Hey friends, thanks for joining me for another Fine Dining at Home segment!

This meal was one I recently made for Valentine’s Day and all the recipes are out of Ashley Rodriguez’s book, Date Night In. Matt and I actually made our Valentine’s dinner last year out of this book as well!

I talked about this book last month, but my favorite thing about it is that it has several menus according to the season. The one I chose was actually from the summer section, but it looked so good I had to make it.

Tomato and Fennel Gazpacho with Dungeness Crab

Time: About 45 minutes

This first side was an interesting one, as I don’t think we’ve ever had–much less made–gazpacho. My husband made this dish, which mostly involved blending fresh tomatoes and adding some garlic, basil, lemon juice and olive oil to it. He was very excited about the addition of the crab. The ingredients complemented each other well, although it was a little hard to feel normal eating a soup-like dish that was cold! I can’t say this was my favorite side, but it was fun to eat something a little different than usual.

Braised Green Beans with Smashed Tomato Vinaigrette

Time: About an hour

I loved Ashley’s take on green beans! First, I boiled the green beans in chicken broth, olive oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice for about thirty minutes. The chicken broth gave the beans a wonderful flavor!

Next I made the simple vinaigrette, with crushed cherry tomatoes, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, mint and scallions. After the green beans were done, I mixed in the vinaigrette.

This dish tasted so fresh and I loved the combination of flavors. The mint was a great touch, and it definitely tasted summery even though I made it in the middle of February!

Salmon Cakes with Chile and Fresh Herbs

Time: About an hour

This was definitely my favorite of the three dishes we made. I actually made the salmon cakes two days before so we wouldn’t spend hours cooking, and it worked out great.

After roasting the salmon, I mixed it with red onion, jalapeño, fresh basil, dill, capers, sour cream, lemon zest and juice, garlic, Dijon mustard, coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, bread crumbs, salt and egg. So, just a few ingredients :).

Side note – I tried to order ONE jalapeño from Walmart. Apparently this translates to a pound of jalapeños. I have no idea how I’m going to use all these as Matt and I are wimps when it comes to spicy things. Also my hands were spicy for at least a day after cutting one up!

After mixing it all together, I formed them into little cakes and put them in the fridge.

It took just a few minutes to fry the cakes, and with a little sour cream, they were perfect!

Thankfully I didn’t need to make dessert, since we ended up going out for Valentine’s Day. But I had fun making this special meal with Matt! Hope you all enjoyed another Fine Dining at Home post! See ya soon!