Thinking ahead to Easter

In my family, Easter dinner has always been one of the major holidays for family to get together and have a special meal. Now is not too early to start planning, and I’ve given it some thought. This year, we will have Christian’s family. Christian and I have learned to meet in the middle about what I cook and what he wants to eat but cooking for his family suggests some reconsideration on my part.

Given my absolute choice, I would cook a leg of lamb or a good spring lamb stew, but I don’t think the Burtons eat lamb. I suspect salmon is also ruled out for that a reason (beside salmon for eleven is an investment), and a beef roast just sounds too heavy to me. Chicken? Cooked how? One thing I don’t do is fry chicken—lots of restaurants do it better than I do.  Finally I landed on turkey—everybody likes it, and to avoid repeating Thanksgiving, I’d serve some sauces rather than gravy. I really had tonnato sauce in mind—a wonderful tuna sauce for cold fish or poultry. I am, however,  the only one in the house who would eat that. I am probably the only one who also envisions cold turkey. When I said sauce, Christian said, “Yes. We can have cranberry sauce.” Back to Thanksgiving. I gave him what I hope was a withering look.

I haven’t solved the sauce dilemma yet, but we pretty much have a menu. The appetizer will be love dip from Central Market because all the Burtons love it. Turkey breast with sauce (I have asked Christian to take charge of deciding between a turkey which he could fry and two breasts), potato salad (with a bit of pickle juice in the dressing, and I’ll take some out for Tom Burton and Jacob before I add onion), and marinated vegetables, which Julie, the vegetarian in the family, will love.

Because I really want to try it some time, I thought of a pavlova for dessert—those showy confections of meringue topped with fruit, but I’m afraid to experiment and I think making a pavlova ties up your oven for a long time. Maybe a Black Forest cake from the bakery.

We will also have guests for brunch that day, and I’m debating store-bought quiche vs. homemade. If I get ambitious, I’ll make and freeze early in the week—one  and serve them with fruit and rolls.

My family has been eating this marinated vegetable salad for years—a friend served it when my kids were still very young. It’s a favorite, and you can tailor it to the taste of your family, though with such diverse tastes you’re going to hit some and miss others.

Marinated vegetable salad

Green beans—yes, canned work better than fresh or frozen; cut but not French cut. For eleven people I’ll probably use two big cans. They are the backbone of the salad.

Shredded carrots

One small head of broccoli, blanched and cut into small flowerets

One small head of cauliflower, blanched and cut into small flowerets

A red onion, sliced and added in rings

Artichoke hearts – I prefer canned to frozen; if fresh, trimmed and parboiled (just go with the canned

Brussel sprouts – optional; if used, trim and blanch, cut in two if large

Mushrooms – optional, sliced, raw

Commercial vinaigrette dressing—we prefer Paul Newman’s Own Oil and Vinegar (not the Balsamic vinegar dressing); you want enough to cover all the vegetables but not so much that you end with salad soup (it has happened in this house).

The salad as I first ate it had chopped iceberg lettuce and sliced avocado. The trouble with those is that they don’t keep well; any leftover salad will be fine in the fridge for several days, but lettuce will turn soggy, and avocadoes will brown. The ideal would be to serve them on the side.

Best to make this a day ahead and let the vegetables soak up the dressing. You can add more at the last minute if needed.