Traditional Valentine's Day Sweet that Won't Hurt the Waistline

Chocolate covered strawberries are a Valentine's Day staple. Everyone usually buys them for their sweetheart with a bottle of champagne and roses, but did you know they are actually low in calories and not as bad for you as you may think?

Here's a simple recipe to make a sweet and delectable low calorieValentine's Day treat:

Tips: Melt white chocolate and drizzle over strawberries to add a little decor to your strawberries. Heart shaped sprinkles or pink and red sprinkles will add a themed touch to your treat.Coconut flakes sprinkled over chocolate also add a great taste.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Makes 36 chocolate covered strawberries. Each strawberry is 39 calories, 5g of sugar and 2g of fat.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 2 pints strawberries, stems intact
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate
• 1 teaspoon canola oil

Instructions

1. Line two baking sheets with waxed paper. Wipe the strawberries clean and dry them well with paper towels. 2. Melt the chocolate with the oil over a double boiler. Stir until the mixture is smooth and the chocolate is completely melted. Remove from heat.

3. Hold a strawberry by its green top and dip it 3/4 of the way into the melted chocolate. Lift it out of the chocolate, let the excess chocolate run off and set the berry on one of the lined baking sheets. Repeat this for all of the strawberries.

4. To harden the chocolate, chill the strawberries for about an hour before serving . You can store them in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.

5. Enjoy with a glass of wine. If you don't like wine or don't drink, enjoy with sparkling water.

These also make great gifts. Find a pretty box, line it with waxed paper, fill it with dipped strawberries and store in the refrigerator. Add some ribbons and bow to make it extra special.