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Please help me plan a casual dinner menu for 4-6 women for HOT weather
Hoggirl
2071 replies212 threads Senior Member
in Parent Cafe
A high school friend from out of town will be visiting me in a couple of weeks. I am having a few of our other local-to-the-area high school friends over to see her. Dealing with mid-July in Florida, and we are in a small condo, so I would rather NOT crank up the oven. I’d also like to have everything prepared ahead of time so I can best enjoy the gathering. Out-of-town friend arrives around 6:30.
I have one friend who doesn’t eat tree nuts and one who doesn’t eat tomatoes (so gazpacho is out). I was thinking of doing a “salad trio” - maybe pasta salad, chicken salad, fruit salad??? Could do a shrimp salad as another option? Pimiento cheese? Egg salad? I could do little finger sandwiches as well or instead of salads? That seems a bit too lunch-ish to me. Wondering about some sort of crackers, bread, along side the salads. Banana bread?
Thinking white wine, red wine, and Prosecco, but I could do Sangria - white or red or both. I wasn’t sure if that would be fruit overload if I had a fruit salad, though. I could do Aperol Spritzes?
I will probably do my usual go to small appetizer of a frilly toothpick with a cube of manchego cheese, a cube of guava paste, with a leaf of Arugula in between. And some sort of cheesecake in my Instant pot for our dessert - maybe key lime? Maybe chocolate? We will have dinner and then walk over to sunset.
I don’t have a ton of lovely serving pieces at all anymore. Just no room here. Kinda makes me sad that I can’t present things as well as I used to be able to, but it is what it is.
Any ideas? For yummy salads or for going a different direction altogether? Drinks? Dessert?
54 replies I have one friend who doesn’t eat tree nuts and one who doesn’t eat tomatoes (so gazpacho is out). I was thinking of doing a “salad trio” - maybe pasta salad, chicken salad, fruit salad??? Could do a shrimp salad as another option? Pimiento cheese? Egg salad? I could do little finger sandwiches as well or instead of salads? That seems a bit too lunch-ish to me. Wondering about some sort of crackers, bread, along side the salads. Banana bread?
Thinking white wine, red wine, and Prosecco, but I could do Sangria - white or red or both. I wasn’t sure if that would be fruit overload if I had a fruit salad, though. I could do Aperol Spritzes?
I will probably do my usual go to small appetizer of a frilly toothpick with a cube of manchego cheese, a cube of guava paste, with a leaf of Arugula in between. And some sort of cheesecake in my Instant pot for our dessert - maybe key lime? Maybe chocolate? We will have dinner and then walk over to sunset.
I don’t have a ton of lovely serving pieces at all anymore. Just no room here. Kinda makes me sad that I can’t present things as well as I used to be able to, but it is what it is.
Any ideas? For yummy salads or for going a different direction altogether? Drinks? Dessert?
This discussion has been closed.
Replies to: Please help me plan a casual dinner menu for 4-6 women for HOT weather
Don't stress about it! Everyone will love whatever you serve. Have fun!
Corn and avocado salad is nice this time of year but I usually add tomatoes to mine. Maybe you could leave chopped tomatoes on the side?
I personal love both cold sesame noodle salad and chicken salad so those ideas sound great to me.
Other things I make along this line are:
a couscous salad
a thai-ish chicken salad with pulled chicken on a bed of leaf lettuces mixed with mint, basil, cilantro and veggies like red peppers, cucumber tossed in a peanutty dressing
salad nicoise with fresh salmon cooked ahead of time instead of tuna with a lemony dressing
Cucumber salads are refreshing and I particularly like an asian influenced one with rice vinegar, cilantro, a little chilies for just a little kick.
I also make an orzo pasta salad with shrimp, dill, cuke, feta, a little red onion in a lemony dressing. I put grape tomatoes in it but you could set some aside before adding those.
I could suggest others but those are just some additional thoughts.
Roasted veggies are also nice done before and served room temperature.
If you decide to make Sangria (which I think is festive) you could go all out tapas style. I recently did a version of this for a deck party of six and it went it looked so much fancier than it was. I just got a big board and put sliced choizo and serrano ham, couple cheeses, fruit, veggies, nuts and had a basket of good bread and crackers. You can prepare in advance and no oven required.
I like the mini pastries from Whole Foods for dessert. They are pretty and you can get a variety to please everyone (leftovers aren't a bad thing, either)
I made this last night as a side dish and it was very pretty and tasty. I used pearl mozzarella and added a little finely diced shallots to the dressing.
https://www.foodiecrush.com/cantaloupe-and-mozzarella-caprese-salad/
https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/sesame-noodles/
This one sounds good:
https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fiesta-rice-salad
Canned black beans (Goya is the best, IMO)
Cooked white rice (Uncle Ben's Converted Rice holds up better IMO but you can use brown rice or regular long grain rice as well)
A couple ears of fresh corn, cooked and corn cut off the cob (I find the easiest way is to cook them in the microwave for 5-6 minutes in the husks. Let cool, cut an inch or so off the stem end, husk, and cut the kernels off.
Whatever your favorite salsa is
Lime juice
Chopped cilantro
Avocado
Salt, cumin, cayenne
Rinse the black beans in a colander and shake out the excess water. Combine the black beans, cooked rice, and corn. Add salsa and lime juice to your liking. Salt, and a little cumin and cayenne can be added to taste or just left out depending on if you want more of a kick than just the flavor from the salsa. Chill until ready to serve. I dice the avocado and gently stir that in along with the cilantro before serving.
So, are these flavors going to be weird together? If I do the black bean salad, the sesame noodle salad, and some sort of mayo-based chicken salad? Are those flavors too different?
I also made quacamole and a rice side dish with scallions, pine nuts and a little lime zest/juice in it. They could either put the meat and fixings on top of tortilla chips or briefly heat up a small tortilla shell in the microwave as needed. I also put hard taco shells in the oven, but you wouldn’t need to do that, especially since it’ll be hot and you don’t want to use your oven.
Since tequila gives me a headache, I created my own version of a Tequila Sunrise using Absolut Vodka, Simply Juice Orange w/ Pineapple, Grenadine and a little dash of the maraschino cherry juice too, a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a cherry with orange and lime wedges for garnish. You could have the orange and lime wedges cut up ahead of time. I had a drink station where people had fun making their own beautiful sunrises. 🌅
And here is the version with sweet peppers and cucumbers: https://nonordinaryreality.com/recipes/recipebox/noodles-cooks.pdf
SESAME NOODLES
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. fresh ginger, grated
2 T. sesame oil
6 T. vegetable oil
6 T. light rice vinegar
8 T. soy sauce
1 T. chili oil or hot oil
3 T. white sugar
1 lb. vermicelli, cooked
6 scallions
Saute first four ingredients for a minute or two (don't burn the garlic!). Add next four ingredients and boil for a few seconds. Pour the sauce over the cooked vermicelli. Refrigerate overnight. Toss noodles and garnish with chopped scallions. Serve cold or at room temperature.
It's very forgiving and you can do it with rice instead of orzo if you want. I also use less oil because I found the original amount a bit too greasy. If you can grill, grill some chicken or shrimp and you have a meal.
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