sunday night dinner party

this evening, we invited my parents down for sunday dinner. tradition has to date dictated that we would go there and stay for a nice roast on sunday. well, time to shake tradition.

the immediate question was what to serve, that was both reasonably priced, but also clean and healthy. the answers came quite easily - and as always thanks to Pinterest.

for our afternoon snack, as we watched the golf, we pulled together what we already had in the house - this was the norm of what you would expect - leftover quinoa salad, veggies and hummus, and less expected, but most impressive, little tuna cucumber sandwiches. this appetizer is so simple, and delicious that everyone can't help but be impressed!

the main dish was more complicated - a Chicken Tetrazzini recipe from Clean Eating Magazine. I have copied the recipe below, with my few tweaks, but you can find the original here.

INGREDIENTS:
Olive oil cooking spray
3 cups whole-wheat pasta (rigatoni, penne, sedani)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 cup finely diced sweet onion
1 medium carrot, peeled, halved length-wise and thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup low-fat greek yogurt
2 tbsp parsley
1 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated (about 1/3 cup), divided
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 chicken breasts, torn into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup roughly chopped raw almonds, optional

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly mist an 11-cup (2.6 L) casserole dish with cooking spray; set aside.
• Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions, drain, rinse under cold running water and drain again; set aside.   
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms, onion and carrot and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add salt and continue to cook, stirring, until mushrooms are golden brown and carrot has softened, about 4 minutes. Add broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer gently until carrot is tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer three-quarters of broth and half of vegetable mixture to a blender and purée until smooth. (NOTE: Be sure to cover lid of blender with a kitchen towel and hold it securely while blending to avoid any hot mixture or steam from escaping.) Add greek yogurt, parsley, half of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and lemon juice and pulse blender until mixed. Return puréed mixture to skillet and toss with pasta and chicken. Transfer mixture to prepared casserole dish, and sprinkle remaining half of Parmigiano-Reggiano and almonds, if desired, over top. Bake until sauce is bubbling and top is golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

i was REALLY impressed with this recipe - it tasted great, and we were able to pre-assemble before our guests arrive meaning we could actually enjoy their company when they were with us.

our dessert was a bit of a Pinterest inspired adventure. i'm always seeing posts for baked peaches and they look so good. i combined a few of those recipes for what i ended up making - and i couldn't help but wish we had made enough for seconds!

INGREDIENTS:

2 Medium sized, ripe peaches

1 tbsp honey, per half

1 tbsp of cinnamon for toping

1/4 cup of roughly chopped pecans

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees
• Cut the peaches in two, remove the pit
• Drizzle each with the honey, then sprinkle with cinnamon and pecans
• Cook for 10 minutes, until the peaches are soft

overall, the dinner party was a success and done on a budget! let me know if you try any of the recipes and how they work for you.