It’s my Birthday in a couple of weeks and I want to invite some friends (10-12 people) over for dinner.
But I don’t know what to make.
It isn’t going to be a formal do, so nothing too fancy.
I don’t have an oven (stupid student residences), but I do have 2 hotplates and a microwave, and might be able to borrow an oven from a neighbour.
There will be vegetarians, so it has to be veggie-adaptable.
It has to be relatively cheap and easy to make.
It has to be substantial enough to cope with whatever alcohol people will consume during the festivites.
Other than veggie fajitas I’m drawing a blank.
Pasta prima vera. Use one hotplate to saute brocolli, sliced carrots, bell peppers and whatever other vegetables you fancy in olive oil with garlic. Use the other to boil up a big pot of spaghetti. Toss the pasta with the oil and vegetables, dust with fresh ground pepper and grated cheese. Enjoy. Some nice bread and butter on the side would be good and perhaps a selection of anti pasti.
Vegitarian Lasagne. Meal fit for kings. Yes, you will need to score the use of that oven, but only for the final bake. All of the prep can be done on your hotplates.
You could really go all the way and use soy flour pasta, or at least spinach or whole wheat pasta for the lasagne noodles.
Bottom layer, noodle. Then, from the bottom, layer up as follows:
Thinly sauteed zuccini slices. Blanche them in olive oil and a dash of garlic, minced. Thin drizzle of sauce.
Noodle layer, with thinly spread riccotta cheese over noodle.
Over riccotta, have prepared mushrooms. Sliced and sauteed in white wine and a bit of oregano, with kosher salt dashed over lightly. Spread slices in tight layer.
Noodle layer, with more sauce ladled over top.
Take extra firm tofu. Take sesame oil, and pour in sesame oil to frypan. With 1/4 inch thick slices, fry in hot sesame oil until firm and browned. Lay them over last layer of sauce/noodle from #4.
6 Top layer of noodle, with extra sauce on top.
Sounds really huge and messy, but look at it. Three fry pan-cooked ingredients, a few containers of cheese and sauce from the market and a few oils. Amazing, filling, fairly cheap meal. You can do this !!! A nice crunchy fresh hot garlic bread brought by a pal with an oven and some tin foil on his/her hands.
Palate note It might be argued that using Sesame Oil in with traditionally italian seasonings might be a disaster. I’d disagree, it works rather nicely. A mélange of flavors that are complimentary.
Salad brought by another guest ( or, provided by yourself ) and you folks will be stuffed like a tick ! Let us know how it goes, okay?
When I’m having company I like to get a variety of cheeses, bread, hummus and pita, etc. It’s not a whole dinner, but if you get enough stuff it can be quite good. I also tell people to bring whatever they want. This usually works well as they bring more than enough food/wine.
Pasta is ALWAYS good for filling people up, and it’s so versatile, you almost CAN’T go wrong.
Get a couple pounds of fresh mushrooms, and chop them very finely. Thinly slice about 4-6 garlic cloves. Pour enough olive oil into a pan to coat the bottom, and saute the mushrooms and garlic together, along with a good-sized pinch of red pepper flakes. Add a cup of red wine and simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the contents of the pot are dark and earthy looking. Toss that with hot noodles (I like bowties for this) and serve with sliced tomatoes and breadsticks on the side.
And don’t disregard Indygrrl’s suggestions either - you can do a whole appetizer buffet with lots of ready-made (or semi-ready made) stuff from the grocery store, and invite your friends to bring their favorite foods to share.
You can always get he cook book “How to cook for humans” Be careful you don’t get the wrong cookbook. You may have to blow off several layers of dust to be on the safe side.
On a more serious note, you can pick up a crockpot for around 10-15 bucks American (ie, cheap) and you can make many types of delicious soups and stews in it.
I’d go with the previous recommendation of having hors d’oeuvres at your party. Veggies with dip, a selection of cheeses (feta, gouda, Swiss, cheddar, etc.), various crackers, olives, maybe some deli meats or hot wings for the non-vegetarians in the crowd. Tell folks to bring chips or pretzels if they want.
Alternatively, if you’re dead-set on cooking something, stir-fry might not be a bad idea. The rice can be done beforehand and reheated in the microwave when it’s dinner time. You can stir-fry vegetables on one hot-plate and chicken or shrimp or beef or whatever on the other. The guests can select meat, or not, based on their dietary preferences.
My guess is you might be from Ireland…just a stab in the dark there.
We have a cable station in the US that is nothing but cooking shows. http://www.foodtv.com/
Log on and check it out. You might be impressed with the recipes on the “30 Minute Meals” program (all simple stuff and most of it on the stove.)
There are also a lot of other show recipes there as well. If nothing else, it should give you lots of ideas.
Go with Coucous. This is variant on the ‘go with pasta’ rule.
Use the ‘instant’ kind. Providing your not living in the boonies it shouldn’t be hard to find.
Cook up two-three stews, veg or meaty, spicy or bland, curried, whatever.
Use the crock pot suggestion.
Everybody gets a bowl with a heap of coucous. They then can spoon on the stew. And…EAT WITH THEIR FINGERS!!!
Serve with fruit and lots of red wine.
Tasty, easy, a little exotic and mucho fun.
I could belabour you with self serving anecdotes regarding the successes of serving this meal…but…
Let us know how it goes, okay?