I’m planning to host dinner/lunch invitations for a couple of newly weds. What to make as they are young and don’t want biriyani and the usual invite meals. My question is what to make without giving something that resembles say takeaway food or just a normal get together meal. I hope I’m making sense. Please give dinner/lunch menu ideas
Re: Help! Inviting couple of newly weds, please give new lunch/dinner menu ideas
You can make Mediterranean, Italian or even Chinese.
Mediterranean food can be dolma, rice, shawarma - chicken or beef, hummus, baba ghanouj, pita bread, baklava for dessert.
Italian, you can make a nice Italian menu...bread with olive oil, a nice tossed salad, a hearty pasta dish, meat dish like lamb or chicken and dessert.
Chinese food...wontons, vegetable fried rice, orange chicken, kung pao beef, noodles, etc
Re: Help! Inviting couple of newly weds, please give new lunch/dinner menu ideas
You just KNOW u have to have a cheese n crackers platter on hand to serve when they sit down. Goes perfectly with drinks.
Followed by greek / middle eastern mezze as your starter. This will consist of hummous, tzatziki, marinated olives, baba ghanoush, sunblush tomatoes n peppers, stuffed vine leaves etc served with pitta bread.
Then for main have some thing arabic.
For dessert - I don't know, not good on desserts. Fresh fruit platter with greek yogurt n honey dip? Strawberry cheese cake?
Whenever I want to do something different for a small dinner party, I've found that lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and almond cake (all home made) always go over well. It's quite filling and gives everybody a break from the usual biryanis, salans, etc.
Re: Help! Inviting couple of newly weds, please give new lunch/dinner menu ideas
italian or asian cuisine would be a good idea.
mistral, how do you make almond cake?
Re: Help! Inviting couple of newly weds, please give new lunch/dinner menu ideas
whatever you cook, make sure it's something your guests enjoy. i have been to a few dawats where in an effort to do something different, the food menu has just been.. not good.
Re: Help! Inviting couple of newly weds, please give new lunch/dinner menu ideas
I agree with the above posters.
You can go along with a different ethnic cuisine but make sure that you feel comfortable with the cooking and recipes. If you're comfortable with a cooking a particular cuisine......it'll turn out well :)
As Halwa and PS have suggested.......you can go for middle-eastern dishes. Here's an example:
Starter/Appetizers:
1) Triangular pita bread slices or pita wedges .......with........a bowl of hummus.......and a bowl of baba ghanouj.
2) Falafel patties OR stuffed grape leaves. Or you can have BOTH.
Main course:
1) A medley of grilled meat pieces (grilled chicken, beef (kababs), shrimp)
2) Tabouleh salad
3) Serve the hummus/baba ghanouj from above
4) Simple rice with peas
Dessert:
1) baklava or other arab pastries. You can even include stuffed dates with tea as a nice way to finish off the meal.
2) maybe a nice ice cream to go with the baklava
You could even make Chinese food if you're comfortable with it. Here are some ideas:
Starters/Appetizers:
1) Soup (chicken corn soup OR hot and sour soup OR vegetable soup)
2) Egg rolls OR dumplings (steamed or fried)
Main course:
1) Chinese rice. (add mixed vegetables and scrambled egg to the rice)
2) A chicken dish. (It could be chicken manchurian or chicken shashlik)
3) A beef stir-fry (thin strips of beef with bell peppers, onions, broccoli, etc)
4) Stir-fry noodles with a medly of vegetables
Desert:
Chinese restaurants will sometimes serve a scoop of ice cream with a crispy fried banana. You can try that.
Fortune cookies would be fun. Fortune cookie sitting on top of a scoop of ice cream? :)
You can also do Italian. Here are some ideas:
Starters/Appetizers:
1) garlic bread
2) minestrone soup or tomato soup
3) A flat bread (small slices of thin crust pizza)
4) A capresse salad. This is an easy salad. You just place slices of tomatoes and mozarella chees on a plate and drizzle with an olive oil based vinaigrette.
Main course::
1)If you just make a lasagna dish, it's hearty and filling enough and you won't need another main dish. As suggested by Mistral above.
2) Ravioli? You can buy the pre made and stuffed ravioli from the grocery store and then cook it in the sauce of your choice (marinara sauce, alfredo sauce, pomodoro sauce, or cream sauce)
3) **Spaghetti? **You can do spaghetti and meatballs. Or you can do have fried chicken cutlets with the spaghetti. OR breaded and fried eggplant with spaghetti.
4) Manicotti or stuffed shells. These you can also buy pre-made and stuffed from the grocery store.
Desert:
1) Tiramisu
2) Canolis (buy them premade from the grocery store) and serve with tea/coffee
3) A chocolate torte/tart. Or a nice cream cake/cheesecake.
You can even do Mexican food.
Starters/Appetizers
1) Chips with salsa and guacamole
Main course:
1) Enchiladas
2) Tacos
3) Quesadillas
Dessert:
Churros or cinamon based treats with tea/coffee
Flan or creme caramel?
Tres leches?
Other ideas:
Starters/Appetizers:
1) Jalapeno poppers or fried cheese sticks
2) deviled eggs
3) An assortment of crackers and cheese
4) garlic bread
Main course:
1) fried chicken
2) biscuits
3) mashed potatoes with gravy OR baked potato wedges OR crispy fried potatoes
4)potato salad OR cole slaw OR creamy pasta salad.
Desert:
1) Apple pie (or your choice of pie) with a scoop of ice cream
2) Brownie a la mode (brownie served with ice cream)
3) Ice cream sundaes
whatever you cook, make sure it's something your guests enjoy. i have been to a few dawats where in an effort to do something different, the food menu has just been.. not good.
Pari, what kind of stuff has NOT been good, i'm interested to know.
Re: Help! Inviting couple of newly weds, please give new lunch/dinner menu ideas
**i like:
-beef stirfry
-chicken cacciatorre
-lasagna
-spaghetti with meatballs
-chocolate crust pizza :)**
You just KNOW u have to have a cheese n crackers platter on hand to serve when they sit down. Goes perfectly with drinks.
Followed by greek / middle eastern mezze as your starter. This will consist of hummous, tzatziki, marinated olives, baba ghanoush, sunblush tomatoes n peppers, stuffed vine leaves etc served with pitta bread.
Then for main have some thing arabic.
For dessert - I don't know, not good on desserts. Fresh fruit platter with greek yogurt n honey dip? Strawberry cheese cake?
You know i had some cheese and crackers for lunch and i immediately thought of you :D
Actually I didn't, but I felt like saying that.
Re: Help! Inviting couple of newly weds, please give new lunch/dinner menu ideas
Like someone said make sure you are comfortable with what you are making and really know the cuisine. Maybe do a practice run?
Re: Help! Inviting couple of newly weds, please give new lunch/dinner menu ideas
[QUOTE]
Followed by greek / middle eastern mezze as your starter. This will consist of hummous, tzatziki, marinated olives, baba ghanoush, sunblush tomatoes n peppers, stuffed vine leaves etc served with pitta bread.
[/QUOTE]
do u know how to make baba ghanoush? or anyone else??
You know i had some cheese and crackers for lunch and i immediately thought of you :D
Actually I didn't, but I felt like saying that.
lol
Baba Ghanoush - the Best in the World! - 67570 - Recipezaar
Midnighteyes I have tried this recipe. Never posted a review & since its been a couple of months I have forgotten if I made any changes to it or not. But I remember it was very tasty. Tasted like the real deal.