Healthy eating over Valentine’s Day does not have to mean gritting your teeth and suffering in silence while everyone else enjoys the candy. Honestly, most of the candy isn’t even that good – is it really such a deprivation to pass up on chalky, tasteless sugar hearts that have been sitting on a display rack since January? That kind of junk isn’t worth your time or attention, and it certainly shouldn’t dominate your day.
It’s not skipping the cheap chocolate and colored sugar that hurts, though. It’s missing out on the festivities, or feeling isolated and weird because you choose not to participate in the annual sugar-fest. Fortunately, there’s a simple fix for that: make your own treats, and enjoy a fun, chocolate-strawberry snack that won’t disappoint you when you actually bite into it. Good dark chocolate melted over fresh strawberries provides the kind of flavor you just can’t get in a box, and the heart shape is cute without taking a lot of fancy fingerwork to make (in fact, it’s so simple that pinning the hearts together would be a great way to get kids involved).
You can make as many or as few of these as you want, so there are no set quantities of ingredients. Find yourself a high-quality dark chocolate (look for 85% cacao or above), and try your hand at a batch: they’re easy to make, and perfect to give a loved one or a friend. Tempt your friends with a plate to share, and watch the tacky drugstore candy disappear into the background, without missing the spirit of the celebration or the chance to enjoy some sweetness in every sense of the word.
Chocolate Strawberry Hearts Recipe
PREP: 20 min.
Ingredients
- Fresh strawberries;
- Dark chocolate;
- Toothpicks (one per strawberry);
Preparation
- Cut the tops off of the strawberries, and then cut them in half.
- Place both strawberry halves together to form a heart, and use a toothpick to pin each heart together.
- Using a double boiler, melt the dark chocolate over a medium heat.
- Cover the strawberry hearts in chocolate and allow them to cool down on a wire rack or a wax-paper covered baking sheet.
- Remove the toothpick and serve when the chocolate has hardened into a crunchy shell.