Valentine Spinach Strawberry Salad (Provided photo — Yvona Fast)

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. What are your plans? Will you go for a romantic night out or spend time together preparing a great meal at home?

This is a day to express love and friendship. We send cards, chocolates and flowers. Valentine’s Day is the number-one selling occasion for florists and competes with Christmas and Halloween for chocolate sales.

The practice of exchanging love letters on Valentine’s Day began in the Middle Ages. Today, more than a billion cards are exchanged on Valentine’s Day, making it the second largest revenue-producing holiday for the greeting card industry. (Christmas is the first.)

Chocolate is definitely a feel-good food. It contains anandamide (AEA) and phenylethylamine (PEA). These chemicals release dopamine in the brain’s pleasure centers.

But many other foods are also considered aphrodisiacs. The word has its root in the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. It is said that these foods stir up passion, increase one’s libido and act as a love drug when you eat them.

These include fruit such as apples, bananas, figs, grapes (and wine), lemons, pomegranates, strawberries and watermelon; vegetables such as artichokes, asparagus, avocado, beets, carrots, celery, chili peppers and spinach; seeds and nuts such as almonds and pumpkin seeds; herbs such as basil and lavender; and fish and seafood such as oysters, salmon and mackerel. Also vanilla, honey and mushrooms like truffles. All have been considered aphrodisiacs or symbols of love at one time or place.

We call our loved ones “honey.” A honeymoon follows marriage.

Beets are red, rosy and romantic — and borscht is known as Valentine Soup. The Greek goddess Aphrodite is said to have eaten them to enhance her appeal, and ancient Romans believed that beets promote amore.

Strawberries have red, romantic qualities. The heart-shaped berry symbolizes Venus, the Roman version of the goddess of love.

Around the world, different foods are symbolic of love. The Aztecs believed avocados could incite sexual passion, and women virgins had to stay indoors while the fruits were harvested. In Japan, spinach symbolizes secret passion, and presents are often wrapped in green paper to symbolize love.

Use these fresh fruits and vegetables to make delicious meals for your family on Valentine’s Day.

Food is associated with love. When you make a pot of homemade soup or bake a cake for someone, you express love. You lovingly prepare a special meal for those you care for and love.

We share our love with cards, flowers and food — eating meals together. What food says “love” to you?

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Valentine Spinach Strawberry Salad

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Dressing ingredients:

1 clove garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons honey

1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

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Salad ingredients:

1 carrot

1 stalk celery

1 bag (10 ounces) fresh baby spinach

1 avocado

1 pint strawberries

2 tablespoons slivered almonds

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Directions:

Crush garlic. In the bottom of a large salad bowl combine crushed garlic, salt, honey and lemon juice. Drizzle in olive oil while stirring with a fork.

Slice carrot and celery thin, and stir into the dressing. Add the spinach, and toss to coat. Peel, pit and slice avocado. Top with strawberries, avocado and slivered almonds.

Serves four.

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Banana apple muffins

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Ingredients:

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 egg

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 cup mashed banana

1 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 unpeeled apple

1/3 cup raisins

2/4 cup flour (can be g/f or whole wheat)

1/4 teaspoon salt

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Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In bowl, beat together egg, oil and honey. Stir in yogurt and banana, then oats. In a smaller bowl, mix together flours, salt and baking soda; fold into the batter. Core and dice the apple, and fold into the batter along with the raisins.

Butter the muffin pans well, or line with paper muffin liners. Fill 2/3 full. Place in oven and lower heat to 375. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

Option: Spread in 9-by-9-inch pan. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cut into bars. Or bake in a loaf pan.

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Author of the award-winning cookbook “Garden Gourmet: Fresh & Fabulous Meals from your Garden, CSA or Farmers’ Market,” Yvona Fast lives in Lake Clear and has two passions: cooking and writing. She can be found at www.yvonafast.com and reached at yvonawrite@yahoo.com or on Facebook at Words Are My World.