Dinner for six - ideas?

avinabacca

Hey there, wondering if any of you can help out with a few ideas, as I'm totally stuck......

Got some friends coming up this weekend, we're off out walking on Saturday and I've already cooked up and pre-frozen two pots of thick soup (Lentil & Red Pepper and Pea & Ham) for when we come back Saturday evening, and will set the BM to have fresh bread too.

I'm looking for something for the Friday night though, when they all arrive. We're going to all have something to eat before we go down the pub, but as our mates'll have driven a couple of hours to get to ours - and as we're going to have a pretty heavy session that night - I'm thinking of something fairly good and "proper" to cook for dinner.

• Three of us'll eat pretty much anything
• One doesn't like anything spicy, but'll eat most other stuff
• One doesn't eat red meat, but will happily eat poultry and fish
• One's a strict veggie

Any ideas? I was thinking of making a big pot of curry, or a shepherd's pie or something like that - but for one reason or another none of my ideas suit everyone. I don't mind making two things (at most), but for the life of me I can't think of any decent ideas........

Nothing too fancy or fiddly - but do any of you have any ideas?

Thanks in advance

Pink.

Hi avinabacca,

What about two dishes of lasagne. One veggie and one made with a meaty bolognese. Baked potatoes with a selection of fillings available to choose from? Either could be served with salads and crusty bread.

Pink

GrillMonkey

Tapas

You can do a few dishes, some meaty, some veggy, some spicey etc and suit all taste and can be as simple or elaborate as you like. I did this recently and it went down really well.

There are few recipes here:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search.do?filterItem=&keywords=tapas&x=1&y=1

mummysaver

Lasagne was going to be my suggestion as well, cooking times don't need to be too precise if they get delayed and it reheats well if you want to make it in advance! I'd just do one veggie one to save effort!

Daisymac_2

Can you make a fish pie topped with mashed potato with a nice selection of veg and maybe make a Leek and Asparagus crumble pie, both quite forgiving on timings and can be made in advance.

avinabacca

Thanks, you guys, for all your suggestions - we're off shopping tongiht, and will pick up bits for whichever of the ideas I can get the ingredients for cheapest.

If you get what I mean......

Much appreciated - thanks!

sarahemmm

What about jacket potatoes with different fillings and some green salad. Do plenty of spuds, so you can all be as greedy as you like.

Fillings: chilli, grated cheese, tuna mayo, sour cream and chives (or quark or creme fraiche), or... anything vaguely sloppy that sounds good!

If you want to be posh, you can bake the potatoes as normal, then cut in half and scoop out the inside. Mix the scooped out potato with a filling (my choice is butter, cubed edam, chopped fresh tomato and chopped leek, with some pepper). Pile the mix back into the shells and bake again for 20-30 minutes, until nicely browned on top. Other filling options are to scoop out an egg shape and break an egg in, then top with some cheese, or use the filling above but replace the edam with cooked chopped bacon.

You can do the initial bake and preparation the day before, then pop them in the oven half an hour before you want to eat.