Rethinking Dinner

I have a group of girlfriends that likes to get together, drink wine, gab, and eat cheese for dinner. It may not be nutritionally sound, but it’s a time-honored tradition among us – and we spend all night grazing on a huge platter of different cheeses with crackers, meats, olives, spreads and sometimes even a vegetable or two.

Scenes from our last Girls’ Night In

I got home late one night this week and just didn’t have it in me to fix dinner. As I stood in front of the open fridge, waiting for divine intervention*, it occurred to me that I didn’t need to have my friends around to eat cheese and crackers. I started grabbing bits and pieces and ended up with my own meze plate full of different tastes. Half of a cucumber, a lone peach, knobs of cheese, the last slice of proscuitto… I was basically cleaning out the fridge, but slicing everything up and putting it on a pretty plate made a quick, fun dinner in the same spirit as my treasured nights with the gals.

Clockwise from top: the last Green Market peach, a slice of proscuitto torn into bite-size pieces, shards of paremesan, feta and white cheddar, thick slices of cucumber with salt and lots of pepper, buttery crackers.

Call it a cheese plate, an appetizer, or a glorified snack... this Dinner For One doesn't require a recipe - just a change in mindset. 

* It’s been scientifically proven that if you stand in front of the open refrigerator and stare long enough, something delicious and easy to prepare in mere seconds will magically appear.