After some time I finally reintroduced our Home Restaurant Date nights. I had started earlier in the year but holidays and ill health interrupted my plans.
I had been chatting with my son who has discovered a love of cooking and enjoys trying out new recipes and skills for his family on Sundays. He had mentioned making bruschetta for a quick and easy meal and this led my thoughts to what I would make for our Home Restaurant Date night. I wanted something delicious, that felt like it would be found in a restaurant but a recipe(s) that could be tweaked to not only taste good but provide a healthier option.
Eating healthy does not have to be boring – you just need to be creative
What’s Been On My Plate? – An Italian inspired dinner for two
The Menu
Entree – Bruschetta with Olive and Feta
This was so quick and easy and I will definitely be making this again. You can find my recipe HERE.
Main – Vegan Eggplant Parmesan
I had some eggplant and found this recipe for Vegan Eggplant Parmesan from My Pure Plants. I’ve included the link to the recipe
https://mypureplants.com/vegan-eggplant-parmesan/
What I liked about the recipe was that it was a whole foods plant-based approach and used Cannellini Beans to make a melted vegan mozzarella cheese sauce. Using Cannellini beans (white beans) to make the traditional white cheese sauce found in lasagna and moussaka recipes which was definitely a healthier option. I had my doubts but it was pretty quick and easy to make and tasted just as good as the white cheese sauce but without the calories or saturated fats.
Served with a simple green salad
Dessert – Sugar Free Chocolate cake with ice cream and fruit
A sugar free chocolate cake that I’ve started making as Mike has to watch his sugar levels. It tastes so good. Mike put the dessert together and it looked too pretty to eat. He combined it with some blueberry ice cream (sugar free) and fruit salad of black grapes, blueberries and strawberries.
I will definitely be making the Bruschetta and the Egpplant Parmesan again. Both tasted delicious and weren’t too heavy.
So, what’s been on your plate lately?
I’m linking up to the What’s On Your Plate? blog challenge. A monthly link up hosted by Donna at Retirement Reflections and Deb, The Widow Badass Be sure to pop over to see what’s been on their plate.
25 Comments
These all look great Sue, healthy options too. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Healthy can be tasty, Deb and this recipe will definitely be on the menu again. x
Kudos to you and Mike for making this delicious and healthy dinner.
Thanks Bernadette. We are trying to eat healthier but not at the expense of taste. x
That all looks really yummy – and being healthy is a happy accident.
Yes a healthy happy accident which tasted delicious. x
Hi, Sue – You are so right. Healthy food options don’t have to be boring and it is usually easy to tweak a recipe to reduce the bad offenders and increase the good influences. I love your date night meal and am delighted that you and Mike began doing them again. They sound like tons of fun!
Hi Donna, I do enjoy cooking and so does Mike. Making a night each week to try something different is my goal but not always achieved. Hopefully I’ll be more organised in 2024. x
I’ve been meaning to try eggplant, and this looks delicious! Cannellini beans for cheese? It sounds really interesting so I’ll give it a try as I love cannellini beans. We’ve been eating more soups and salads as the days get shorter and cooler.
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
I love eggplant, Marsha. We regularly have roasted Mediterranean veggies – eggplant, zucchini, capsicum (peppers), onion, potatos, sweet potatos, carrots, cherry tomatoes. They taste delicious and even the next day as a cold salad. x
Looks delicious. I think I will have to tweak my chocolate cake recipe to reduce the sugar in it. Not that my other half cares but I do. I have been really focusing on eating very clean lately and the dividends are showing up! Bernie
Hi Bernie, we are both trying to eat cleaner. Mike has cholesterol and type 2 diabetes and it is 23 years since his triple bypass surgery. I’ve been diagnosed with Cardiovascular disease because of genetics so I really need to take extra care. x
Your meal looks beautiful and very inspiring. As you say healthy doesn’t need to be boring. Often just a few tweaks to your normal foods can make a meal more healthy.
Hi Janie, it was delicious and we didn’t feel we were missing out. I think that’s important for staying on the healthy track. x
Love the bruschetta! Visiting from Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot link-up.
Thanks Melynda for visiting and yes the bruschetta was easy to make and tasted really good. x
Hi Sue, So good to see you here. Bruschetta – its awesome love it.
I visited you via Jam Weekend Reboot Week 33
I linked up this week with = Easy Christmas Pavlova Wreath and Fruity Seedy Vegan Gluten-free Energy Balls
Come and join us Mon – Saturday at SeniorSalonPitStop as well as #WordlessWednesday #Photography Wednesday – Saturday. You will find the info under BLOGGING
Hello Esme, lovely to hear from you and thanks for your comment. Thank you also for mentioning the linkups. I’ve been out of the link up look for a while so it’s good to revisit what ones are available. Your Christmas Pavlova Wreath and Gluten-free Energy Balls sound great. I will stop by and visit. x
Thanks so much Sue, I hope to see you going forward
Hi Sue, This is great to see your vegan and adapted recipes.
Thank you for sharing your links with us at #286 SSPS Linky.
Thanks Esme, it was a very delicious recipe and didn’t taste healthy at all LOL 🙂
Hi Sue, Thank you so much for making my recipe. I am so happy you liked the eggplant parmesan. Nandor and Emese
My pleasure Nandor. The Eggplant recipe will definitely be making another appearance at my dining table. xx
Such delicious layers on this eggplant dish. Thanks for sharing on SSPS, I hope to see you again next week.
Thank you Estelle it did taste delicious. I will try for next week although we are going to Europe for three weeks. I will defintiely be linking up regularly thought. x