A Valentine's Day Lunch Menu from Botanica

Yesterday, I shared the décor details for the Valentine’s Day lunch and cooking class I hosted at my home with Suzanne Hall of The Chalkboard Mag and a few other close friends. I’m so excited to share the menu with you today, not only because it is healthful and delicious, but also because the women who put it together, Emily Fiffer and Heather Sperling, are the talented forces behind Botanica; a new online magazine and soon-to-open restaurant and market in Silver Lake. If you live in Los Angeles, Botanica just might become your new go-to spot! The restaurant will focus on locally sourced, vegetable-first dishes that are colorful, fresh, and fulfilling. 

Emily and Heather wanted the menu for our Valentine’s Day gathering to be festive, bright, and not as heavy as your typical Valentine’s Day meal. “We wanted to incorporate some pink and red colors, some warming spices, and to keep it easy and no-stress with dishes you could easily make in advance”, Emily shared. As such, the meal started with a beet muhammara and spiced labne spread served with crudité followed by a Moroccan carrot salad and roasted eggplant with a jeweled herb salad for the main course. We drank rose, hibiscus and lemon peel tisane tea which Heather noted is packed with vitamin C, making it the perfect winter drink.

The dessert—a gluten-free chocolate beet cake with orange zested yogurt—was the best part of the meal, naturally, but it wasn’t too decadent or heavy at all. The ladies took inspiration from a Nigel Slater recipe, eliminating refined sugar, gluten, and butter so it was extra clean, but still delicious. Get the recipe below! XXJKE