Summer Vegetarian Dinner Party Menu for 12, with a Prep Plan

This is the dinner I make when the garden starts handing me more than I can use: the zucchini have gone from finger-sized to club-sized overnight, the first real tomatoes are softening on the windowsill, and the corn stand at the end of the road has its sign out. It is a vegetarian menu, but nobody at the table counts what is missing. Everything is served at once, family style, and nearly all of it is happy at room temperature, which is what makes it relaxed for the cook.

The menu

• Summer squash and sage soup, served warm or cool in small cups
• French lentil salad with red and green peppers, scallions, carrots, celery, toasted walnuts and a citrus vinaigrette
• Mini BLTs, with a vegetarian version made with smoky eggplant
• Heirloom tomatoes with basil and fresh mozzarella, olive oil and balsamic
• Roasted beets on salted Greek yogurt with garden herbs
• Fresh corn on the cob with two butters: herb, and chipotle lime
• Peach crisp with lightly sweetened whipped cream

Why it works

The menu leans on what is at its best in July and August and asks almost nothing of the stove at the last minute. The soup and the lentil salad are made the day before. The beets roast in the morning, when the kitchen is still cool. The tomatoes are sliced an hour ahead and left alone. The only real last-minute jobs are boiling the corn and taking the crisp out of the oven, and both of those can be handed to a guest who wants something to do.

It also balances itself. The soup is soft and mild, the lentils are hearty and nutty, the tomatoes and beets bring acid and color, and the corn is the sweet, messy thing everyone remembers. The mini BLTs give people something to pick up with their hands while they are still standing around with a glass. If you keep the sandwiches strictly vegetarian, the whole meal is too, and nobody has to ask which plate is which.

Quantities for 12

These amounts assume a full dinner with seconds and a few leftovers for the cook the next day.

For the lentil salad, use the small dark green French lentils, which hold their shape. Cook them in well-salted water for 20 to 25 minutes, until tender with no chalk in the center, and dress them while warm so they drink in the vinaigrette. The vinaigrette is orange and lemon juice, a little zest, minced shallot, Dijon mustard and olive oil, about 1 1/2 cups total for this batch. Add the diced peppers, carrots and celery the day before, and stir in the scallions and walnuts just before serving so they stay crisp.

The mini BLTs, two ways

Cut a firm white sandwich loaf or small dinner rolls into 2-inch squares, toast them lightly, and spread with mayonnaise. Layer a small piece of lettuce, a thin slice of cherry or plum tomato, and the bacon.

For the vegetarian version, slice a long, slim eggplant into thin strips, about 1/8 inch thick. Toss them with olive oil, soy sauce, smoked paprika, a little maple syrup and black pepper. Lay them flat on a parchment-lined sheet and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 40 to 50 minutes, flipping once, until they are dark, shrunken and crisp at the edges. They firm up more as they cool. Thin strips of tempeh, marinated the same way and pan-fried, are the other good option. If you make both a meat version and a vegetarian one, put them on separate platters with a small card, because they look nearly alike once assembled.

Prep order

Two days before:

• Shop for everything except the corn and the tomatoes.
• Make the two flavored butters, roll them in parchment and refrigerate.

The day before:

• Make the soup (recipe below), cool it quickly and refrigerate.
• Cook and dress the lentils with the diced vegetables. Toast the walnuts and store them in a jar.
• Bake the eggplant strips, cool them, and keep them airtight at room temperature.
• Make the crisp topping and refrigerate it in a bag.

The morning of:

• Roast the beets, wrapped in foil, at 400°F (205°C) for 50 to 70 minutes until a knife slides in easily. Peel them while warm and cut into wedges.
• Buy the corn and husk it. Keep it covered in the refrigerator.
• Slice the peaches and toss them with sugar, lemon and a little flour.

Two hours before guests arrive:

• Assemble the crisps and bake them at 375°F (190°C) for 45 to 55 minutes, until the fruit bubbles thickly at the edges. They are best warm, not hot.
• Salt the yogurt, spread it on a wide platter and arrange the beets over it with olive oil, flaky salt and chopped dill, mint and chives.

One hour before:

• Slice and arrange the tomatoes and mozzarella. Season just before serving so they do not weep.
• Assemble the mini BLTs.
• Bring the soup up to a bare simmer, or take it out to sit at cool room temperature if the evening is hot.

At dinner:

• Drop the corn into a big pot of boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes and bring it out on a board with the butters.

The soup

From the recipe box

Summer squash and sage soup

About 3 quarts, serves 12 in small cups

Prep

25 min

Cook

40 min

Total

1 hr 5 min

Show amounts in

US cups & spoons metric

Soup

• 4 tbsp57 g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp30 ml olive oil
• 2 large2 large yellow onions, chopped
• 44 cloves garlic, sliced
• 5 lb2.25 kg yellow summer squash and zucchini, cut in chunks
• 1 lb450 g Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1212 fresh sage leaves, plus more for frying
• 8 cups1.9 l vegetable stock
• 1 cup240 ml half-and-half
• 2 tsp10 ml kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 11 lemon, juiced

Method

1. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes, stirring, until soft and pale gold.
3. Add the garlic and the 12 sage leaves and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant.
4. Add the squash, potatoes, stock and salt, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.
5. Simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes break apart when pressed against the side of the pot.
6. Puree in batches in a blender until completely smooth, venting the lid, then return to the pot.
7. Stir in the half-and-half and lemon juice and taste for salt.
8. To serve, fry a few more sage leaves in butter for 20 seconds until crisp and float one on each cup.

Notes from the kitchen

• The soup keeps 3 days in the refrigerator; cool it in a shallow pan before covering.
• Served cool, it needs a little extra salt and lemon.

Swaps and dietary notes

For a vegan guest, make the soup with olive oil and leave out the half-and-half; it is still silky because of the potato. Set aside a portion of the beets before you spread the yogurt, and dress them with olive oil and herbs. The lentil salad is vegan as written. Walnuts are the main allergen on the table, so keep a bowl of the lentils without them and label it. If someone avoids gluten, serve the BLT fillings on crisp lettuce cups.

If you would rather not bother with sandwiches, a bowl of crudites with a creamy dip does the same job of feeding people while the corn cooks; the curry dip is a good one to keep in your back pocket.

Serving it

I set everything down the middle of the table on boards and platters and let people pass. The soup goes out first in small cups or juice glasses while everyone is still standing, then the rest comes to the table together. Have a stack of extra napkins near the corn. For a larger outdoor version of this kind of meal, the summer barbecue buffet for 85 shows how to stretch the idea, and there are more garden salads under Soups and Salads.

The crisp comes out last, still warm, with a bowl of softly whipped cream and a big spoon, and the peach juice runs into the corners of the pan where the topping is darkest.