Hosting made easy

I’m not a naturally laid back person (every family member reading right now is laughing at the obviousness of that statement) but I really try to keep my anxiety in check.  When it comes to having people over for meals – something I wish came easily to me – I definitely have to prep like crazy to make it fun for me in the moment.  Otherwise I’m just running all the disaster case scenarios through my mind, rather than enjoying company.  This may seem confusing since I’m very social and love hanging out with friends AND I love cooking…so those should merge to make me the perfect hostess, right?  Meh.  Perfectionism rears it’s head in and mucks that all up.

“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”

So on that note, here are a few ways to impress guests but make life stress free for yourself.  I was pretty proud of myself for how it all tasted and how hands off it was in the moment.

Bon Appetit’s salmon nicoise on a huge serving platter allows people to pick and choose which ingredients they want…Kyle doesn’t like capers or olives, so he worked around that.  I wanted mostly greens and potatoes and dressing, so that’s how I plated my portion.  And it looks pretty, too!  I figured between the two filets of salmon and four hard boiled eggs there was plenty of protein.

This dressing was the first time I used anchovies, btw.

I was intimidated, but I’m not sure why…it was super easy!

I also made bread, but that was done the weekend before.  You could just as easily buy a baguette that day.

Another day we had friends over for lunch so I turned to the crock pot for help.  P made the door festive for Fall.

I picked a “menu” that was cohesive enough to work together, but also allowed for anyone to pick and choose which parts he/she wanted.

• Shredded honey mustard chicken – you can make this as far in advance as you want!  I made it in the crock pot a day before and kept it in the fridge until we were ready to serve.  There was an egg sensitivity in the group, so I thought this would be a nice option instead of chicken salad.  I added enough honey mustard dressing to the slow cooker with the chicken breasts to cook and then once they were done I shredded them and added more dressing. After it chilled in the fridge it was a delicious chicken salad like dish with very little effort (and no eggs).
• Salad – I went with my personal preference here, which meant kale, spinach, and a shaved broccoli and brussels sprouts combo.  Using more hearty greens means you can dress the salad beforehand and it will stand up over some time.  In keeping with the chicken flavor profile I made a basic honey mustard vinaigrette.  I added pumpkin and sunflower seeds and dried cranberries, too, figuring it would be great with or without the chicken.
• Walnut bread – Because carbs are yummy and everyone loves home-made bread.  I based my recipe off this one but nixed the cranberries.  It turned out lovely and made the whole meal seem like I’d gone above and beyond when really I made the bread several days before.

• Snackables – you can’t go wrong with Sabra hummus and dippables.  Munchies make for the perfect side dish so you can nibble before, during and after the meal.

On the left is the dough rising on the counter and then on the right is after it’s been baked in the cast iron pot.

It’s hard to tell the size from the photo because the pot looks small but the loaf was pretty large.

It’s weirdly shaped on top because you just flip it from the wax paper into the pot (which is blazing hot from being in the oven for an hour beforehand) and hope for a decent landing.

As you can see, it’s not super high.  I’m not an expert when it comes to the chemistry of yeast and gluten and all that (yet?) but this was a no knead recipe, so I will trade the hands off rise for the arm workout any day.

What’s your go-to tip or trick or meal plan when entertaining?