Champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries aren’t the only romantic food items you can include in a dinner for two. There are many dinner ideas and menu items that are romantic in nature, and you can turn virtually any recipe into an intimate dinner for two with a little preparation and imagination. Consider these romantic dinner ideas the next time you want to impress a special someone.

Paella for Two

This Spanish menu item is typically cooked and served in a large skillet or flat pan with handles, and sharing this meal with a lover is a great dinner-date idea. This meal can be made with any meat or vegetable you desire, as rice is the only ingredient consistent in every paella recipe, but many traditional paellas include a variety of seafood items, spices and fresh, seasonal vegetables.

Finger Foods

Consider a tapas-style meal that includes several dishes displayed in appetizer-sized portions for you and your dinner date to sample and share. Romantic in nature, a dinner featuring a variety of dishes that can be eaten by hand displays a certain level of familiarity and intimacy between the two sharing the meal. Traditional tapas dishes include ceviche, shrimp fritters, empanadas, stuffed peppers and Spanish omelettes, but feel free to cook up any appetizers you wish to share with a loved one for dinner.

Soup, Salad & Bread

Sharing a meal of soup, salad and bread can prove a romantic, intimate affair with the right preparation and presentation. Set up two places with a salad plate and soup bowl, and serve your date and yourself as much as you like right at the dinner table. Cut pieces from a single loaf of bread, and consider having a bottle of wine on hand to accompany this simple romantic meal.

Oysters & Other Aphrodisiacs

Oysters are perhaps the food best known to arouse amorous feelings in the consumer, endorsed by Casanova as an aid in his seduction of dozens of women, but there are many edible aphrodisiacs you can include in a meal to make it special and romantic. Divinedinnerparty.com offers a free recipe for raw oysters with frozen champagne mignonette, and other food items considered natural aphrodisiacs include asparagus, ginger, saffron and garlic.