A few of you mentioned on the FB page that the idea of entertaining is completely intimidating. I think of how many mistakes I have made in cooking for other people, and how much I have learned by trial and error, to get to the point where feeding a group doesn’t scare me anymore. I mean, a moderate sized group.

You know in food magazines, with Thanksgiving, how they pencil out a schedule for you so you can pull off making all that food? We are going to do a super simple dinner, and I am going to help you space things out below, so you can prep in pieces, and be more than halfway done by the time friends or family come over.

I know it feels stressful to guess how much food you need. Make a little bit more than you think, and enjoy or send home leftovers. The answer to that question is to just make extra :) I am guessing this will feed six people, especially if you have an app and dessert, and it never hurts to have garlic bread on the table! Any leftover vegetables can roll over to go into the orzo in the next recipe.

I don’t want to overwhelm you by suggesting you make a sauce too, buttttt this would all be so good with a sauce. Any of the sauces we’ve made: lemony pesto, green harissa, a muhummara, green tahini, hummus, avo taco sauce…just something for dipping. Sauces are great to make ahead too!

Friends like to be involved and just because you invited people, doesn’t mean you have to make 100% of the dinner - delegate to take something off your list. I usually offload dessert or an appetizer, and timeless dinner guest manners would suggest they’ll bring a bottle of wine or beer to contribute as well. Keep some in the fridge just in case.