Last night we had dinner at our friends Donna and Vasili's house.
OMG!
Donna and Vasili are uber-generous and gracious hosts. She's Italian and handles the cooking. Vasili is Greek and handles the wine. Put the two together and you have an unforgettably delicious meal. I weighed myself at the gym one day later—after my yoga class—and I was still three pounds up. We couldn't stop eating.
The meal started with antipasto—three platters of it. The first had an assortment of Italian meats—two kinds of prosciutto, Genoa salami, Sopressetta and Mortadella. The second held homemade roasted red pepper and olives with virgin olive oil. There was, of course, a cheese platter with four kinds of cheese—provolone, pecorino, parmigiano reggiano and rocchetta. A warm baguette and various other bread sticks rounded it up. Vasili served a delicious Franciscan Cabernet Sauvignon with this. All the guests agreed that was enough of a meal for us. But not for Donna.
Next came the main course. Roasted grouper, perfectly infused with fresh herbs. Also to fill our plates was mushroom risotto, haricot vert, carrots and a salad with clementine slices and pistachios dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette. Vasili's contribution was equally creative—a fresh, crisp Brocard Chablis.
Dessert was a Jean Georges recipe—Swiss chocolate cake with a molten center. As I said, OMG.
We waddled home later that evening swearing we would only eat salad the next night. That's what I made.
The denouement: dinner the next night.
A while back I got a recipe from Prevention.com for roasted butternut squash and spinach salad . The recipe said there were just 238 calories per serving. Considering what we ate last night, the fewer calories the better.
But it was dinner and I was serving my two teens. So I grilled three boneless chicken breasts, with salt, pepper, herbs De Provence and freshly squeezed lemon juice, and put the sliced chicken on top of the salad recipe below (which I changed slightly based on what was in the house).
Roasted Butternut and Spinach Salad from Prevention.com.
Here's the link to the recipe: http://bit.ly/bKaXOY. And here's the slightly modified recipe I made:
What to buy
- 3/4 lb precut butternut squash cubes (3/4") or 1/2 med butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
- 1 lg red bell pepper, cut into 3/4" pieces
- 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided (MUFA=monounsaturated fat)
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp salt, divided
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 tsp honey
- 1/4 sm red onion, chopped (about 1/4 c)
- 4 c package packed baby spinach (4 oz)
- 1 sm Gala or Golden Delicious apple, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 c thinly sliced radicchio
- 1/2 c toasted hazel nuts
How to prepare it
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. While the oven is warming, season boneless chicken breast with salt, pepper and herbs De Provence. Then place on warm grill, cooking on both sides until done. About 10 to 15 minutes, depending on thickness of chicken. While the chicken is cooking...
3. Roughly cut hazel nuts and toast in a cast iron skillet until browned. Put aside.
4. Coat rimmed baking sheet with olive oil spray. Toss squash and bell pepper with 2 teaspoons of the oil, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of the black pepper in medium bowl. Arrange in single layer on prepared baking sheet. Roast 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until tender and lightly browned. Let cool 10 minutes.
5. Whisk lemon juice, honey, and remaining 4 teaspoons oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper in large salad bowl while squash roasts. Stir in onion. Add spinach, apple, radicchio, hazel nuts, and squash mixture and toss to combine.
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