Family Date Night Menu

Going out to eat used to be “my thing.” I enjoyed letting someone else do the shopping, prep work, cooking, serving, and clea-up.  Who wouldn’t?  Let me answer that for you: a momma with two young kids, one who throws food and yells when he’s in a restaurant high chair, the other who cannot sit still without constant entertainment.  Sure, we can grin and bear it on occasion, but it ain’t pleasant.

So instead of treating ourselves to a dining out experience weekly as a family, we treat ourselves to a in-home Family Date Night.  We have what I would call “elevated” cuisine. Ya know, the food that goes beyond the frozen pizza or sauce from a jar.  We set the table properly.  The kids get to use straws in their drinks, the adults get an “adult” beverage.  We make a simple and yummy meal; something that can be prepped largely in advance during the kids’ nap times and assembled quickly when we are ready to eat.   And the best part? We get a special dessert.

If this sounds more up your alley than a wild evening at your local pizza joint, try out this simple menu.  The whole family will love it.  And, even better?  There won’t be a bill at the end.  Although, feel free to send any tips my way.

Without further ado, here’s our most recent Family Date Night Menu:
Baked Rigatoni with Ricotta, Spinach and Basil
Indian Spiced Roasted Carrots
Vanilla Scented Broiled Chiquita Bananas and Strawberries over Vanilla Ice Cream

Baked Rigatoni with Ricotta, Spinach and Basil

Ingredients:
1 pound rigatoni
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package (10-ounce) frozen spinach, thawed
3/4 cup packed (fresh) basil
16 oz. part-skim ricotta
5 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoons grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
6 ounces gruyere, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 450°F. Oil a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the rigatoni until almost done, about 12 minutes. Drain. Put the pasta in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, place thawed spinach in cheesecloth or flour sack towel and squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Put the spinach in a food processor and puree with the basil, ricotta, 3 tablespoons of the Parmesan, the nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Stir in half the gruyere and olive oil.

Stir the spinach mixture into the pasta and pour into coated baking dish. Top with the remaining gruyere and Parmesan. Bake the pasta until the top is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Roasted Carrots

Ingredients:
2 pounds carrots, washed, unpeeled, and quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 teaspoons Garam Masala
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss carrots, and remaining ingredients in rimmed sheet pan. Roast for 20 minutes flipping half way through.

Vanilla Scented Broiled Chiquita Bananas and Strawberries over Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 Chiquita Banana per person
1 quart of strawberries, stemmed, hulled and sliced in half
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Vanilla ice cream

Directions: Preheat broiler. Stir brown sugar and vanilla. Toss strawberries with half of brown sugar mixture and let sit in bowl for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and slice bananas in half. Sprinkle bananas with the remaining brown sugar mixture and place on foil rimmed baking sheet. Spoon strawberries onto the baking sheet, cut side up. Place baking sheet under broiler until the fruits are caramelized.

Spoon on top of vanilla ice cream, or any flavor of your choice.

Happy Eatin’,