By Sidonie Maroon, The Food Co-op Culinary Educator, abluedotkitchen.com

Follow Sidonie on The Food Co-op’s Facebook group Cooking with the Co-op

Recipes included:

Lentil, Herb & Walnut Salad with Spicy Tomato & Red Pepper Dressing and Beet Wedding Salad

Let’s be honest, cooking for celebrations, and we are entering the season of graduations and outdoor gatherings can be stressful. It’s no picnic to be in charge of all the moving parts of having guests. When I catered, I cooked for up to 100 people by myself. Yes, that’s making dinner for a crowd. Here are my strategies to get it done on time, in style, and keep my cool.

Mental Map Your Party

I sit down with a sketchbook and think through the event, using a process called mental mapping. I write “celebration” in the middle of the page and draw a circle around it. Then, draw rays from the circle writing all the questions I can think of: Where will the party be? How many people? When? Who will come? These are my basic questions, but then I get into the finer points. Is there a theme? What’s my menu? Will I need help? What’s my budget? Does anyone have special food requirements?

I make more circles and rays, planning the details of each question. It seems like a lot of trouble, but it saves stress to have a clear picture and game plan for every part of my project. 

Visualize the Menu

Basics

What’s my theme? I like to base menus around an ethnic cuisine.

Is it a sit down meal? If so, how many dishes?

What Will We Eat?

For instance, let’s say I’m making a Greek meal for vegetarians who need gluten-free food and one person can’t have dairy. Okay, I know I need two dishes with protein that are filling, two side vegetable dishes, a couple of fun flavor packed dips or sauces. Some easy additions like olives. I’ll want flatbread and a dessert.

Keep in Mind

Factors to consider when choosing recipes: ease to make, temperature, flavor, color, smell, seasonality, contrast, novelty, ease of eating and budget.

Master Grocery List

Once I have the menu, I go through each recipe and create a master grocery list. I break my list down into store departments, so I can flow easily through the market. This helps so much!

Timeline

After the grocery list, I assess each recipe and set up a cooking schedule. I know from experience that no matter how easy a recipe looks, it’ll take at least an hour including clean-up. I have a six-hour menu and will plan on two hours for shopping and unpacking. Two hours for set-up, cutting flowers, setting a beautiful table, making sure people are warm and comfortable. After the guests leave, there’s another hour of clean-up.

Keep it Manageable

A dinner party or celebration for ten to twenty is around 10 to 15 hours of work. Stress isn’t my aim, so I break my cooking up into several smaller stints over several days. Preparation is everything. I like to be calm and enjoy my guests when they arrive.

Know Your Why

Behind these practicalities I always keep my WHY front and center.

Q: What is my reason for doing all this work?

A: To make food that supports an experience that brings people together in a real, heartfelt and soulful way. If that happens, then I’ve done my job and I’m happy.

This lentil salad works perfectly for a Greek themed party with hungry vegetarians, and everyone else will love it too.

Lentil Salad with Wild Fennel Fronds

Side Salad

Makes 2 quarts

This salad takes your mouth on a happy trip around the quadrants of salty, sour, sweet and warm. This recipe will convert the lentil dubious.

Ingredients

Salad

2 cups dry Pardina or Le Puy lentils

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 large white onion, cut lengthwise, thinly sliced & blanched for 1 minute

5 stalks celery, trimmed, cut into thin strips and into a small dice

1 cup packed, chop fine, wild (garden) fennel greens

¾ cup green olives, pimento stuffed, sliced

⅓ cup deglet dates, thinly sliced and then chopped

1 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

2 teaspoons fennel seed, toasted and coarsely ground

¼ teaspoon white peppercorns, ground

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

 

Dressing

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

zest of one lemon

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

 

Directions

1.   In a medium pot, cover rinsed lentils with water by 3 inches. Bring to a boil over a medium heat. Add ½  teaspoon sea salt; reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered until the lentils are tender but al dente, 25 to 35 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again. Transfer to a large work bowl with the other ingredients.

2.   While the lentils are cooking, add other ingredients to the work bowl.       

3.   To make the dressing: Add dressing ingredients to a food processor and blend until creamy. Mix dressing into the salad. 

4.   Serve right away or refrigerate until later. The flavors develop as it sits.

Notes:

Toast the fennel seed over a medium heat until fragrant and coarsely grind. Add to the salad

To blanch the onion: bring water to a boil in a small pot, add the sliced onion and allow the water to come back to a boil. Blanch for 1 minute. Drain and rinse the onion with cold water. Squeeze dry before adding to the salad.

Use lentils that are less than 1-year-old, otherwise they’ll take forever to cook!

If you can’t find fennel greens, substitute dill and parsley in the same amounts.  

Lentil, herb and walnut salad with spicy tomato and red pepper dressing

Makes 7 cups

45 minutes plus resting time

Perfect picnic food, or for a group gathering. This salad is made up in my fridge and I keep coming back for more. It keeps for days and gets better with time. The herbal flavors take a while to assert themselves, but when they do, then the dressing plays its proper supporting role. If we’re to eat more lentils, then this is the way to go. Eat at room temperature as a side dish, or try it as a filling for flatbreads. My favorite way to eat it is spooned into lettuce leaves.

Ingredients

1½ cups French lentils

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 quart water

2 sweet red peppers chopped, I like the long Italian ones in season

2 large slicing tomatoes, chopped, best in season

½ cup Italian parsley, chopped

½ cup dill leaf, chopped

¼ cup basil, chopped, purple basil if possible

¼ cup spearmint, chopped

1 bunch scallion, thinly sliced, use both white and green parts

1½ cups toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

Dressing

1 clove garlic, minced

1¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

1 tablespoon raw honey

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon red pepper powder, I use Korean or ¼ teaspoon cayenne

¼ teaspoon smoked paprika

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Directions

Rinse the lentils, and place them in a medium pot with 3 ½ cups water and 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until tender, about 25 minutes, depending on the age of the lentils. Cook until done but not mushy. When they’re ready, drain the lentils, shaking them in a sieve to get as much of the water out as possible.

While the lentils are cooking

Toast the walnuts in a heavy-bottomed pan, over a medium heat for about 8 minutes or until they smell and taste toasted, and then roughly chop them. Chop the herbs and vegetables and add them, with the walnuts, to a large mixing bowl.

Make the dressing in a small food processor, by adding the ingredients and pureeing until they’re emulsified and smooth.

When the lentils are drained, add them to the vegetables and walnuts. Pour dressing over everything and gently fold in. The flavors change as the salad sits. At first the dressing will overpower and it’ll lose the herbal flavors, but after sitting, at least an hour, everything will rebalance. It’s even better the next day.

THE SWEET WITH THE SOUR--- BEET WEDDING SALAD

enough for 10-12 beet lovers (Baltic Inspired)

Svyoklaz Kislo-Sladkoy Pripravoy

I brought this salad to the wedding of my friend Michal and her new husband Michael, blessings on you both.

First roast 4 pounds of red beets with skins on until fork tender, peel the beets and dice evenly.( Steamed stalks and greens can also be added, cut fine)--SAVE THE BEET JUICES FROM ROASTING--they are the kicker ingredient. I roast in the slow cooker, beets wrapped up in parchment paper--on high for 4-5 hours.

The Dressing:

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1/4 cup sugar (dark whole cane)

1/8 cup honey

1/2 cup sherry vinegar

1/2 cup reserved beet juices from roasting

2-3 tablespoons horseradish sauce

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1/2 cup walnut oil

salt to taste--taste and adjust for sweet and sour balance

Mix all ingredients together and then whisk or process the oil in a thin stream until the dressing is emulsified.

Pour dressing over beets, mix in and let sit at least two hours--to several days.