Bright Red Recipes For Valentine's Day: No Food Coloring Allowed

No food coloring allowed.

We love Valentine's Day for all the usual reasons. It gives us an excuse to shower our loved ones with cards, candies, unusually rich dinners and plenty of wine. Here's one reason we're not so hot on this cuddly holiday: all the food coloring.

On no other food holiday but Halloween are we expected to ingest so much red and pink dye all at once. Red velvet cake, red velvet cupcakes, red velvet fudge and all the other iterations of this "flavor" that has taken over Valentine's Day are great and exciting when you're a kid, but as an adult it's hard to forget about what it's doing to your insides. In the interest of still being festive with our Valentine's Day menu plans, we sought out some of the deepest, darkest, reddest dishes -- no food coloring allowed.

1
Fergus Henderson's Red Salad
James Ransom/Food52
2
Red Flannel Hash
Simply Recipes
3
Bright Red Beet Hummus
James Ransom/Food52
5
Heart(Beet) Risotto
A Beautiful Mess
6
Lobster Diavolo
Nicole Franzen/Food52
7
Bowl of Red
Sarah Shatz/Food52
8
Grilled Soy-Ginger Ahi Tuna
Cookin' Canuck
9
Pomegranate Chicken
ChezUs/Food52
10
Sauteed Red Bell Peppers With Caper Sauce
Flat Art Studios
11
Red Beet Fusilli With Balsamic, Poppy Seeds And Mint
Sarah Shatz/Food52
12
Spicy Red Currant Glazed Acorn Squash
Flat Art Studios
13
Red Fruit Salad
Pip & Ebby
14
Pomegranate Meringues
Mimi Thorisson/Manger
15
Strawberry Mascarpone Tart
Simply Recipes
16
Agua de Jamaica
Macheesmo
17
Red-Wine Poached Pears
Eric Moran
18
Pomegranate Margaritas
How Sweet It Is
19
Angel Food Cake With Balsamic Strawberries
A Spicy Perspective
20
Honey-Pomegranate Mulled Wine
James Ransom/Food52

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