By Deborah Kotz Globe Staff

Since today is Valentine’s Day, why not treat your significant other to a bit of romance in the form of delicious foods rich in cancer-preventive antioxidants and other nutrients? Dana Farber Cancer Institute teamed up with Chef Frank McClelland, owner of L’Espalier restaurant on Boylston Street, to provide you with three mouth-watering recipes that are perfect for a candle-light table or on a picnic blanket spread on the floor by the fireplace.

What’s even better, these foods contain a rainbow of colors that contain a wide range of different plant chemicals all working synergistically to help the body fend off cancer cells. I love the endive salad recipe below with its red and pink Valentine’s day accents; why not go one step further with heart-shaped red pepper slices? Simply buy the long baby red peppers and slice cross-wise.

Endive, Roasted Red Pepper, and Black Olive Salad

Ingredients:

1/4 cup golden raisins

1 navel orange, cut into sections, juice reserved

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

5 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon mustard

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 heads endive

3 red bell peppers, roasted and quartered

1/2 cup pitted and chopped kalamata olives

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

6 ounce ball buffalo mozzarella, sliced lengthwise into 5 pieces, then cut into strips

6 large multigrain crostini

Directions:

Prepare multigrain crostini by rubbing a crushed garlic clove on a 3/4 inch thick slide of multigrain baguette, brush with olive oil, dust with salt and pepper, and place on a baking sheet in a 375 oven for 13 minutes, or until golden brown but still chewy.