7 Romantic Recipes for 2

Dining out can be great, but many restaurants are not the best at being green, especially if you consider the distance it takes to get to the restaurant (unless you plan on walking), the commercial nature of much of the food, and the typical waste and non-recyclable disposables used at most restaurants. Sometimes it is better to spend the evening, comfortable and organic in your own kitchen.

One of the best opportunities to create a new bond with your partner is to either cook for them or with them. Cooking can be quite sexy and put you both in the mood for romance more than the meal itself! Due to the fact that most families and couples are dual working units these days, many couples choose to share the cooking responsibilities.

Some partners make the rule that whoever gets home first cooks, which can leads to some people finding themselves taking the long way home. Others designate a different day of the week that each is responsible for a meal. However you do it, cooking does not have to be a chore, and more importantly, it shouldn't be. Here are seven recipes made with green ingredients (and romantic tips!) to spice up your next meal.

Penne alla Vodka

First of all, I am here to tell you that cooking does not have to be difficult. Take this recipe, penne alla vodka,, for instance. It involves common ingredients, little to no skill, and if you put your talents together with your partner's, you can have it cooked up in no time. In many relationships, there is one partner who likes to cook more than another. Recipes such as this one are a great way to get them into cooking by making it enjoyable and painless for the two of you. For a simple meal like this, it can be fun to present the meal creatively with either a design on the plate, or making the dining area extra special with candles, tablecloth, flowers, wine (sparkling apple cider is a good non-alcoholic alternative), good china, and maybe a little soft music playing in the background.

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Golden Beet Carpaccio

In the classic Walt Disney movie, Lady and the Tramp, there is a famous scene where the two dog lovers end up eating the same noodle of spaghetti until they find themselves kissing. Sharing a meal together on the same plate offers more chance for a couple to interact with each other, and even feed each other if the mood hits them. Recipes like this golden beet carpaccio above go great on a single plate. Other types of foods that are good for sharing are fruit platters (strawberries and chocolate), antipasto trays, sushi, and cold seafood (as long as neither of you is allergic). Another way to make sure your romantic dinner for two goes well, is to plan a meal around a certain food that you know your partner loves.

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Lemon Pepper Pasta with Capers Here is another great recipe that might be fun to cook together. Lemon pepper pasta with capers lends itself well to a team effort, as one person could be preparing the ingredients, while the other is busy sauteing them. There is not much to this recipe, so you can both enjoy a nice glass of wine and talk about your day during the entire preparation. This is a good time to mention that sometimes it can make an evening extra fun to designate a certain dress code for the meal. Some women love the chance to dress-up and show off a new outfit (some guys don't mind dusting off that old tux every now and then either). For such occasions it can be fun to go a little classy, with candlelight, good wine, your best china, and real cloth napkins. Gnudi with Wild Mushrooms Sometimes it may not be so much the preparation of the meal that will be the most sexy, but the meal itself, such as in this particular recipe. Not only does this recipe have a luscious appearance, it also contains the well known aphrodisiac, mushrooms. There are a few other known natural aphrodisiac ingredients you may want to experiment with, such as caviar, oysters, asparagus, mushrooms, figs, chocolate, strawberries, honey, and whipped cream. Recipes like this are extra-delicious, but they will require a bit extra preparation time. It may be to your best advantage to pre-prepare this type of meal the night before, then the actual evening can focus more on the dinner and conversation, rather than the preparation... but don't forget about the dessert! Individual Molten Chocolate Cakes A romantic evening is not complete without something sexy for your sweet tooth, and chocolate is a runaway favorite for most couples (not to mention a great aphrodisiac). When all else has fails, you can take solace in the fact that organic chocolate will be a fail-safe ending to just about any evening. Remember these special evenings are more about making a memory, than they are about perfecting everything. If you burn the lamb or the Gnudi falls apart, as long as you have a good laugh over it and move on, neither of you will remember the failure as much as the special time together. Love should always be the main ingredient in any romantic recipe for two! Croissant French Toast We've been focusing on dinner menus thus far, but what about the morning after your romantic dinner for two? French toast is an easy recipe which lends itself well to two cooks in the kitchen. While one person stirs the batter and coats the croissants, the other can focus on cooking them until golden brown. If you want to add a little something special to your presentation, you can cut a heart shape into the croissant (if using sliced bread, a cookie cutter works great). Perhaps you can add a spark of romance by making the entire breakfast around a theme, such as a love theme, using as much red as possible (strawberry jam, cranberry juice, red napkins, organic red rose, etc. Be creative, but most of all, have fun with it! Provencal Rack of Lamb If you or your partner likes the occasional steak or lamb chop, this is a great recipe. The key to making these types of meals work, is to start early and have plenty of time to get everything prepared. Part of spending a special night together cooking, is having the time to actually enjoy each others company and not have to worry about clocks or what you have to do the next day. Certain meals offer tantalizing smells, while others (such as lamb) can overwhelm a meal. To give your olfactory senses a break from the aroma of dinner, you may want to dab a little scented oil on a light bulb or swipe a naturally scented candle over one. A few classic scents that work as aphrodisiacs are cinnamon and vanilla.