Friday Night Menu - Fill in the blank

I've received many requests to post menus - but in following the adage "if you give a man a fish, he has one meal, but if you teach him to fish.....", instead, this menu is my structure for a Friday night meal when I have a lot of company. When it's just family for shabbat, or one invited family, my menus can be more creative, but when the table is set for sixteen, it's best to stick with the basic structure, so that quantities and varieties are not an issue.

First Course:

Either: Salad with an added "fancy" or soup

Main Course:

Beef main dish

Chicken main dish

Sides:

Potato

Rice or Noodle

Hot Vegetable

Cold Vegetable or Salad

Dessert:

One "fancy" dessert

one cookie or smaller dessert

(one should be chocolate, one non-chocolate)

I follow this structure and there's always enough for each individual, no matter their eating idiosyncrasies.

When you're filling in the blanks, consider the colors of the foods, and the "strengths" of the flavors. Make sure to find something green or bright - not all beige foods (roast chicken, roast potatoes and eggplant salad will not really look great....) and making everything either super spicy or bland will also be boring for your guests!

As always, feel free to email with any questions!