Girls Night In

I'm having a group of friends over next week and instead of doing take-out (which we've done in the past), I was thinking of cooking. But I want to do something easy, that I can make ahead of time. I was thinking of something like baked ziti, grilled chicken and salad (there are 2 vegetarians in the group), but would love to do something more creative. Maybe a shrimp dish? Any ideas?

Re: Girls Night In

What about fondue and you can have different sides?

Girls Night In

apps and dips are always good for a girls night!

Girls Night In

How about a mexican theme. Tacos and fajitas. You can have everything laid out and everyone can make their own. I would have sliced grilled chicken, grilled veggies(for the vegetarians) grilled shrimp for the meats. Then the ad ins: lettuce, salsa, tomatoes, shredded cheese, onions etc.

Then top off with a pitcher of sangria! Super easy to execute.

Re: Girls Night In

Re: Girls Night In

Re: Girls Night In

We always do apps and dips and drinks for our nights in -

We always SAY we're going to order pizza or chinese but end up way to stuffed to eat any more

Re: Girls Night In

Definitely go with a theme! Love the Mexican theme idea :) You can even do a taco or fajita bar. One option can be bean/veggie fillings.

You could also do a make your own pizza... have various toppings. You can use store-bought dough and cut into individual sizes. Everyone can stretch them and top them with their favorites (you can have ideas). You can make a caesar salad & garlic knots. Have some brownies & sweeter beer like White Rascal or Blue Moon with orange slices :)

You could do italian antipasti... you can pick up some easy things at like whole foods! marinated artichoke hearts, olives, various cheese & meats, slices of toasty baguette.... and some wine of course!

Does your friend eat shrimp? You can do a fancy baked shrimp scampi (ina garten's recipe!). You can have some linguini to serve it over... and then some bread to soak up all of the lemony goodness! And again...wine!!!

Re: Girls Night In

i love themes and i say either do:
1. tapas (basically appetizers and small plates)
2. mexican
3. italian
4. greek

im a vegetarian and all of these work well for meat eaters and vegetarians alike.

for greek i'd recommend seasoned grilled chicken which could be made ahead and greek salad which could be made ahead. you could could also do pita bread or pita chips and various greek dips (tzatziki, hummus, eggplant, potato).

for italian i'd do a big salad and baked ziti and meatballs and garlic bread or bruschetta.

The next two are much harder to do ahead of time, so if you really want to do the work ahead of time, i'd stick with greek or italian.

Otherwise...

for mexican, like everyone suggested, i like the idea of fajitas... grilled meat, veggies, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, etc and then guacamole, queso, sour cream, salsa, chips. You can also do spanish rice.

for the tapas/appetizers do your friends favorites dishes. i usually like a cheese platter, bread platter with different things to spread on it (softer cheeses, hummus, olive tapenade, olive oil dipping sauce, etc.) a veggie platter, a fruit platter, mini-meatballs, bruschetta, anything made with puff pastry, chicken wing dip, bacon-wrapped asparagus, stuffed mushrooms, etc.

Message edited 6/10/2013 1:32:51 PM.

Re: Girls Night In

Just like some other girls said... I say apps and dips along with drinks. I tend to go for the finger foods with the girls. Seems lighter (although too much isn't so light). LOL
Big heavy dinners makes you feel tired and bloated. At least with finger food apps and drinks it's easy to sit around, chat, laugh, etc. No worries about big plates or cleanup.

guacamole and Tostito Lime chips (Yum)
hummus and Stacy pita chips
moz sticks
7 layer dip
some of those chicken fingers on skewers with a Soy Vei sauce
shrimp cocktail (always a winner)
then you can also put out desserts that are small like brownies, cookies and fruit

We love sangria and a few Skinny Girl cocktails, wines, etc.

Have fun!

Girls Night In

I LOVE finger foods so I would say do some finger foods and of course some wine, cocktails, etc!

Girls Night In

Thanks for the suggestions!