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Composing a Menu
Appears in
Get in There and Cook
By Richard Sax
Published 1997
Don’t be daunted by meal planning, whether it be for yourself, one other, or five others. Remember to keep things simple and don’t feel obligated to put out huge amounts of food. A few well-prepared dishes, balanced in flavor, texture, color, and appearance, will be pleasing for both you and your guests. Here are a few principles to keep in mind.
- Decide on your “main course” first, but don’t get caught in the traditional trap of thinking you need a slab of meat, a quarter of a chicken, or two pork chops. There is no reason why the “main” can’t be a steaming bowl of Farmers’ Market Vegetable Soup, Risotto with Mushrooms, or Panzanella, a bread salad. The meal doesn’t always have to be something substantial. Then whatever your choice, balance it with side dishes, which could be nothing more than Tri-Color Roasted Peppers or a simple Tossed Green Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette and a slice of good-quality crusty bread from a nearby bakery.
- Many of us were raised to think that the dinner plate needs three things on it: a protein, a starch, and a vegetable—three separate islands. Rethink this. Pasta e Fagioli, a hearty bean and pasta soup-stew, combines all these elements in one dish without any meat, while Chicken and Vegetable Curry is a similar one-dish meal but with meat.
- Think about textures, playing them against each other—chewy versus melt-in-your-mouth, crisp against smooth: Creamy Mashed Potatoes without Cream is a nice pairing with crispy Broiled Mustard-Crumbed Cornish Hens, and Open-Faced Dijon Steak Sandwich is perfect with lightly steamed crunchy sugar snap peas (page 164) dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette.
- Blend flavors, making sure they complement rather than compete. Strongly flavored Soy-and-Ginger-Glazed Salmon is appropriately offset with a tamer rice pilaf.
- Beginning as well as more experienced cooks often forget that a diner first feasts with the eyes. Mix together colors as well as shapes and sizes. Here’s a good combination: brown Seared Double Lamb Chops with smaller pieces of steamed green broccoli florets. Or how about lively red Bruschetta with Basil-Marinated Tomatoes as an accompaniment to golden yellow Summer’s Best Corn Chowder?
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