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Do You Know of Any Light Dishes?

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I’m at a loss about what to do for my Housewarming Party. I will have a house full of hungry academics, and I have no idea what to serve them. We are in the midst of an overpowering, tropical, extremely humid heat wave. And I can’t think of any dishes that won’t be too heavy in this weather. I do best with frosty-weather dishes.

Does anybody have any suggestions? But please don’t say gazpacho because I hate cold soups. And I don’t want to serve anything people might splash all over my new furniture.

32 responses to “Do You Know of Any Light Dishes?”

  1. Ol Avatar
    Ol

    ceviche, salmon tartare and green salad, tortilla española or crespeou for a vegetarian option.
    As for your dessert, it is peach season. I trust you.

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  2. Katrine Avatar
    Katrine

    Maybe instead of making a dinner you could make a light buffet? Dishes could be hummus, olives, salads, a few cheeses, maybe a hot soup like tomato soup, some bread, some middle eastern/indian inspired foods like samosas, tunarolls and so on, some different fruits, strawberries, melons, apple slices or whatever you feel like. That way people will be able to eat what they like in the amounts they feel able to.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Yes, this will be a buffet, definitely. There will be almost 30 people altogether. And the biggest number of guests I ever had is 1. 🙂

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  3. J. Otto Pohl Avatar
    J. Otto Pohl

    Rice, beans, and plantains are the staple throughout tropical Africa and South America.

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  4. cliff arroyo Avatar
    cliff arroyo

    Baked fish with a light sauce?

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Yes, I can make my famous fish with oranges in white wine. People slaughter over it. It’s a good idea.

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  5. David P. Bellamy Avatar
    David P. Bellamy

    Fresh pineapple, strawberries, pears, and apples cut into small pieces to eat with toothpicks (cocktail picks?) Maybe also blueberries, although they seem not to be as popular. I cannot imagine why, myself.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I LOVE blueberries. We eat them every single day in summer.

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      1. David P. Bellamy Avatar
        David P. Bellamy

        I love them, too. But when they are in fresh fruit snack trays, they seem often to be left behind (unless I am one of the guests.)

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  6. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    Too heavy to eat or too heavy to make? Also, how much help will you have and how many people will you have over? Do any of your invitees have special dietary requirements (vegetarian, allergic to x, etc). Are you doing potluck?
    Usually people just start grilling outdoors, but you said it’s humid and hot so I can see why you wouldn’t want to do that, even if people would love shashlik. For that same reason, I wouldn’t want to turn on an oven.

    Cucumber raita is an easy side dish and it won’t fight with the other food. South Indian lemon rice is pretty simple and scales well and can be served at room temperature but I think getting some of the ingredients might take some doing. I don’t use the channa dal or hing and I add the lemon juice and salt to taste when I’m mixing everything else but this is pretty representative. I’d de-seed the chilis. I wouldn’t recommend samosas unless you enjoy frying or can time them to come out hot from the oven because reheated samosas are not good.

    If you feel the need to do a dessert, ice cream and fruit compote is pretty easy. Cutting up peaches and plums and letting them sit for an hour with some grated ginger and mint and mixing them up is delicious.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      My position is that finicky eaters can bring their own food. I’m a very finicky water and that’s what I’ve always done. I love Indian food but whenever I tried making it at home, I end up with bland, colorless slop. Which is a crying shame. And my only Indian friend has left town and can’t help me. A Mexican colleague is bringing some guacamole, which is always great.

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      1. Shakti Avatar
        Shakti

        Of course you can’t please everyone. I asked because I didn’t want to suggest food you or your guests wouldn’t eat. There’s nothing more annoying than making or buying a whole bunch of food that you don’t like yourself for your guests and then having lots of leftovers.

        This is when my mother misses her extra fridge the most. 🙂

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          The good news is that we are a family of very hearty eaters. Or maybe that’s not so good. 🙂

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    2. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      As for grilling, our grill is small, it will take forever to grill enough food for 30+ people. I couldn’t do this either to my husband or to myself. 🙂

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  7. Good Enough Professor Avatar
    Good Enough Professor

    Crank up the AC and serve whatever you want: it’s the American way!

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      We have very good AC but it will be a huge crowd and I was hoping to steer some of them towards the veranda.

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  8. Ellie Avatar
    Ellie

    Fruit salad, room temperature roasted/grilled meat, potato salad, cold blanched veggies, steamed corn on the cob, caprese salad, crab cakes, steamed seafood, ice cream, Pickles/kraut. Those are all the american hot weather food staples that come to mind.

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  9. el Avatar
    el

    My mother offered coffee with ice and okroshka.
    I thought about ‘holodetz’, but she said it was a winter dish.
    What about cold ‘vinigret’ ?

    I think preparing something from FSU would be interesting to your American guests.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      The thing is, I HATE okroshka. And all cold soups. I was going to make a Ukrainian feast because my guests are very sophisticated eaters who have tried rotten shark in Iceland and things like that. But Ukrainian food in the +42C heat sounds too much even for me.

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      1. el Avatar
        el

        \\ But Ukrainian food in the +42C heat sounds too much even for me.
        \\ I was hoping to steer some of them towards the veranda.

        One course of hot food could be eaten inside with AC, and then present cold food and steer them outside.

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          I’m doing the kotlety and serving them cold. And a beet salad with walnuts.

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  10. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    Baba ghanoush is easy. Tapenade is easy, but people tend to have strong reactions to the idea of anchovies, even if they’re not ovo-lacto vegetarians, so I’d omit the anchovies. I’m cosigning fruit salad, the veggies, the caprese salad and the pickles. I’d do steamed seafood, but I’d lean toward a non mayonnaise dressing for potato or pasta salads (because of food safety and vegan mayo is a non-starter for me). I wouldn’t do any raw or rare meat or seafood dishes because of food safety reasons.

    Cheese plates and charcuterie plates are pretty easy. I don’t know what kind of drinkers your colleagues are but a good selection of wine and liquor makes most people happy.

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  11. NancyP Avatar
    NancyP

    Any salad. Add meat, cheese, egg, or fish, and it is a meal. Finish with a nice ripe melon.

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  12. TomW Avatar
    TomW

    Pasta salads, potato salad, fruit trays, cheese plates, baba ghanoush, hummus. You might check to see if there is a good local place that does good! fried chicken (not KFC). You can pick up a bunch of fried chicken an hour or so ahead of time, wrap in tinfoil and keep it warm in the oven until you are ready to eat. Things like cookies, brownies, and lemon bars are easy make (or buy) ahead deserts that don’t require much in the way of additional plates or utensils to eat.

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  13. maitreyi1978 Avatar
    maitreyi1978

    Fancy ice creams, sherbets, fruit ices, cucumber salads, fruit plates, cream cheese and hummus served with toasted bread and crackers. Easy to do ahead and I’d call it a day.

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  14. Vic Crain Avatar
    Vic Crain

    Bunch of good ideas here: http://allrecipes.com/recipes/everyday-cooking/gourmet/main-dishes/quick-and-easy-gourmet-main-dishes/

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  15. el Avatar
    el

    \\ I’m doing the kotlety and serving them cold. And a beet salad with walnuts.

    We have already done kotlety in the oven, not on the frying pan. Much easier to cook and they taste good too imo.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Oven! Very interesting. What receptacle do you use? Do you put any oil under them?

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      1. el Avatar
        el

        Обычный противень, лучше разовый чтобы не мыть. Смазать противень растительным маслом.
        Около часа в духовке на программе с винтелятором на 180-200 С.
        Перевернуть на другой бок когда подрумянится.

        Мне понравились “зелёные” котлеты (с укропом),

        My mother claims fried ones are tastier and offered first make a few (in case you don’t like them), but I loved those too. We usually make many kotlets, so it’s much easier in the oven. Then we preserve them in the freezer.

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          Thank you, I will definitely try. And everything is better с укропом, in spite of all the currently negative connotations of the word. 🙂

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  16. el Avatar
    el

    \\ Thank you, I will definitely try. And everything is better с укропом

    Would love to hear how it went. If you think they are horrible, it’s fine. 🙂

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      And then you will have a crowd of starving academics hunting you down. 🙂

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