Comments | tleex: Help me, foodies!

tleex

Help me, foodies!

Aug 17, 2010 22:13

We're having a lovely couple coming over on Sunday for lunch and board games. They've volunteered to bring a dish that will go along with whatever menu I choose. I don't entertain basically AT ALL EVER ( Read more... )

questions, entertaining, food

Comments 17

olethros_chaos August 18 2010, 06:29:59 UTC

To impress, I think Id go with a mango salad, the Vietnamese place down here makes an awesome one and it screams cool summer lunch. It seems really adaptable to the ingredients at hand, and is very refreshing. Near as I can tell, any recipee for green mango salad works depending on taste, and it works great with the mango commonly found in the store instead of green mango. I particularly like lotus root in mine.

Otherwise a GOOD BP%J can be an amazing and surprising addition to a lunch menu. Use good (fresh backed if possible) bread, I like a multi-grain or grain and nut. A home-made or good fresh-ground peanut butter, and better-than-schmuckers jelly or preserve, and it makes a nostalgic adult treat.

tleex August 26 2010, 06:38:36 UTC

Both the gourmet PB&J and the mango salad idea appeal to me. Do you have any recipes for making your own peanut butter?

dichroic August 18 2010, 08:42:47 UTC

What if you just do a sandwich board and let people make their own? A couple kinds of bread, some cheese, a couple of meats, mayo, mustard, pesto, and some roasted veggies. Maybe even include PB&J if you happen to have it on hand. People can choose their preferences and you have your vegetarian option.

And you can even serve a mango or other salad on the side! My favorite is panzanella: saute cubes of a hearty bread (ideally, slightly stale) with minced garlic in olive oil, put in a bowl, add about an equivalent quantity of diced tomatoes on top. Smoosh slightly to get the tomato juices into the bread. Add gren onions if you have them on hand, or maybe a bit of cucumber or onion. Toss with whatever - lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, a drizzle of more olive oil, sea salt, fresh-ground pepper, basil, whatever other herbs you feel like....

rebeccmeister August 18 2010, 23:35:27 UTC

I like this idea, a lot. Plus, then your guests could bring either their favorite sandwich toppings (maybe a special cheese or something?) or else chips or some other such item that would go well with sandwiches. A fancy sandwich with really good bread makes for a nice lunchtime treat.

My Florist cafe in downtown Phoenix sells loaves of extremely delicious bread, too, and then there's the downtown Phoenix Farmer's Market on Saturday morning (8-12) if you want to look for fancy-pants local foodie ingredients to impress your guests.

tleex August 26 2010, 06:27:21 UTC

I'll have to check out that cafe you mentioned sometime. The bread lady at the downtown farmer's market sold us a delicious loaf of rosemary-scented bread. Hooray for farmer's markets!

tleex August 26 2010, 06:25:58 UTC

I took your idea and adapted it to an antipasto platter to go with the lasagna and the salad the couple brought. It worked out really well!

curieuse August 18 2010, 17:57:44 UTC

Vegetarian lasagna is really not that hard, and definitely impresses and feels like a "company's coming" dish. I get the No-Bake Barilla noodles and follow the directions on the back of the box.

curieuse August 18 2010, 18:20:20 UTC

But I use extra sauce because I love sauce, and I throw in whatever veg sounds nice in the produce department. If it's a watery veg like zucchini or something, I cook it a little in a pan first to get some of the water out. But the no-bake noodles are awesome and soak up extra water so no worries. Also leave a little extra bake time -- if it's done early just cover it on the counter, it'll stay good.

tleex August 26 2010, 06:28:34 UTC

The veggie lasagna was a hit! I went with your suggestion because I knew that I could make it without goofing it up.

curieuse August 26 2010, 13:05:08 UTC

That's great! A good one for your entertainment arsenal.

shisochou August 19 2010, 04:22:01 UTC

I've used this recipe for eggplant parmesan/swiss chard rolls and it was a hit.

tleex August 26 2010, 06:34:16 UTC

I was hoping you'd be among the people to respond.

That recipe looks delicious! I have a particular weakness for eggplant. I wonder if I can find chard out of season for this weekend's batch cooking session.

shisochou August 26 2010, 07:22:40 UTC

Swiss chard is a summer vegetable so I think finding it now shouldn't be an issue. I'm sure any green leafy veggie could be substituted if needed: spinach, beet greens, kale, etc.

rppp01a August 19 2010, 05:57:28 UTC

Grazing foods.

Guacamole and chips
A veggie platter
Some fruit
Bread, cheese and some oil
Things like that (you could even include sliced meats for those who eat meat)

This way you have a variety and the pressure is off of 'that one thing'. Plus, the preparation won't overheat the house

tleex August 26 2010, 06:37:20 UTC

I liked your idea of having a little variety. We did an antipasto platter so everyone could pick and choose as they liked.

Sorry to bail on climbing tonight. Stomach has been acting up all day. Although now that it's almost midnight and I'm still not tired, I'm more inclined to blame it on stress and the massive amounts of coffee I've been drinking than on a bug. :( What are your vacation dates again?