Dinner Parties and Proscuitto

On Thursday night, Brett, Joe, Stephen, and Meg came over for weekly family dinner. I've loved having people over for a meal once a week and it has been extra special to introduce friends from different places to one another. Brett was running a little late so I put out a cheese board of sorts - Rosemary Olive Oil bread with Blackberry Ginger balsamic; honey goat cheese; and olives from the Med bar at Harris Teeter.

For dinner, I decided to recreate the meal that Meg and I made for Rob and his roomies last weekend in Winston-Salem: balsamic-marinated chicken with rosemary...but this time, we wrapped the chicken breasts in proscuitto and let it get crispy and delicious in the oven before serving. Meg brought over tomatoes which we baked in the oven with parmesan cheese and then placed on top of arugula. For some more carby-goodness, I roasted red potatoes, carrots, and onions with a rosemary-dijon dressing to connect all the elements.

Golly this chicken was good - it stays moist and the flavor is just amazing. I bought fresh chicken breasts and then cut them in half so they were thinner pieces of meat. I marinated them in balsamic, salt, pepper, and rosemary for about 30 minutes before pan-searing and then baking. This will definitely become a weekly staple (probably without the proscuitto, though).

Meg made a really fun Cool-Whip Oreo pie for dessert. Joe loves Oreos, so let's just say he approved.

I'm already excited for this week's family dinner -- it will be extra special because it will be Rob's first one!