Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pasta (ziti or lasagna)

mac n cheese

salads (green, caesar)

garlic bread

sundae bar

Awful, fattening, no nutrient menu. Please don't listen, OP. Nothing is cheaper than green lentils. Cook some perhaps with a chunk of prosciutto and add chopped carrots and leeks and lemon-olive oil for a flavorful cold bean dish. Another easy salad involves cherry tomatoes with capers, yellow raisins, and cauliflower dressed in light oil. Think about doing a spicy chicken curry with rice or cook inexpensive fish filets in coconut milk and red peppers. Risotto prepared with stock, onion, and a heap of parmesan and butter is rich but not expensive. Perhaps add a handful of shrimp for flavor. Another standby of mine is spiced chickpeas garnished with cilantro. Finger food can be as simple as a cube of good cheese paired with a date on a toothpick or apples dabbed with goat cheese nestled in a single endive leaf. For dessert you can stew pears or oranges in wine and anise but that is more wintery. I have had success serving chocolate mousse or lemon mousse for dessert garnished simply with cream and raspberries. Or rich homemade brownies with a scoop of ice cream drizzled with raspberry coulis. Caramelized nuts and ginger cookies round out the dessert buffet.

Good God! She wants something inexpensive and easy to make the night before! Did you read her post? Prosciutto is expensive. Fish is expensive and cannot be made in advance. Chocolate mousse? Goat cheese and endive? Risotto cannot be made in advance! Who are you?

Anonymous wrote:For something similar to chili but a little more interesting, you could do turkey posole. Roast some turkey pieces a couple days ahead and make a broth. Day before add the seasonings (chili in adobo, maybe some canned enchilada sauce if you want, tomato) and the hominy. Serve with shredded lettuce and lime wedges and whatever vaguely mexican foods you like--quesadillas (prep cheese and fillings, day of brush tortillas with oil, fill, and bake on cookie sheet in the oven), chips and guacamole, taco/burrito bar, etc.

I do have slight weakness in the fall for am amazing butternut squash risotto I make, but that is an annual event.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pasta (ziti or lasagna)

mac n cheese

salads (green, caesar)

garlic bread

sundae bar

Awful, fattening, no nutrient menu. Please don't listen, OP. Nothing is cheaper than green lentils. Cook some perhaps with a chunk of prosciutto and add chopped carrots and leeks and lemon-olive oil for a flavorful cold bean dish. Another easy salad involves cherry tomatoes with capers, yellow raisins, and cauliflower dressed in light oil. Think about doing a spicy chicken curry with rice or cook inexpensive fish filets in coconut milk and red peppers. Risotto prepared with stock, onion, and a heap of parmesan and butter is rich but not expensive. Perhaps add a handful of shrimp for flavor. Another standby of mine is spiced chickpeas garnished with cilantro. Finger food can be as simple as a cube of good cheese paired with a date on a toothpick or apples dabbed with goat cheese nestled in a single endive leaf. For dessert you can stew pears or oranges in wine and anise but that is more wintery. I have had success serving chocolate mousse or lemon mousse for dessert garnished simply with cream and raspberries. Or rich homemade brownies with a scoop of ice cream drizzled with raspberry coulis. Caramelized nuts and ginger cookies round out the dessert buffet.

And all of the above is so cheap....nothing cheaper than raspberry coulis and goat cheese in an endive leaf!

Risotto for 25?? I don't want to even think about how long that would take.