A Stress-Free Dinner Party: Your Mix-and-Match Menu
What's the easiest way to throw a fabulous dinner party? Provide the ingredients and get your guests to do the work.
The Ultimate Salad Bar
You don't need to serve a five-course meal when you entertain. Instead, borrow the concept from choose-your-own-salad spots like Washington, D.C.–based Sweetgreen. "The secret to a satisfying salad is balance," says Nicolas Jammet, cofounder of Sweetgreen. "For example, combine an interesting protein, like spicy shrimp, and a crunchy topping, like crushed tortilla chips, with avocado and lettuce for a 'guacamole' salad." To serve eight, you'll need about two pounds of greens and two cups each of the other ingredients you offer.
Lettuce: Chopped romaine, mesclun, mizuna, arugula, Bibb
Vegetables and Fruit: Asparagus, snap peas, green beans, red onion, shallots, beets, radishes, corn, bell pepper, carrots, avocado, grape tomatoes, broccoli, basil, mint, cilantro, apple, grapefruit, grapes, watermelon, balsamic strawberries
Grains and Beans: Quinoa, chickpeas, black beans, shelled edamame
Cheese: Feta, goat cheese, Cheddar, Parmesan
Meat and Protein: Spicy shrimp, baked falafel, roasted portobello mushrooms, roasted chicken, hard-boiled egg
Crunch: Roughly crushed tortilla chips, pita chips, and crackers; wasabi peas; roasted nuts, like almonds, walnuts, and macadamia; seeds, like pumpkin and sunflower; toasted whole spices, like cumin, coriander, and fennel
Ginger-Scallion Vinaigrette Recipe
Lime-Cilantro Dressing Recipe
Balsamic Yogurt Dressing Recipe
Miso Dressing Recipe
Fruit and Goat Cheese
Bibb + balsamic strawberries + basil + shallots + goat cheese + roasted almonds + balsamic yogurt dressing
Guacamole Salad
Mesclun + avocado chunks + grape tomatoes + red onion + cilantro + spicy shrimp + crushed tortilla chips + lime-cilantro dressing
Apple-Ginger
Bibb + apple + asparagus + green beans + quinoa + goat cheese + roasted portobellos + crushed crackers + ginger-scallion vinaigrette
Asian
Chopped romaine + cilantro + shallots + edamame + carrots + spicy shrimp + wasabi peas + miso dressing
Broccoli-Cheese
Arugula + roasted broccoli + basil + shaved white Cheddar + roasted portobello mushrooms + macadamia nuts + balsamic yogurt dressing
Southwestern
Romaine + grape tomatoes + sweet corn + shaved strips of sharp cheddar + black beans + tortilla chips + lime-cilantro vinaigrette
Shrimp and Feta
Mizuna + carrots + radishes + red onion + Feta + spicy shrimp + ginger-scallion vinaigrette
Next: Build customized cookies
Step 1: Shop for your choice of greens and add-ins.
Lettuce: Chopped romaine, mesclun, mizuna, arugula, Bibb
Vegetables and Fruit: Asparagus, snap peas, green beans, red onion, shallots, beets, radishes, corn, bell pepper, carrots, avocado, grape tomatoes, broccoli, basil, mint, cilantro, apple, grapefruit, grapes, watermelon, balsamic strawberries
Grains and Beans: Quinoa, chickpeas, black beans, shelled edamame
Cheese: Feta, goat cheese, Cheddar, Parmesan
Meat and Protein: Spicy shrimp, baked falafel, roasted portobello mushrooms, roasted chicken, hard-boiled egg
Crunch: Roughly crushed tortilla chips, pita chips, and crackers; wasabi peas; roasted nuts, like almonds, walnuts, and macadamia; seeds, like pumpkin and sunflower; toasted whole spices, like cumin, coriander, and fennel
Step 2: Make dressings.
Ginger-Scallion Vinaigrette Recipe
Lime-Cilantro Dressing Recipe
Balsamic Yogurt Dressing Recipe
Miso Dressing Recipe
Master Mixes
Fruit and Goat Cheese
Bibb + balsamic strawberries + basil + shallots + goat cheese + roasted almonds + balsamic yogurt dressing
Guacamole Salad
Mesclun + avocado chunks + grape tomatoes + red onion + cilantro + spicy shrimp + crushed tortilla chips + lime-cilantro dressing
Apple-Ginger
Bibb + apple + asparagus + green beans + quinoa + goat cheese + roasted portobellos + crushed crackers + ginger-scallion vinaigrette
Asian
Chopped romaine + cilantro + shallots + edamame + carrots + spicy shrimp + wasabi peas + miso dressing
Broccoli-Cheese
Arugula + roasted broccoli + basil + shaved white Cheddar + roasted portobello mushrooms + macadamia nuts + balsamic yogurt dressing
Southwestern
Romaine + grape tomatoes + sweet corn + shaved strips of sharp cheddar + black beans + tortilla chips + lime-cilantro vinaigrette
Shrimp and Feta
Mizuna + carrots + radishes + red onion + Feta + spicy shrimp + ginger-scallion vinaigrette
Next: Build customized cookies
From the May 2011 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine