Sarah Dougherty
Now that Thanksgiving season is upon us, it’s a great time to plan a dinner party with friends and family. In my opinion, experimenting with new recipes is always a fun way to spend time with others during a night in. All you need is a few guests, some candles for the table, jazzy music (you can check out my “dinner party oldies” playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/54NeTDTFEGvcGKoNKyB3iH?si=f6d4e72d2c484fd7), and a nice bottle of wine! Whether you’re going home for Thanksgiving or staying back in Eugene for the weekend, here are a few recipes that I’m sure will impress.
To Start: A Simple Charcuterie Board
For this recipe, you can customize your grazing board however you please. I’m partial to brie and prosciutto, but the options are endless!
Ingredients:
Brie
Baguette
Crackers
Grapes
Berries
Cheddar
Prosciutto
Jam
Honey
Mixed nuts (Marcona almonds pair well!)
A Sweetgreen-inspired Harvest Salad
No matter what time of year it is, this salad is an easy, yet completely amazing recipe to try! Since there’s no Sweetgreen in Eugene yet, this salad is the perfect copy of their famous harvest salad and a great addition to a fall dinner party.
1 sweet potato, chopped
3-4 cups kale, chopped (Lacinato kale is the best for this!)
1.5-2 cups cooked wild rice
1 cup cooked chicken (I usually just get a rotisserie chicken and use some of that!)
1 apple, chopped
4 oz goat cheese
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp honey dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
Brown Butter and Arugula Tortellini
In my opinion, a pasta dish is the perfect main course for a dinner party. This recipe is from Heidi Swanson’s blog “101 Cookbooks,” which my roommates and I have fallen in love with this term. You can find fresh tortellini at Trader Joe’s and put it all together pretty quickly. When going the Trader Joe’s route, I do recommend buying one package per 2-3 people or so, just so you have enough for everyone. The brown butter is magical with the lemon and arugula, so this recipe makes for a great go-to dinner year-round!
one dozen fresh tortellini pasta (tortellini and ravioli work too)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon aged balsamic vinegar
fine grain sea salt
grated zest of one lemon
2 - 3 big handfuls of torn arugula or other bitter/spicy greens
plenty of grated fresh pecorino or Parmesan cheese
The Classic Apple Pie
If you have a good hour or two, or can delegate dessert to someone else, apple pie is the best nostalgic treat to make. You can even adjust to hand-pies, crumbles, crisps, tarts, or other apple pie variations to mix it up. A warm pie topped with ice cream is a delightful way to end a cozy fall dinner party and will leave everyone in a food coma but in the best way! For ice cream, Talenti Gelato’s caramel cookie crunch and oak-aged vanilla are my personal favorite.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ½ pounds apples, peeled and cored, then cut into wedges (5 large honeycrisps will do it)
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 recipe all-purpose pie dough
1 egg, lightly beaten
