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prepare a salad of mesculin, dried sour cherries, and orange pieces. open a pomegranate and puree the seeds. strain so the solids are out of it. blend the juice with some red vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. or, you can do a simple mesculin and grape tomato salad with a balsamic-olive oil vinaigrette with fresh herbs and dijon mustard (the secret to this type of dressing is a little sugar or honey)

mince some 1 or 2 cloves of garlic and one shallot. saute briefly in some olive oil with some sea salt, fresh black pepper, and red pepper flakes, until the garlic/shallots just start to become translucent. take a big can (28 oz, I believe) of crushed tomatoes (I like the Miur Glen crushed tomatoes with basil) and toss it in the pan. when it starts to simmer, add in the zest of one lemon. serve this over your favorite pasta - you could get fresh pasta from a fancier grocery store and it will be extra good, otherwise just serve it over your favorite dried pasta. top with some good quality pecorino or other hard cheese. serve with a good crusty loaf of italian bread. if you want to make garlic bread, saute some minced fresh herbs (or you can use dried if you don't have fresh) such as oregano, thyme, parsley, and rosemary with some finely minced garlic in olive oil. brush it onto a loaf of bread sliced in half, and put it in the oven until it is toasty.

for dessert, try this: cut a few 1/2 inch - 3/4 inch slices of pound cake (it isn't too difficult to make from scratch, and you can even use a good store bought). combine 1.5 pints raspberries, a teaspoon of vanilla, and a little less than 1/3 cup sugar, and mash with a fork. let it sit for at least an hour, stirring every now and then so the sugar dissolves. toast the pound cake in a 400* oven on a cookie sheet until lightly golden. top the pound cake with the raspberry sauce, a couple scoops of good raspberry sorbet, and the remaining fresh raspberries.

all of these things are pretty easy, but really flavorful. i hope these suggestions helped!

Great, thanks so much NYCEater! Pasta always seems like a good choice :)

He loves seafood -- anything fish, shrimp, scallops, etc. I know he LOVES. Is fish very difficult to prepare?

Like I said, I am a total newbie o_O

You could make a nice paella with lots of seafood and fish, chicken and chorizo. It's easy to make as it's a one-pot meal and truly delicious.

Here's a helpful video recipe to give you some inspiration:

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-paella-4

Parmesan Baked Chicken
1 C. dry bread crumbs.
1/2 C. Grated Parmesean cheese.
1/2 tsp each paprika, garlic salt and pepper.
1 frying chicken, cut into pieces. (you can buy one already cut up)
4 Tbsp. butter or margarine.
In a shallow pan, combine bread crumbs, cheese paprika, garlic salt and pepper. Dip chicken pieces in butter, then roll in crumbs. Arrange, skin side up without touching, in a baking pan sprayed with pam. Bake uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until meat near thigh bone is not longer pink when slashed......delicious!

Extremely Easy Strawberries Ramanoff
1 Pint Strawberries
1/2 cup sour cream in a bowl
1/2 cup light brown sugar in a bowl.
Take a strawberry, dip it in the sour cream then into the brown sugar.
Feed it to your S.O.
Easy, Very good, and Sensuous.
Just so you know, I served it to my girl friend when were dating, she is my wife now!

here's an amazingly easy and delicious chicken recipe.

combine equal amounts of balsamic vinegar and orange marmalade, about half a cup of each. pour over some chicken and bake it for about an hour. serve with mashed potatoes and a green salad.

Hi Jen,

Here's a thought:

Buy a salmon filet (long/flat, not salmon steaks). About 3/4 to 1 pound. Skin on is fine. Get an onion, some fresh dill, and a lemon too.

Just set your oven on 450F. Lay out a long piece of foil and spray in with non-stick spray. Lay that filet on top. Salt and pepper. Chop up the onion and dill and throw it on top. Slice up some lemon and squeeze some juice on top, then put the lemons on top of the fish. Now just take another equal piece of foil, spray it too, and lay the sprayed side down on top. Fold it up carefully on every edge. Small folds. You're sealing it up tightly.

Put that foil bag on a cookie sheet and run it for 20 - 25 minutes in the oven.

Serve it with baked potatoes, or rice, or just some pan-steamed/braised asparagus. Or both. With some basic store-bought rolls. . .yeah, that'll be good.

shrimp scampi? Nothing could be easier, served w/ salad and garlic bread. I have a small home business..."'"karencooks', a small thyme catering company", and one day about 2 years ago got a 2 hour (!!!) notice for a dinner for 12, and didn't have a car to go to store, so I worked with what I had. I made a real "cheat" white veggie lasagna using roasted red peppers I had in fridge, sauteed onion and mushrooms, "no bake" lasagna noodles, and bottled alfredo sauce instead of red sauce. Mixed parm and fresh flat leaf parsley in the ricotta, along with an egg or two, and shredded moz on top. It is now my most requested recipe!! and who wudda' thunk??

Ditto JerzeeTomato--meat, potato and salad and possibly a good dessert--maybe store bought....grill meat or do a roast in the oven and get a really inexpensive meat thermometer to you can gauge it's "doneness" ..They're good to keep on hand anyway....or another possibility not far from Jerzee's..
Something simple like a baked ziti....if you don't want to make your own sauce, you can go with a good store bought and doctor it up a bit...boil the ziti-under cook it a bit......mix sauce, ricotta cheese, shredded parmagiana cheese & ziti together and top with mozzarella-bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until mozzarella cheese is browned....(if you want to get a bit fancier for extra flavor and texture toss in the ziti mixture some cut up pepperoni) My Sicilian born hubby loves it this way...
I echo chisai's sentiments--don't overextend yourself to a point of making yourself crazy----it should be, above all, fun... besides, your efforts will be really appreciated no matter what you cook!

The true secret to happiness: Spaghetti&Meatballs. Works every time.

I've had luck impressing members of the opposite sex with my seafood pasta with lemon garlic cream sauce. I've done this with shrimp, scallops, smoked salmon, clams and mussels. Generally I cook the sea food separately and add it at the end. The sauce is the key. I sautee a LOT of garlic, maybe six good size cloves, and I then simmer the garlic in some cream and I add lemon juice and zest. Depending on the lemon, sometimes one will do and sometimes I need two. I boil the pasta normally, add the sauce and seafood. Serve a spinach salad on the side with some nuts and dried fruit.

Good luck!

@chisai~I thought of Marcella's chicken too! My hub Loves it.
Here's a good, and impressive, salmon recipe from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian. (I can't make a link like everyone else can)

1 salmon filet cut from the large end of the fish (about 1 1/2 #s) Have your fish monger skin it for you if you don't want to
4-6 12" squares of aluminum foil
2-3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and sliced into 1/4" strips, the long way
kosher salt
extra virgin olive oil

Cut the salmon into 1 1/2" pieces, crosswise. You should have about 8 pieces, each about 3 ozs.
Arrange 2 of the slices on a piece of foil, right together, cut-side down. Place 2-3 tomato strips atop the fish and sprinkle with a little kosher salt. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and wrap up the fish by forming a sealed envelope, leaving a bit of space above the fish. Crimp the edges of the foil to seal.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10 mins in a 400º oven. Do not overcook. You may serve this right out of the foil wrapper. Just put one package on each plate.
It has a wonderful flavor and is completely foolproof. I've also used lemon slices and capers in place of the tomatoes.

Serve with some roasted rosemary potatoes and your favorite green vegetable.
Good Luck! Let us know what you make.

This is my go-to recipe to impress... Baked Pasta with 4 Cheeses, with baked plantains and a nice, simple salad on the side. I love the silkiness of the pink sauce of the pasta. It's important that you bake it in a 500 F oven... you could even make it for 2 in a toaster oven, but if does not go up to 500, make it in a larger oven.

I also embellish boxed risottos and no one has even thought they came from a box - I make one with Smoked Gouda and Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes and Spinach and even one with Pumpkin and roasted pumpkin seeds...

Good luck... and enjoy.

Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking

These are all great suggestions but I'm sure whatever you cook for him will be appreciated. Don't overdo on prep or you'll be too tired to enjoy your evening.

Anything from Everyday Food would be great quality, delicious, and probably go together with few steps.

Have fun!