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What to cook in February: Recipes for saying 'I love you'

Baked goods, freezable meals and other delicious acts of service for friends, family, crushes and more.

Baked goods, freezable meals and other delicious acts of service for friends, family, crushes and more

Jamey Ordolis · CBC Life ·
3 side-by-side images of a platter of stuffed onions, a roast chicken on a platter of rice, and a strawberry cake.
(Photography by Amina Al-Saigh, Dhivya Subramanian)

The best valentine you can give is an edible one. Feeding someone so they don't have to think about cooking? That's love. Showing off your cooking skills? It might be slightly tactical, but it's undeniably attractive. They don't even have to be the "receiving gifts" type. Who isn't busy, stressed, strapped for grocery money and hungry all the time? It's true — the best way to a person's heart is through their stomach, especially if the food is gifted, freezable or can sit on the counter for a few days so they can enjoy it when they want.

This February, we've curated the perfect recipes from our archives to show your affection. Remind your best friend how much you care with every bite of pound cake they sneak from the kitchen. For tired new parents, offer two types of our freezable meatballs and a big batch of mac and cheese — no visit required. If you're feeling a bit extra (as I usually am), impress someone special with our viral Middle Eastern stuffed onions by Amina Al-Saigh, or Jason Skrobar's decadent dark chocolate cookie sandwiches. Hosting a little dinner date instead of dropping off? Put the "engagement chicken" legend to the test with our one-pan spatchcock chicken and rice.

Meanwhile, if you're the one seeking acts of service this month, consider posting this wishlist on your socials to see who responds. Alternatively, send your favourite recipe to your partner with a straightforward request: "Please make this for me." Clear communication is essential for healthy relationships, and nothing spells it out better than a list of ingredients and instructions.

Middle Eastern stuffed onions 

Overhead shot of a blue and white platter with stuffed onions in a tomato sauce. The platter is sitting on a bright blue surface.
(Photography by Amina Al-Saigh)

Quiche Lorraine with Gruyère cheese and onions

Overhead shot of a quiche made with bacon in a glass pie plate. It's sitting on a striped kitchen towel on top of a grey wooden table. A bowl of salad greens sits in the top left corner. Plates and forks sit in the bottom left corner.
(Photo: David Bagosy; Styling: Melissa Direnzo)

Oxtail stew with butter beans

A bowl of oxtail stew with butter beans with a side of rice and peas, on a countertop with a Dutch oven in the background.
(Photography by Owais Rafique Marketing Inc.; styling by Matthew Chin)

Sweet-and-sour meatballs 

Overhead shot of dark green Dutch oven with a batch of Sweet-and-Sour Meatballs in it. Chunks of pineapple are visible. A wooden spoon sits in the dish. It's sitting on a wooden cutting board on a beige countertop with water glasses and a kitchen towel.
(Photography by Carmen Cheung)

Beaton's mac & cheese 

A cast iron skillet with mac and cheese in it.
(Photography by Lindsay Anderson and Dana VanVeller)

Big batch meatballs 

3 overhead shots of meatballs. Left: a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. Middle: a meatball sub. Right: a white bowl with meatball vegetable soup.
(Photography by: David Bagosy, Styling: Melissa Direnzo)

Cornbread and chili pot pies 

Top down shot of a round dish with chili topped with baked cornbread. It's sitting on a wooden cutting board next to jalapeño peppers.
(Photography by Owais Rafique Marketing Inc.; styling by Matthew Chin)

Grandma Gretzky's great perogies

Closeup on a plate of perogies with a spoon with sour cream resting on the side.
(Source: Klorofil Publishing)

Pork and chive dumplings

Top down shot of 2 hands making dumplings, with some dumplings on a wooden cutting board.
(Photography by Jackie Kai Ellis)

Greek egg-lemon soup

Hands holding a blue bowl of light yellow soup.
(Credit: Julie Van Rosendaal)

Kutch chicken biryani 

Closeup on hands holding a large dish of chicken biryani.
(Photo credit: Martin Poole)

Lasagne verde alla Bolognese 

closeup on a large piece of cheesy lasagna. multiple layers of pasta are visible and the top layer is crispy. it's on a brown plate on a beige surface.
(Photography by Eric Wolfinger)

Roasted Chicken noodle soup with fresh herbs 

A red Dutch oven filled with chicken noodle soup, sitting on a wooden table with carrots, onions, soup bowls and spoons sitting next to it.
(Photo: David Bagosy, Styling: Melissa Direnzo)

Split pea and spaghetti soup

Overhead shot of a white bowl of yellow soup on a terrazzo countertop. A small bowl of dill, a spoon and napkin and a blue Dutch oven surround the bowl.
(Photography by Carmen Cheung)

One-pot chickpea curry 

Overhead shot of 2 plates of Chickpea Curry with Spinach. One person's hands are dishing some of the curry onto a plate from a pot. A second person's hands are holding naan and a spoonful of curry over the second plate.
(Photography by Dhivya Subramanian)

Spatchcock chicken and rice 

Top down shot of a platter of rice with a roasted chicken on top.
(Photography by Amina Al-Saigh)

Dark chocolate cookie sandwiches with 3 delicious fillings 

Two stacks of cookie sandwiches, sitting on a marble surface, side by side against a blue backdrop. The stack on the left has two cookies with a peanut butter filling and the top-most cookie has a raspberry filling. On the right, the cookies have a torched marshmallow filling.
(Photography by Sébastien Dubois-Didcock)

Vegan tiramisu 

Overhead closeup shot of tiramisu in a white baking dish on a pink background.
(Photography by Gabriel Cabrera)

Strawberry cardamom yogurt cake

A bird'seye view of a cake with strawberries on it with a large slice taken out of it. There are smaller individual plates with slices of cake on them.
(Photography by Dhivya Subramanian)

No-bake quince & mascarpone cheesecake 

Closeup top down shot of a circular cheesecake on a marble surface. The cake is covered in orange slices of candied quince.
(Photograph by Mickaël A. Bandassak)

Better-than-classic pound cake

an overhead shot of a pound cake in a loaf pan on top of a baking sheet
(Photography by Deb Perelman, styling by Barrett Washburne)

Chocolate babka 

Overhead shot of a loaf of chocolate babka on a wooden cutting board on top of a wooden table.
(CBC Life)

Better than sext sugar cookies

top down shot of 3 heart-shaped cookies with pink and red icing.
(Lindsey Gazel)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jamey Ordolis

Jamey Ordolis is the senior producer of CBC Life.

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