Do you have guests visiting this summer? Maybe you have a similar question to Jeff's here:
I've had friends visiting for the past few days, and they'll all be in and out of the house constantly for at least another week. As is the case with a house full of friends, there's been a lot of snack food buying going on. Somebody comes in, is hungry, and rather than wait for everyone ELSE to be hungry and plan a meal, they'll reach for a bag of chips or box of cookies.
What I'm looking for are foods that can be prepared and gathered easily, at any time. Foods that, depending on how they're paired up, could satisfy either the hunger for a snack, or the hunger for a meal. Nothing too hors d'oeuvre-y... more towards the antipasti end of the spectrum. Any suggestions?
Jeff, we think you can't go wrong with classic Italian combos of salami, prosciutto, ham, and other really fine deli meats, combined with some great cheese. Add in pickled peppers and lots of cut-up vegetables (store in glass containers or Ziploc bags to keep them cold and fresh) plus a big box of homemade cookies and you're set. If you have great sliced bread, mustard, and mayo around people can make sandwiches too. To add to that Italian spread, try big bowls of cooked orzo or couscous tossed with mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes. These grain salads stay good and even taste better after a day or two in the fridge.
That's just one idea, though; perhaps the readers have better ones. Also check out this post on food for unexpected visitors - tons of good ideas in there.
Related: Questions for Allie: What Can I Whip Up for Unexpected Holiday Visitors?
(Image: Flickr member feverblue licensed for use under Creative Commons)
Keep some fat, tasty ravioli in your freezer. Like the kind you can get from an Italian deli where they make ravioli in-house, or the refrigerator aisle at Trader Joe's. Get stuff with interesting stuffings (mushroom, butternut squash, prosciutto, etc). Then you can just boil water and throw in a variety of ravioli, then top with whatever you might have on hand. Tomato sauce, olive oil, wilted spinach, pine nuts, cheese, whatever. Or you could go St. Louis style and fry the ravioli.
This also allows you to do a small amount for a snack, or a large amount for a dinner.
- Amelia of Gradually Greener
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Hummus (store bought or homemade), baby carrots, tortilla chips.
view IroquoisCasual's profile
Sliced eggplant and zucchini, thrown under the broiler (can be done day or two ahead) and dressed with good quality balsamic and olive oil, sea salt and pepper with a loaf of crusty bread.
TJ's jarred roasted red peppers thrown in the blender with a block of feta, some pepper flakes, and ground pepper, served with bread (also can be whipped up in a second way in advance).
Fresh figs and mascarpone or goat cheese.
Cheese plate with TJ's marcona almonds, manchego cheese, and fig jam or quince paste.
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I live in a very snacky household.
We always keep a bag of potstickers/gyoza in the freezer - you can make 2 or 20 in a matter of minutes, in a pan or the microwave.
Ditto barbecued pork buns, although they are 20 minutes to steam and just 1 in the microwave.
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Cook/keep warm something simple in the crock pot. Butternut squash soup, black bean soup or chili. For hot sandwiches try Italian beef, bbq pork, meatballs and sauce, or my favorite: kalua pig with cabbage in the crock pot and jasmine rice kept warm in a rice cooker. Insanely simple and insanely good.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Kalua-Pig-in-a-Slow-Cooker/Detail.aspx
Salads that can marinade and get better over time are also good: chick pea/lemon/garlic/olive oil/parsley, or some form of greek cucumber salad.
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These are some great suggestions!
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One of my favorite easy snacks (and quick dinner) is fine cheese and crackers. The cheese basket at WF with tiny pieces allows you to get a nice variety for less money. Add pears or grapes for a complete meal.
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Oh yes, hummus with lots of cut up vegetables (or just baby carrots and grape tomatoes).
Grapes, apples, bananas, clementines, any type of easy-to-eat fruit.
Cook a batch of brown rice or wheat berries (or a blend!), mix with jarred pesto, add pine nuts, currants, and chopped scallions.
Crackers and good cheese are always a favorite.
Check out the prepared food and olive bars at Whole Foods, if you're tight on time and are feeling spendy.
Tapenade and sliced baguette.
I could do this for days!
http://www.abreadaday.com
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pickled garbanzo beans. super quick and easy and they keep forever in the fridge. excellent as tapas, on an antipasti platter or as a salad topping
recipe here:
http://splatgirlcreates.blogspot.com/2009/04/cooking-up-quilt-design-etc.html
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Tying in to Amelia's suggestion, I always have a selection of different raviolis in the fridge. From them I make a simple soup which usually tides everyone over till dinner is ready.
Choose a good chicken broth, add (seasonal or frozen) veg and herbs, add the ravioli and you're done! Doesn't take more than 20 mins from freezer to table. Another advantage is that you can make a veggie and non-veggie version.
My other surprise-visitor store cupboard/fridge/freezer ingredients are:
- Preserved veg in oil (peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, etc)
- Couscous (for a quick salad or side-dish)
- Frozen deli-meets (defrost in package in cold water for 5 mins)
- French bread to bake-off at the last minute
- A cooked chicken it's broth for a quick soup
- Cookie dough
- Frozen chopped fresh fruit for smoothies or quick ice creams(pineapple, banana, basically anything but soft berries)
- Frozen fresh ginger (easier to grate!) to add to cold drinks, soups, etc)
- Chinese duck and pork to slice into salads
- Potato rosti
As long as you are prepared you'll be unflappable when hungry guests turn up! :)
EvaInNL
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I just had houseguests and had the same question, I ended up making homemade hummus and baba ganoush, both were so easy and I whipped them up the night before, they have great flavour and keep well in the fridge. I left some whole wheat pita in the basket so they could help themselves.
In addition, I bought a bunch of fruit and had it ready to go, cut up mango, pineapple and cherries.
Oh and a giant Levain bakery cookie for a special local treat!
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