If you have people coming over for dinner, sometimes it’s hard to think of the right grouping of recipes that you can make ahead, won’t take too much time, can be served at room temperature and will be delicious. I hear that and I have a plan for you!
I usually do my menu planning in the produce department of the grocery store the day-of and I recently came up with a seasonal menu that checked all the boxes. We had friends over for an outdoor vegetarian dinner last week and what we made is below.
I want you to know that each “recipe” below is loose, because you really can’t go wrong. If you add more of one thing or the other, it will still turn out fine. So be creative and use these ideas as a starting point!
White Peach Caprese
On a platter, layer slices of white peach and yellow tomato. Top with pieces of Burrata cheese and sprigs of fresh basil. Drizzle the whole platter with good olive oil, flaky (Maldon) sea salt and black pepper. This is one of my favorite things to eat!
3-Bean Lentil Salad
Combine roughly equal parts lentils, shelled edamame beans, and canned Cannellini beans. Add chopped scallions and sliced cherry tomatoes. Toss with rice vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil and Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce).
Roasted Potato Salad
Roast halved mini potatoes and a chopped onion with olive oil and salt on a sheet pan at 425˚F for about 25 min or until fork-tender. Cool for a few minutes them spoon them on top of a bowl of arugula. Dress with balsamic.
Beyond Kebabs
Jon started making these recently with a recipe (meant for beef) from the Balaboosta cookbook. It’s so delicious and such a fun and different way to eat faux meat. Just mix herbs and spices into the Beyond ground meat and pack them onto wooden kebab sticks before putting them on the grill (you can also use the patties if you can’t find the block of ground “meat”.) They are especially good with chimichurri sauce (I have a recipe in my FF Gatherings book) or the Zhoug sauce from Trader Joe’s (I’m obsessed).
Summer dinner party buffet on our deck!
We also served a platter or fruit and sliced raw rainbow carrots for our picky kids (and everyone) and a loaf of really good bread with butter. The kids made s’mores over the BBQ for dessert.
Campari & Sodas feel so Italian-summer (and they are so easy!!)
Winnie is 15 months already (!) and was at my feet as I prepared everything.
Cheers to summer al fresco dining!