Help me plan my first time cooking for new boyfriend!

[Anonymous]

I am cooking for my boyfriend for the first time this weekend. I like to cook but am not a super experienced chef by any means. He doesn't usually eat that healthfully, and has said he wants to eat more vegetables. I cook with a lot of veggies so am excited to make him some good stuff... Just can't decide what!

I want to incorporate a little meat into the meal too. I really don't cook much meat so it probably won't be the main thing.

I really want to make a butternut squash tahini dip with lemon and cumin- this is one of my favorites. But I feel like a lot of other ideas I have wouldn't go with it. If you can recommend a pairing for that, I'd love it! Or general suggestions that are not too difficult.

Ideas
Roasted veggies
Chicken (kabobs?) with yogurt dill sauce
Stuffed peppers w sausage
Creamy Cous Cous w chicken

And I want a dessert to! So... Help! No dietary restrictions.

[Anonymous]

I was going to say merguez sausage, or other lamb sausage. But your chicken kabob or sausage-stuffed pepper ideas would work too. Pitas for dipping. If you're doing the stuffed peppers, they'll have rice in them. Otherwise you could do a lemon rice pilaf, maybe with some raisins and shallots in it. Or you could roast some potatoes. If you can find them, marble potatoes are really great for roasting. (That would be little potatoes the size of marbles.) If not, some red new potatoes or fingerling potatoes, cut into small chunks and then roasted with olive oil, salt, and a bit of rosemary.

All of this calls for a good red wine. I don't know your budget, but try to get better than the $10 plonk. A Spanish Rioja (the entry-level Rioja is sometimes called Crianza) would work well, and good ones are in the 15-20 range. Or an Argentinian malbec. There's also very good budget Chilean wine, but ask at the shop--some is great, some not so. Montes is a good and affordable Chilean label. (An Australian Shiraz would also work if it's a good one. Not the entry-level Rosemount, and no purple syrup with kangaroos on the label.)

Outsource the dessert. Get sweets from a Middle Eastern market. A nice baklava-type assortment. Or, if you can find a place that sells cardamom-flavored ice cream or gelato, do that, with crushed pistachios on top.

And Turkish coffee if you're coffee people.

[Anonymous]

Definitely no kangaroos. Or penguins. Or wallabys. No animals on your wine.

[Anonymous]

20:16, I love your suggestions! Do you cut those potatoes when you cook, or just roast whole? I do want to do roasted veggies.... hmm

[Anonymous]

Depends on the size. When I roast potatoes (or most vegetables, for that matter), I like everything to be less than 1" in diameter. Bigger than that, and they can retain too much moisture so the inside steams instead of getting all nice and roasty.

So it depends on your potatoes. If they're small enough, leave them whole. If you like the look/shape of whole fingerlings, leave those whole too, or cut them into inch-long pieces. But if you can't find any potatoes that are small enough and you're going with larger red ones (or, this time of year, purple ones), you'll have to cut them into 3/4" to 1" chunks.

Toss them in oil and rosemary, then spread them out on your baking sheet in a single layer, not crowded. That way they all get roasting action. Do it at 400 or 425, give them a shake or a toss after 15 min., and then keep an eye on them every 5 min. till done.

Some people salt them when tossing with the oil. I like to salt them when they're on the way out of the oven.

[Anonymous]

I forgot pine nuts. Somewhere in your meal, find something you can throw pine nuts into or onto.

If it's your roasted vegetables, great. If they're a topping (like for your tahini dip), or if they're going into rice, toast them first. You do that in a small dry skillet over medium heat. Toss them often, keeping an eye on them--you don't want to blacken. Just toast them golden brown. If they're a topping this is best done at the last minute so they're still warm when you toss them onto whatever it is and serve.

If you can't find pine nuts (or these days, afford them), slivered almonds will also work.

[Anonymous]

Also, you know this already, but for roasting, you don't want those big old Idaho russet baking potatoes. You want something with some sugar in it, in addition to the visual appeal. If it's not marbles or fingerlings or reds or purples, do yukon golds.

[Anonymous]

OP,

If you don't cook a lot, I would pair down your menu so you don't drive yourself crazy. Roasted a chicken or chicken pieces over root vegetables is really easy and takes care of your meat and veg in one fell swoop.

If you want to roast veggies by themselves, find new potatoes, fingerling, or red potatoes. Preheat the oven to a high temperature--420-450. Cut them in half, toss with olive oil, salt & pepper and put them cut side down on a baking sheet. Roasting will probably take 40 minutes, stir midway through.

If you want a mix of vegetables, start the potatoes, then add other veggies ten minutes later, e.g, :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpR2gVqNmyU

[Anonymous]

Best broccoli of your life: http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2008/11/the_best_brocco.html

My husband LOVES this

[Anonymous]

21:10 Thanks! I have cooked a fair amount (though not very fancy), just not cooking much right now as I'm at a super busy time in my life. I do like to cook and try new recipes, and am pretty comfortable with recipes, except with meat... but you're right, I shouldn't try to do too much my first time cooking for him

[Anonymous]

21:26 .... that broccoli DOES look amazing.... I think I will have to make it!

[Anonymous]

for dessert, mousse, parfaits, or mini triffles can be made in advance (for 2) and look fancy. They can sit in the fridge while cook up the other stuff.

[Anonymous]

Such good replies. Thanks everyone! I might outsource the dessert, but those make-ahead ones are also good. My friend was telling me about a parfait with angel food cake that seemed good too.