A simple menu to impress a date

If you have ever considered preparing dinner for a date, then you have likely discovered the yin and yang of such an endeavor. On one hand there is that which you covet -- a great time, some great food and great admiration from your companion -- and on the other is the price you hope to avoid paying for it all, both in time and money.\nThe one word solution is pasta. In the world of entrees, pasta is the home cook's greatest ally. Imagine a food that costs $1 (or less) per pound, is considered both haute cuisine and peasant food, and is ready to eat in less than 10 minutes. You can toss it with a drizzle of olive oil, give it a light coating of butter and cheese or smother it in a rich sauce. It is a forgiving food, willing to overcome a moment of neglect on the stovetop or overzealous saucing. In the dating arena, it takes the gold medal, able to satisfy all varieties of potential dates, from vegetarians to carnivores. \nFor my money, you can't beat a plate of spaghetti and meatballs for a dine-in date. Your date will be at ease the moment you mention the comfort food agenda and, because the meatballs can be made up to a day ahead of time, your sanity will remain in check for the evening. \nFor the slightly ambitious, I recommend making a good marinara sauce from scratch. Recipes abound in every type and variety of cookbook and recipe Web site. For the lazy, the exhausted and the overtaxed, a decent bottle of jarred sauce (such as Paul Newman's Sockarooni Sauce) makes an excellent meatball base. The difference between a terrific and a crummy sauce can be as little as $1, so decide if your date is worth it and choose wisely.\nSome might argue that spaghetti is too problematic for a dinner date -- long slurpy noodles and bright red sauce ready to wreak havoc on brights and whites. I see spaghetti as a social experiment. Remember that guy picking his teeth with his credit card at the next table over the last time you went out to eat? His date seemed nonplussed; you were sickened. If your date has similar (but as of yet, unrevealed) table manners, they will be instantly exposed over a plate of spaghetti, eliminating endless future hand-wringing. If you prefer less dinner-date discovery, serve the meatballs over couscous. \nBalance the spaghetti and meatballs with a baguette from the local bakery and a green salad. Even people who claim to hate salad wolf it down when served in combination with pasta. Free yourself from iceberg lettuce and try some mixed greens, leaf lettuce (romaine or red leaf) or spinach for a change. Make life easy by buying a pre-washed bag of greens (you can work up to washing the greens some other time). Find a pretty bowl for the salad and squirrel away the bag before your date arrives.\nFor dessert, make it simple and make it chocolate. A silky-smooth homemade chocolate sauce is sublime and will knock the socks off of most anyone. It takes about five minutes to make from start to finish and can be prepared up to a week ahead of time. Your date will never guess that the phenomenal sauce has a mere two ingredients (three, if you add a bit of liqueur). Don't reveal your secret. Drizzle it, warm, over ice cream, pound cake, angel food cake or, for true chocolate fiends, chocolate cake. The cake can be purchased, made from a box mix or homemade. Or you can serve the sauce fondue style, dunking in chunks of fruit, cake, nuts, marshmallows or your finger when no one is looking. \nIt is no accident that both the vegetarian and meat versions of the meatballs make plenty of food. This gives you the option of sending your date home with a doggie bag (extra points for you if the date goes well) or consoling yourself with a second helping if it is a bust. The same holds true for the chocolate sauce. If the evening proceeds poorly, you still win: when your date asks about dessert, sniff loudly and proclaim you don't believe in sweets. Then end the date early, invite yourself over to your best friend's place, and share the sauce and a few good laughs while watching Saturday Night Live.