Valentine’s Day is on the horizon, and whether your heart is pounding with new love, broken to pieces, or keeping a steady beat, you need to take care of it.

Choosing heart healthy foods is one way to do so. It is pretty well agreed upon by nutritionists and doctors that variety is not only the spice of life, but the key to longevity, when it comes to food.

Ask any nutritionist, or check out any online nutrition site for heart healthy foods and you will see a number of the same foods pop up, over and over. These are not the fads that promise to be the new Fountain of Youth, but rather foods that have proven their worth through years of research. They are also not usually too exotic, so adding them into your diet does not mean a field trip to some far-flung specialty shop.

You will see a repetition of certain nutritional factors that have placed these foods into the “Super Food” realm, when you look closely.

Topping nearly every list is salmon, or other fatty fish like mackerel or tuna. (My feet are dug in that it should be only wild caught fish, but there is no denying that any fish added to the diet is a plus.) Why is salmon so great? It is a superb source of Omega-3 fatty acid. Omega-3 fatty acid and plant based Omega-3 fatty acids both boost the immune system, reduce blood clots, and protect against heart attacks. These good fatty acids also are anti-inflammatories. Ground flaxseed, almonds, walnuts, and oatmeal are other ways to add Omega-3 fatty acids to your diet. Ground flaxseed (grind small amounts at a time, and keep it refrigerated) can be added to homemade breads and muffins, stirred into hot cereals, or mixed into yogurt. “Easy-peasy,” as one of my friends would say.

Beans, particularly kidney and black beans, will help keep your heart pumping. Find brown rice, tofu, and a long list of bright colored fruits and vegetables on your “to eat” list. Blueberries (and many other berries) carrots, spinach, broccoli, sweet potatoes, red bell peppers, oranges tomatoes, acorn squash, and asparagus provide you with delicious sources for flavonoids and carotenoids (antioxidants), B-complex vitamins, folate, and a host of other vitamins and minerals that support heart health.

B-complex vitamins protect against clots and hardening of the arteries, while vitamins C and E protect cells in the body from free radical damage that can contribute to cancer. Polyphenols found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and whole grains are antioxidants that protect the blood vessels, lower blood pressure and reduce the “bad” cholesterol in the blood stream.

Add a couple of less common foods to your Save The Heart regime: papaya and pomegranates. Then top off your meal with a bit of 70 percent cocoa dark chocolate. Wash it down with  a 2-5 ounce glass of red wine (rich in flavonoids, raises the “good” cholesterol, and increases estrogen) and you have painlessly improved your heart health.

Look at the list of foods. There is a wealth of  textures, colors, and flavors in the heart healthy foods, all adding up to a happy heart when mixed and matched on your dinner plate. And isn’t a happy heart the perfect gift for your Valentine?

One of my favorite weekday meals is not only simple, but a “hearty” harvest, indeed.