Forget those candy conversation hearts. This Valentine's Day, send your loved one some real heart. There are tons of options, even for the vegetarians.

If you’ve had more than a couple hamburgers in your life, chances are you’ve probably eaten some heart.

Deborah Krassner writes in Good Meat that while beef hearts might seem like offal, they’re not classified as such by the United States Department of Agriculture and consequently they’re often used in making lean, economical burgers.

Of course, you can also braise, roast, confit, or eat beef heart raw.

Photo courtesy of Ryan S. Adams of Nose to Tail at Home.

Or if you're feeling adventurous, there's lamb hearts. In Nose to Tail Eating, his excellent primer on all things offal, Chef Fergus Henderson recommends stuffing them with onions, garlic, sage, and leftover bread.

Photo courtesy of Ryan S. Adams of Nose to Tail at Home.

Anatomical experts will tell you these are not really hearts because they don’t circulate blood, but the dense, white cores of lettuces, especially Romaine, are called hearts. Iceberg lettuce appears to be all heart, but no one says that.

Photo by Peter Smith

Lettuce is part of the same plant family as Globe artichokes, but an artichoke’s heart refers to the immature flower bud (technically its receptacle), rather than the leaves themselves.

And forget what cardiologists say, these hearts will be better with hot butter.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user sblackley.

Enough with the bitter greens. How about some duck hearts on toast? Or try them with spelt pasta.

Photo courtesy of Ryan S. Adams of Nose to Tail at Home.

Elsewhere, offals aren't such a novelty. Take these fast-food chicken hearts, for example.

I would take my sweetheart to KFC if only the Colonel served chicken parts that looked this cardiovascular.  

Photo by Flickr user (cc) avlxyz.

Palmito, or heart of palm, is just what is says it is.

Canned, these taste a lot like artichoke hearts. Because harvesting a palm heart requires cutting the entire tree down, and since about 75 percent of the palm species harvested around the world only have a single stem, I'd recommend consuming these with care—unless you're sure about how they're cultivated.

Photo by Peter Smith

This could be the basis for a space ship in a CGI blockbuster. It's actually puso ng saging, or banana heart. Apparently, it's the edible bud of the world's favorite fruit. Does anyone know if they taste at all like banana?

Photo by Flickr user (cc) Richard Parker.

Sometimes I work at the farmers market and when people ask me about the flavor and texture of this incredible vegetable, I tell them that if cabbage had a heart it would be a kohlrabi.

Kohlrabi's a lesser-known variety of Brassica oleracea, the diverse plant species that includes broccoli, kale, and mustard greens and it's very crunchy.

Photo by Flickr user (cc) galant.

OK, this isn’t a heart either. It is one of the few root vegetables that really reminds me of an anatomical model of a heart.

And—come on—wouldn’t you be more likely to share celeriac if it were called a celery heart?

Photo by Peter Smith