Your fail-safes

[janeitebus]

What are your fail-safe meals to serve if you are having people round? I'm not thinking dinner parties, just peoplle coming for lunch or supper, probably with a bunch of children involved too.

I tend to do either a veggie lasagne with garlic bread and salad or a middle eastern picky sort of meal, with falafel, tabbouleh, houmus etc. In the winter, sausages, baked potatoes and cauliflower cheese usually seems to hit the spot, or a pasta bake of some sort.

For puddings I tend to do a crumble and icecream, or baklava for the middle eastern theme, or some sort of cake to have later with coffee.

More ideas greatly appreciated for simplish meals, which can at least in part be prepared ahead and will appeal to adults and children - am wanting to extend my repertoire!

Veggie ideas mostly appreicated, or veggie main course ideas that could be bulked out with chicken wings, cold meats or something for carnivores!

Fajitas with nachos, spag bol or lasgagne (delia does a great veggie lasagne - 4 cheese, spinach and pine nuts...delicious but takes a while to put together), fish pie, sweet and sour chicken or veg, thai curry - again chicken, prawns or veg.

Anything I can do in advance! Casserole, goulash, cottage pie, fish pie. I like 'one-pot' meals as there's less clearing up afterwards!

Always cold puddings that can also be prepared in advance. Chocolate mousse is hugely popular with adults and children (I get complaints now if I don't do it!). Key lime pie is another easy and quick one (good recipe in Nigella Lawson's Domestic Goddess book).

It depends who's coming and when it is. If it's not a dinner party, then usually includes children. Sometimes do a roast dinner if it's Sunday afternoon. One friend actually asks me to do a roast cos she doesn't cook herself! Otherwise some kind of casserole done in the slow cooker so I can make it early and ignore it.
BBQ if and when the weather allows.
Just read the last line of your post, doesn't help does it since you're after vegi things!
For vegetarian: quiche; vegetarian curry; vegetarian pizza; some kind of tart (pesto, tomato and goats cheese on puff pastry circles.
Do your vegetarians eat fish?
For dessert: at the weekend I did the following (sorry to bore anyone who read this on another thread, but it worked really well and is dead simple): Baked fruit salad (any combination of soft fruits - apricots, nectarines, peaches, plums, sliced, blueberries, a sprinkling of sugar, baked 20 -30 mins. Stir in raspberries at the end). Serve with Lemon Drizzle cake and cream/Greek yoghurt whipped together the night before and topped with brown sugar, which will caramelize a bit). Otherwise trifle or a steamed sponge or crumble.

veggie main.

Caramelised onion tarlets with goats cheese.

Fabbo!

Great ideas, especially that baked fruit salad, which sounds amazing. Also fajitas, had forgotten about them.

Any more?

Chicken breasts marinated in olive oil and lemon juice and garlic for as long as you can but even 20 mins makes a difference, then wrapped in prosciutto and cooked for 20 mins, very easy and impressively tender

strew some green beans onto a roasting dish, wrap cod in prosciutto (sorry for prosciutto theme!), put on top of beans, strew with lemon quarters and garlic, pine nuts and olive oil, season and cook for 20 mins (another theme), people always say Wow at this

A baby poussin each, shove a lemon and some garlic inside and cook until done

baby potatoes roasted in skins in olive oil, with garlic and rosemary

oh god, this has ALL got lemon and garlic in it!

vegetarians - delia's lentilly moussaka. SOunds dull but var tasty

pudding - chewy home made meringues with yog/creme fraiche/cream and berries

Chinese spare ribs,rice and stirfry
Thai beef curry with baby sweetcorn and green beans
Paella
Spinach and chickpea curry
Grilled lamb,beetroot fetta and walnut salad and bread
Thai style noodles with prawns
Baked sardines,green salad and bread
Kebabs with various slads (grated carrot,mustard seed and lemon,grilled red peppers and fetta,tomato and basil)
Cottage pie
Pasta with shellfish,chillie,coriander and lemon

Crumble
Fruit salad
Cheesecake
Home made cake

oondog - that beetroot salad sounds good - any chance of a recipe please?

Sorry - lost an M there!

and veget greek spinach pie and tiropittes

This week I think I'm goin gto cook a lot

Jane,I always bang on about it on MN.
Boil some beetroot (has to be fresh or else don't bother.) Slip the skins off and slice thinly covering a platter.Make up a good mustardy home made vinaigrette,add lots of chopped mint and drizzle over beetroot. Add generous amount of crumbled fetta then the same of walnut pieces.

With good bread,grilled lamb and a glass of red wine,it is perfection.

Endive,blue cheese and walnut salad always a winner too.

mm that does sound nice. Deff need a plastic cover for my table for that one.

MMMM thanks Moondog; that sounds amazing.