Heartbreak Menu: Foods to Enjoy if You're Single on Valentine's Day's
- Piece of Cake Staff
- 10 hours ago
- 4 min read
Written by Brendan Gieseke
For some, Valentine’s Day marks a time of joy and celebration of love. It’s a day where you get to bask in romance and feel gratitude for what a relationship represents. Candles, chocolate, roses, and a romantic dinner reservation are practically deemed necessary by society. For others, they celebrate platonic love, possibly hosting a Friendsgiving to gather around their closest friends. Maybe it’s a time of family bonding, exchanging chocolate boxes in appreciation of your family member’s presence. Yet, the group that is hardly remedied despite being a common trope is the people who are the heartbroken of Valentine’s Day: the ones who don’t have a date! Yet, the group of singles on Valentine’s Day is not a minority. According to U.S. Census Studies, nearly up to 40% of the American population faces romantic solitude in a time that’s traditionally associated with an abundance of romantic love.
But not everyone's upset with not having a date. Many people are happy without a date by treasuring their own merits. However, it’s important to understand that for some people, the day of love can be a dreadful time. To help alleviate the pain, I’m curating a menu you can use on the dreadful day that’s just around the corner. Stay put to hear some delicious ideas and some comedic ways to spend the day!
Appetizers
Who says that dessert has to wait until after dinner? I don’t—and on a day as special and candlelit as Valentine’s Day, we all deserve a special treat. Why can’t a family-sized tub of ice cream be your hors d’œuvre of the night? Exactly! Indulging in nice spoonfuls of rocky road, caramel, strawberry, or a mix of multiple personal favorite flavors is definitely the way to go. I mean, I think that having your mouth freeze in a gooey delight is the best feeling and a guilty pleasure that should be welcomed on a day of self-love. Paired with your favorite rom-com movie, what’s not to enjoy? Just don’t forget to keep the consumption in moderation, though! Too much of anything is hazardous, and ice cream is the easiest way to have a stomachache when there’s too much in your mouth. Maybe even consider taking a vegan option to keep it healthier. Oatly is a personal favorite.
On a more serious note, though, I also recommend a whipped strawberry butter with chunks of French baguette for a good mix of savory and a little pink-colored sweetness. If you’ve ever had whipped maple butter, the strawberry butter is just as yummy and mouthwatering. (Be careful, you might even want to eat it without any bread!) It feels airy, but it’s held down with that heartwarming richness we crave when we think of really well-churned butter. To spice it up even more, I add seasoned olive oil on top of the buttered French bread. You can go minimalistic with the seasoning—or just go without seasoning—but from my personal experience, cooking a sliver of pepper until the juices are oozing, then letting the vegetable soak into the oil is genuinely divine.
Entree
A nice and simple dish of pasta is never a bad idea, and, in light of the festivities, a pink vodka sauce is just the right touch for your evening. Without a doubt, I would have to say the best pasta is rigatoni, and it would be the best choice for a quiet February 14th. The pasta size fits perfectly in your mouth and gives all your taste buds the best overflowing ratio of sauce to pasta. Perhaps the size of the pasta’s hole is the cause? But, other than the size of the pasta holes, I find that going the extra mile with your cheese makes all the difference in transforming a TV-dinner night into a culinary marvel. Get your grater and get to grating with one of my favorite cheeses: Parmigiano-Reggiano for a tangy and classic addition, Pecorino Romano for a sharper and flakier taste, or—for my underrated favorites—Caña de Oveja for a milky Spanish kiss and Capriolina for a meaty kind of burn. Snowing the cheese right on top of a creamy pasta bowl is just another word for utopia. Only, it can get even more powdery with a topping of baked burrata, impatiently waiting to be cracked open and flowing with cheese. The contrast of icy cheese and a warm pasta base simply blends together and creates a beautiful taste of fresh cheese and heartiness. It does take a little more effort to make your burrata topping, but trust me, it’s totally worth the extra minutes.
Dessert
Finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for—the dessert selection. There are multiple great options and contenders to make a great final statement for the big V-Day dinner (tiramisu, a box of chocolate, and red velvet cake). But I truly mean it when I say that sometimes simpler is better. The menu is already colorful, and sometimes it’s important to take a step back and give our palates a natural reset. So, my recommendation for dessert would have to be a cup of freshly washed strawberries. Imagine the natural sweetness and water flooding your mouth. Imagine the exciting sensation when you realize the strawberry is just a bit too cold. Both are great reasons to appreciate nature’s creations and end the day of love with something even more meaningful. It’s not a lack of love just because you might be alone: love is everywhere, regardless of what society seems to represent. For instance, there was love that went into the soil, the water, the sun, and the care that created a tender strawberry. And there is love in the food we eat, the food we spend time making for our cherished ones, ourselves, and for fun!
While it's humorous to make light of the ‘Valentine’s Day Tragedy’ of being single, there is love for everyone, regardless of whether it’s romantic or not. Maybe we should try to look for it more frequently. Happy Valentine's Day!
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