It's your night to fix dinner, but the day has been back-to-back meetings and lunch was a bag of chips and a promise. You won't get home before 7:00. Calling your spouse, you find their day has been the same. Neither of you feel like going out and carryout pizza sounds like a terrible end to a long day. You both want to enjoy a couple of leisurely cocktails and then eat a delicious meal. Sound familiar? Well here's an idea, and with a little planning you won't even have to stop at the store.
First, make the cocktails, then you...
Chicken Piccata -...pull a couple of chicken breasts out of the freezer, fill a bowl with hot water, and start them thawing. This dish takes 10 minutes to make, but the combination of lemon, capers, and white wine produce a taste that is fancy-restaurant special.
While your spouse...
Tortellini - ...puts an almost-full pot of water on the stove to simmer (medium heat). Then he pulls out the jar you stored the dried tortellini in and measures out a cup of pasta. Next he pulls the butter from the fridge and cuts off a tablespoon. Lastly he grates some fresh parmesan, asiago, or other dry cheese. The butter and cheese will dress the pasta when it's ready.
With the chicken breasts thawing, you make...
Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette - Because you bought the salad premixed (or premixed it yourself at the grocery salad bar), all you have to do is make the vinaigrette. Slightly sweet but tangy this dressing is a perfect complement to the pungent Chicken Picatta.
It's taken 10 minutes for the two of you to do the prep, now make another cocktail, put some relaxing music on the stereo, and unwind. At this point you have 15 minutes more effort to get dinner on the table. You can do nothing for the next hour if you wish, but if you want to eat in half an hour then replace the water thawing the chicken breasts with more hot water after 15 minutes.
To complete the meal, you make the Chicken Piccata. Your partner brings the simmering water to a boil and cooks the tortellini, then dresses the pasta and salad while you make the picatta sauce. Voila! A healthy and delicious meal you made together, at your own pace, with minimal effort. How can you beat that?
Applesauce Cookies - If you made these in advance and froze some, pull a few out of the freezer with the chicken breasts and let them thaw on the counter. After dinner, stick them in the toaster oven at 300 for 5 minutes.
