Great Easy Company Recipes

I'm usually a little anal when it comes to having people over to the house for dinner. I'm not really sure why - maybe it's personality, maybe it's pride, maybe it's the pressure I put on myself to serve a great meal because everyone knows I love food so much. Whatever the case may be, I generally don't like to try recipes for the very first time when company comes over, for what if disaster strikes and it doesn't turn out well? As I've quoted in a previous post, when company comes, "cook what you know". So occasionally, I'll put together an entire dinner as if company was coming over, when actually, the only guests are myself and the dashing Mr. M. He is my guinea pig, so to speak, but far be it from him to complain about it.

Last night, I wanted to try something summery and quick - something I could put together even if I was having people over on a weekday night after work. I decided on a menu of grilled kebabs with a roasted red pepper dipping sauce, along with an orzo salad with feta, basil, pine nuts, green onions, and cherry tomatoes.

The orzo salad is from a recipe that appeared last spring in Bon Appetit magazine and is one of Giada De Laurentiis's (the famous, top-heavy, Food Network celebrity chef that can't possibly eat anything she makes) recipes. That aside, it is actually one of my go-to dishes for company already. I've made it tons of times before and am really comfortable with it, but I wanted to see how it would go with the kebabs. The recipe is quite simple, and just by reading it, you'd never believe how good it is when it comes out. I don't modify a thing. Really, you have to try it to believe it, even if you're not usually a fan of pasta salad! I made it with fresh basil and tomatoes from our garden, which makes a difference I think. The only thing you cook is the pasta - everything else is just mixed in, so it comes together so easily. You can make this an hour or two in advance and let it sit at room temperature to let the flavors mix, mellow, and meld...

I was inspired to make the kebabs from this post from one of my favorite food blogs. I simplified it just a bit and modified it to accommodate what I had and didn't have in the house and garden. (I unfortunately didn't have any extra lemons to use as suggested in her blog post, but I can't wait to try it for next time.) I used:

16 oz whole white button mushrooms
1 large red bell pepper cut in large squares
2 small zucchini (of course) cut in one inch thick coins
1 package extra firm tofu cut in cubes
1 red onion cut into 8 wedges (helps to leave them attached to the root end)
half of a big thick steak, cut in cubes - (omit if there are vegetarians, use more if there are carnivores coming)

I threaded these prettily onto 4 oiled extra long metal skewers. I drizzled them with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and sent them outside with Mr. M, who grilled them to perfection.

Meanwhile, I made a roasted red pepper dipping sauce for the kebabs. Not having quite all the ingredients for the sauce suggested in the aforementioned blog recipe (who the hell has pomegranate molasses hanging around in the pantry?), I made do with what I had. Into my food processor went:

1 jar roasted red bell peppers (without the juice)
large handful of pine nuts
the leftover tofu that didn't fit on the skewers
a dollop of my thick homemade Greek-style yogurt that I keep in the fridge
a bit of hot smoked paprika (wonderful stuff!)
salt to taste

I whizzed all of this together, tasting as I went, and discovered it was quite nice. I poured it in a small bowl to serve with the kebabs.

When we served up our dinner, there were beautiful palettes of summery colors on our plates. It was delicious - the smoky kebabs went very nicely with the creamy but light red pepper sauce, and the lemony orzo salad complemented and rounded out the meal well. And the only thing I had to do on the stove was boil pasta!!

I can't wait to try this out on my next unsuspecting guests. Anyone want to come over?