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Happy Valentine’s Day to our friends, neighbors, family, and to our significant others.

Solivita has lots of Fun, Festive Valentine Day Activities to attend, but this year we are dining in on Valentine’s Day. Lee and I love to cook so we have planned a nice meal in advance and each of us will prepare a course. We do enjoy dining out and we especially love all the events Solivita hosts, but this year we have decided to enjoy a Valentine’s Dinner in the quiet of our own home while Miles Davis plays in the background. The Central Florida Weather in February is usually beautiful, so we plan to enjoy dinner under the stars on our lanai, and for extra fun, we developed our menu to include herbs grown in our garden.

This year we are enjoying Grilled Lamb Chops with Mint served with an Onion and Cucumber Salad dressed with Yogurt and Mint.

Simple. Lee will grill the chops and the onions. I am on Salad, Dressing and table setting. We are both looking forward to sharing the evening together. Dish Duty, well I hope it is shared, but as of now that remains to be seen.

Dressing:

1 cup plain yogurt, drained in a strainer

¼ cup fresh mint, chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil

¼ tsp cumin

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

S & P to taste.

Whisk the all ingredients in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and set aside

Salad:

2 red onions, peeled and sliced crosswise about ½ inch thick and grilled

Olive Oil to brush on onions

S & P

3 TBSP finely chopped fresh oregano

3 Cucumbers, peeled and sliced

½ cup crumbled feta

Brush both sides of the onion slices with olive oil and season to taste. Grill each side 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the grill and chop. Add all ingredients except the feta to the dressing. Sprinkle the feta on top of the salad before serving.

Grilled Lamb Chops with Mint

6 small rib lamb chops

4 TBSP Olive Oil

1/3 cup fresh mint leaves chopped

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

2 garlic cloves smashed

A few mint springs for decoration

Mix all the ingredients except the chops together. Brush the mixture onto the chops. Place the chops on the grill and cook 3 – 4 minutes per side depending on thickness of the chops and your temperature preference.

Dessert is simply a good box of dark chocolates and Florida Fresh Strawberries.

We wish you each a Sweet Valentine’s Day.