Whole Foods Dinner Party Menu

[PM]

Nicolas has invited some visiting colleagues to dinner. I need some ideas for a menu. It must be all whole foods/from scratch. I was thinking of my spinach quiche, but with what? Maybe a potato/leek soup? Any ideas for appetizers? And - I'm making this hard for you all, I know - I can't get anything fancy like hummus or goat cheese. So really, I can work with veggies, rice, pasta, fruit, beans (red, white and black-eye).

[MamaOui]

For an appetizer, you could get a nice loaf of bread. Add fresh tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, a little bit of salt,and basil (and cheese if you want to). Heat in the oven. If I make three appetizers (even *fancy* ones), this one is always the first to disappear.

Do you eat meat?

[PM]

Do you mean carve out the bread and put the stuff in there?

Yes we eat some meat occasionally, but good meat is tricky to find.

I like the bread idea, thanks.

[SoHappy]

It's easy to make hummus, if you're interested. Tons of recipes online for it.

A whole grain salad is always nice with quiche. Use whatever grains you have, cook until soft. Marinate a bunch of veggies in whatever type of salad dressing you like, then toss the veggies and marinade with the cooked grains and refrigerate until serving.

You can make little fruit tarts on whole wheat pizza dough for dessert. Toss the fruit in a little honey and fruit juice, drain. Make the little dough circles, brush with melted butter, pile the fruit on, sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg, bake about 10 minutes. Really easy and not too sweet. Serve with tea. (And whipped cream, if you like. Mmmmmmmmm.)

[MamaOui]

No need to scoop out any bread, PM.

Another salad that is easy: even parts of diced tomato (remove seeds), cucumber, Hungarian peppers, and minced onion (maybe use about half of the amount of onion than the other veggies). Toss in a little bit of olive oil, salt, and lemon juice to taste. Add farmers cheese (if available) right before serving.

Soup and quiche sounds lovely. And they are perfect for entertaining, because most of the work is done ahead of time so you have more time to be social.

[PM]

SoHappy, I'm totally interested! It's just that there are no chickpeas here. Can I make hummus with a different type of bean? Fruit tarts is a good idea.

MamaOui the salad sounds yummy. Only thing is that these types of salads are a staple here, and I was hoping for more of a back-home effect for this guy. I know I didn't mention that, so I do appreciate the idea.

[Chanley]

How about a bean pate with crackers??

There are lots of recipes on-line.

[PM]

Bean pate sounds great! But no crackers here! I've looked and looked. You see how creative I have to be?!

[Ragana]

Can you get potatoes? Potato salad can be made lots of different ways, with vinaigrette/mayo, etc., with other vegetables (peas)

Rice salad - same thing - just add whatever vegetables you have and mix up some dressing (oil, something sour (lemon juice, vinegar) and salt and pepper)

Yogurt salad with tomatoes and cucumbers

Local bread and pastries?

Are you veg? It seems like from this site I found (which admittedly is kind of weird :-) ) lots of traditional dishes have grilled meat in them:
http://www.svetlanasbrides.com/kyrgy...lery/pg011.htm

Maybe you can make a "lots of side dishes buffet" rather than a regular 3 course meal or whatever.

This is interesting!! Let us know how it turns out!

Edited to add: Just thought of another one - filled crepes? Those can be savory or sweet and would have more of the European feel you want.

[DreamWeaver]

oh, this sure sounds fun! When is the dinner and how many are you expecting? I second the idea of lots of side dishes (maybe with a pasta main dish- linguine with green beans and potatoes???), rather than trad 3-course meal. I like potato leek soup though.... a grain salad is also good, you can add raisins and nuts for interest.
What abt Baked Tomatoes as side dish? You cld do it Corsican style (with parsley & garlic) or Sicilian style (with bread crumbs & dried oregano). Or what abt oven roasted vegetables? Or a ratatouille, which you can make with white beans? I think I even have a recipe for making a white bean spread for bread, which I can look up if you are interested?

[cathe]

How about polenta for appetizer.

Cook polenta and spread in baking dish. Refrigerate to harden. Spread with pesto or tomato sauce and sprinkle a little cheese over.

Also for appetizers - olives, toasted nuts tossed with tamari, veggies and dip, fruit-kabob with yogurt dip, maybe taboili and pita . . .

[PM]

Wow! You women are fantastic!

Dinner is day after tomorrow - between 4-6 adults.

I like the side dishes buffet! And I really like so many of the suggestions that now I'm having an even harder time!

Keep em coming!

Oh! I would like the white bean spread recipe.

[MamaOui]

Instead of crackers, can you use pita? Or can you cube bread and bake it?

[SoHappy]

Crackers are easy to make, too! I bet Cathe would be willing to give you a quick and easy recipe. Even if you don't use it for your party, wouldn't it be nice to have crackers again!?

Oh, and you can make hummus with cooked white beans.

I'm so hungry just reading this thread. I'd better go have a snack.

[DreamWeaver]

ok, the white bean spread recipe is here. It says to start from scratch, but you can also make it from canned beans:

~2 cups of white beans, soaked in 6 cups of water to cover & 1 tsp baking soda
~1 bay leaf
~1 tsp dried basil or pesto
~2 tsps freshly squeezed lime juice
~1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
~1 tsp grd cumin
~1 tsp salt
~2 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
~1 Tbsp olive oil

Do not drain the water from the soaking beans. Bring it to a boil and cook for 45 mins. The beans shd be pierced easily with a fork.
Drain beans and put them in food processor or blender. Add the basil or pesto, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt Parmesan cheese and olive oil. Process or blend until smooth. Add a bit more oil if it's too dense. Viola~! (Serves 12)

There's also this roasted eggplant spread that dh's family really loved:
~1 medium eggplant, peeled
~2 red bell peppers, seeded
~1 red onion, peeled
~ 2 garlic cloves, minced
~3Tbsp olive oil
~11/2 tsp salt
~1/2 tsp black pepper
~1 Tbsp tomato paste

Preheat oven to 400F.
Cut the vegetables into one-inch cubes, and toss them with garlic, olive oil salt & papper. Spread them on a baking sheet & bake for 45 mins, tossing once during cooking. Vegetables shd be lightly browned and soft. Cool slightly.
Place vegetables in food processor, add tomato paste and pulse to blend. Taste for salt & pepper.

oh, I do hope you have a good dinner party! Do let us know how everything turns out, good luck & have fun!!

[Jish]

NO CRACKERS????

[Marlena]

Let's see...for a down-home approach, what about black eyed peas and greens? If you can get a hold of dried hot chiles, garlic, and oregano (with maybe a dash of cumin and ground mustard seed), you could also do red beans and rice. Quiche sounds fantastic. If you do a fruit tart and have access to eggs, milk and cream (and some vanilla would be great), you could make pastry cream on which to put the fruit in your tart - it's really easy and makes a big difference.

What fruit and veggies do you have available to you? What spices? What dairy products?

[cathe]

As Sohappy said, I have lots of cracker recipes. Look at the "whole grain crackers for toddler" thread under good eating and I have posted 3 different kinds and they're all really easy to make!

[PM]

I'd love to do crackers! Sounds fun.

I can get any spice imaginable (one of the benefits of living on the old Silk Route), any dairy including soy milk (but a limited choice of cheeses - though I can pay 50 bucks for a smidgen of parmesan! ), any fruit in season, and all sorts of wonderful nuts and dried fruits! Liquid vanilla can be found in ONE place in the whole city and I won't be going there (far) this week, and I'm all out.

I have a question: Do you all think it's OK to have a quiche and a pie-crust dessert (I was thinking of my Tarte Double Pomme - Double Apple Tart). I think it's too much pie crust for one evening. I would do my chocolate cake but I think my dh's getting sick of it. Maybe I'll do just a fruit salad - naw, one of the guests served that at her dinner. Argh! Ideas for dessert?

[Ragana]

In that case you might be able to do fruit crepes for dessert to avoid the second crust. As long as the flour and eggs are OK!