheat oven to 190°C
• Roll each strip of bacon into a rose shape
• Insert bacon roses into small muffin tins or ice cube trays to help them keep their shape as you cook them.
• Make sure you check on them to make sure they don’t lose their shape or burn.
• Cook in oven until the roses are crisp and golden brown. Be sure to flip the roses over if they’re brown on top but uncooked on the bottom.

For the strawberry hearts

• Snip stems off strawberries.
• Make the strawberries look heart-like by cutting a small V-shaped wedge out of the top centre parts.
• Cut the strawberries into slices to make a few thinner strawberry hearts.

For the salad

• Rinse and dry the spinach leaves.
• Arrange the spinach in small groups of leaves in a salad bowl.
• Lay your bacon roses and strawberry hearts on top of the bed of baby spinach.
• Drizzle your salad with the balsamic vinegar glaze, olive oil or coconut oil.

Pan-Seared Scallops with Corn Puree

Next on our list of low-fat Valentine’s Day recipes is one of our favourites. Looking for a delicious, decadent, low-fat Valentine’s meal, bursting with protein and flavour? Look no further than this pan-seared sea scallops and corn puree dish, complete with dry-cured chorizo, cherry tomatoes, shallots and spring onions. It’s a dish guaranteed to wow your lover this year.

INGREDIENTS

For the corn puree

• 4-5 ears of fresh corn
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 240g chicken stock
• 1/2 tsp salt
• a pinch of cayenne pepper
• 120g almond milk

For the scallops

• 25 small scallops
• 85g dry cured chorizo, chopped into small pieces
• 20 red and yellow cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• Spring onions, chopped

METHOD

For the corn puree

• Cook the corn in a pan of boiling water for roughly five minutes, or until cooked, drain in a colander, and set to one side to cool.
• Meanwhile, fry the sliced shallots in a saucepan with a little olive oil over a medium heat for a few minutes.
• When cooked, melt the butter in a pan.
• Once the corn has cooled, gently cut kernels from cob. Save about half of kernels for the garnish.
• Use a food processor to blitz up the remaining corn kernels, chicken stock, salt, cayenne pepper, almond milk, shallots and melted butter. Blend until completely combined into a smooth puree.
• Put the puree into a medium bowl and leave to one side.

For the scallops

• Separate the scallops into groups of similar size, so you can cook batches of similar size together.
• Season the scallops and pop them on a paper-towel-lined plate and blot the surplus moisture.
• Warm up a big saucepan over medium high heat and then combine the chorizo.
• Cook for a few minutes then use a slotted spoon to remove chorizo from the pan but leave the oil.
• While the pan is still sizzling, tip in the scallops. Cook for a couple of minutes per side until golden brown. You can cook them in batches of around seven at a time to avoid overcrowding the pan. Pour in a little olive oil between batches if required.
• Serve up the scallops on a bed of corn puree, decorated with the rest of the fresh corn kernels, chopped spring onions, halved cherry tomatoes and cooked chorizo.

Beetroot Towers with Goats’ Cheese and Low-Fat Chips

Arguably one of the best pairings in the world is beetroot and goat’s cheese. The dish looks impressive – and takes just 10 minutes to make. Making it an effortless choice when looking for low-fat Valentine’s Day recipes.

Garnished with ground cherries, garden cress, walnuts and a mojo verde-based dressing, it’s a great choice for Valentine’s Day or indeed any other date night. If you want to add a few more carbs to this dish, consider plating up some McCain low fat chips. These potato chips are covered in a crunchy coating with the same crispy, fluffy perfection of regular chips but with 30% less fat. It’s a win-win!

INGREDIENTS

• McCain low fat chips

For the towers

• 2 roasted beetroots
• 120g soft goat cheese
• 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
• 2 tbsp garden cress
• 2 ground cherries to garnish

For the dressing

• 1 tbsp mojo verde
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp honey

METHOD

• Slice the roasted beetroots horizontally into 5-7 segments.
• Smear the goats’ cheese on each slice and build two towers. Dust with walnuts and garden cress.
• Make the dressing by combining mojo verde, olive oil and honey.
• Drizzle the dressing over the beetroot towers and finish with ground cherries.
• Serve with McCain’s low-fat chips. Enjoy!

Two-Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Using only two ingredients, this chocolate mousse can be whipped up in less than 15 minutes and is simply delicious garnished with sugared cranberries.

INGREDIENTS

• 190g dairy-free chocolate
• 440ml coconut cream
• sugared cranberries or chocolate swirls (optional)

METHOD

• Place coconut cream in the fridge overnight.
• In a large metal bowl, combine the cold coconut cream and beat until stiff. (You can either do this by hand with a whisk or with an electric beater).
• Chop up chocolate, saving 20g for garnishing.
• Place in microwave-safe bowl and heat for about a minute. Be sure to stir and check at 15-minute intervals to prevent burning.
• Once the chocolate has melted, remove from microwave and stir.
• Carefully fold the melted chocolate into the whipped coconut cream and mix well.
• Serve the smooth chocolate mousse into glass dishes or martini glasses.
• Top with chocolate curls or coconut sugared cranberries or raspberries.

These low-fat Valentine’s Day recipes will keep your meal for two (or more) on the healthy side. Delicious and nutritious, they definitely won’t disappoint.