probably meat or fish, no dietary restrictions, and just...food. definitely not dinner party food, but something more than "put chicken tenders in pan with salt and pepper, wait until not pink." Which is my usual fallback. If they have nice swordfish steaks at the store, I know what I'm making, but if they don't I'm at a total loss, so.
Like, if you want easy but impressive, a roast is dumb-simple: put roast in 300° oven with some onions and any avail. root veg., neglect for time indicated by size or until meat therm. says done.
Of course, a roast is somewhat dispiriting to eat on one's own, unless one is fond of the leftovers.
Unfortunately, my family won't eat a roast. We do have dietary restrictions, I guess, just not medical ones. They're not into big pieces of meat, for the most part, or red meat at all. And we just had salmon the other night, dang it. You see my problem :( Maybe I should just pray for swordfish.
The sad thing is this might actually work on them. Ugh, IDK, I just want someone to come down from the heavens and tell me what spices/herbs match what I'm doing, and then I'll do that to some chicken tenders or cod or something. I am so, so bad at spices. Like, right now I'm thinking about pairing the bagna cauda broccoli with this, because...they're both...strong flavors? I guess? I don't knoooooooow, it's so hard.
If they were normal people I'd just buy some nice lamb chops and make wild rice and there, ta da, a meal. But noooooo.
The bagna cauda broccoli would go great with that swordfish -- both have strong flavors, but the flavors would go well with each other rather than clashing.
Well, you know, food shows make it sound like if you serve white wine with red meat Julia Child will descend in a chariot of clouds with a flaming sword and cut you in twain, but really, so long as you don't serve chocolate and toothpaste, nothing too terrible will happen.
Both of those broccoli recipes are (1) pretty assertive flavors and (2) kind of a lot of work for a side dish. If it were me, I'd probably round out the meal with nothing but a salad (maybe the proteinish kind of salad with a soft-boiled egg in it) and a loaf of really amazing bread.
If your family prefers meals with meat in them, you could try roasting a salmon filet -- salt and pepper it, toss it in the oven in the last fifteen minutes of broccoli-roasting, and dress it either with just lemon juice and zest or with some yogurt mixed with lemon zest, minced garlic, and salt. (Both of those would repeat the flavors in the broccoli.)
I like making interesting things with vegetables! But then the other people in the house demand a main course also, and it gets complicated. *g* That thing with the yogurt sounds fantastic, I may try that next time we have salmon.
I'm with you on the vegetables. The last time the kidlet was away at dinnertime, I made nothing but roasted potatoes and roasted cauliflower. It was exactly the dinner I wanted. (I'm wanting less and less meat; I'm told it's a menopause thing.)
That thing with the yogurt sounds fantastic
It is! I do it all the time, and nobody who tastes it can ever believe how simple it is. You can do it with other herbs and spices as well -- one of our favorites is yogurt with salt, pepper, and madras curry powder.
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Of course, a roast is somewhat dispiriting to eat on one's own, unless one is fond of the leftovers.
But broccoli definitely says red meat, to me.
Oooh, or some kinda grilled salmon?
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If they were normal people I'd just buy some nice lamb chops and make wild rice and there, ta da, a meal. But noooooo.
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If your family prefers meals with meat in them, you could try roasting a salmon filet -- salt and pepper it, toss it in the oven in the last fifteen minutes of broccoli-roasting, and dress it either with just lemon juice and zest or with some yogurt mixed with lemon zest, minced garlic, and salt. (Both of those would repeat the flavors in the broccoli.)
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That thing with the yogurt sounds fantastic
It is! I do it all the time, and nobody who tastes it can ever believe how simple it is. You can do it with other herbs and spices as well -- one of our favorites is yogurt with salt, pepper, and madras curry powder.