We know dinnertime rolls around every day, yet it’s so easy to let it slip your mind until the last minute. When you don’t have a plan, I hope this idea helps you pull together an easy dinner everyone will love.
Instead of dialing up takeout, or throwing in the kitchen towel and letting the family fend for themselves (cereal, anyone?) try a Family Dinner Apéritif!
This simple yet elegant meal gets everyone to the table to share something satisfying, and dinner becomes a time worth savoring.
As you may have read in my previous posts The Apéritif — Return to the Table Style and The Apéritif Dinner Snack for Kids, the apéritif is traditionally a drink — alcoholic or not — served before a meal. Its purpose is to help you relax, spark your appetite, and wake up your digestive system.
Now let’s take that tradition and turn it into an easy dinner that everyone will love, one that’s simple for you to prepare. We’ll gather a few small plates to make a meal — apéritif style.
In Spain, they call small plates tapas, an assortment of small portions that, together, make up dinner.
These small plates can be quick and easy to prepare and will also help you use up leftovers and ingredients you have on hand, avoiding food waste and saving money. You will find choices to please everyone and create a balanced meal. Let’s look at some ideas to inspire your family dinner apéritif.
Each of the foods that follow can appear by itself on a plate at your apéritif, or in combination with other things.
Your apéritif dinner can be fun to prepare, and it takes just minutes. Get children and your other household members involved in creating your apéritif plates to make dinner prep even easier. They might even come up with some fresh, fabulous ideas!
Put on some music on to create an even more enjoyable mood while you're preparing your apéritif dinner. Serve a drink and perhaps a little treat, like some chips — just a few, without overindulging.
When it’s time to sit down for your dinner apéritif, you can also serve it in courses to encourage slow and mindful eating. Offer everyone the lighter choices first, like the veggies, then the heartier options for the “main dish,” and finish with dessert — fruit and fresh nuts and maybe a piece of dark chocolate.
I find dinners like this to be especially relaxing and meaningful on a hectic day or when I don’t have the energy to cook. The apéritif dinner helps you maintain your healthy eating habits. While it can also help you save money, you’ll still have a meaningful moment together — without much effort! If you try this idea, I'd love to see pictures of your family dinner apéritif! You can send them to me at caterina@returntothetable.com, along with any questions you have.
P.S. The aperitif is also a great way to entertain friends, without all the fuss you may think goes into making dinner for company. I'll be writing about that soon!
Bon appétit, apéritif style!
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