Entertaining Simplified

Many years ago, when I had my first apartment, I used to make a grand event of hosting a dinner party.  I would find a really attractively prepared meal in one of the fancy gourmet cooking magazines, spend a lot of money buying exotic spices and ingredients that I ended up using once, and spending hours and hours in the kitchen before the guests arrived.  Looking back, I recall several meal disasters with the new untested dishes, and being frazzled and exhausted by the time the guests arrived.  I also remember laughing and having fun with my friends regardless of how well (or poorly) the food turned out.

Now, I don’t have a chance to have guests over as often as I’d like, or to participate in pot-lucks, but I’ve simplified the preparation enormously.  My secret: one dish.  I pick one dish that goes over well, uses everyday ingredients, and bring the same thing repeatedly to potlucks.  The same for entertaining at home, I pick one meal and that’s the meal that I serve when we have someone over for dinner the first time.  My repertoire of meals goes beyond two, and tries to incorporate healthy fruits and vegetables, but is not large in number.    By sticking to recipes that I’ve made repeatedly, I usually don’t deal with a last minute disaster, and I’ve created a signature dish with my touches.  And no, I’ve never had anyone ask for more variety.  The following dishes work for me (recipes will be added later) and have made entertaining a lot easier:

Potlucks:
Apple ginger coleslaw
Thai chicken salad (no added fat or mayonnaise)

Dinner at home:
Thai dinner w/ red curry
Red beans and rice

Snack for a group:
Chipotle hummus (still perfecting the recipe) w/ baby carrots

see more suggestions at Works for Me Wednesday