Help me plan some beach menus!!

[KLynn]

I am going to the beach in 2 weeks with my 3 best friends from college, and I have offered to plan and prepare dinner for three nights. I want to come up with some creative, fun, easy, and beach-y menus. Give me your great ideas!!

[Beth]

SOme of the salads we've been talking about lately would be great, and many of them can be prepared, at least in part, in advance, The Angel Hair with shrimp, peppers and olives that on the website now is great. If you will have a grill, that give some great options too.

[SusanT]

If you have a grill, how about grilled shrimp. Marinade the shrimp in olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Skewer and grill. It's heavenly!

I would also try the sea bass with warm tomato vinaigrette in this month's issue. I haven't made it yet, but it looks great and would be so wonderful with some super fresh fish.

[cjm]

KLynn-In the May 1999 issue of CL on page 102 there is a section/article called "Beachside Banquets - a cook's easy guide to a week of sun, sand, and surf that doesn't mean leaving great meals behind." The article includes six daily menus. If you don't have access to this issue...maybe we can work something out - like I could fax you the pages or ...

[sneezles]

Do you have the Annual for 2000? Or the May issue from '99. There is a feature called Take Six that has menus for the beach, the article in the May issue is called Beachside Banquets.

Ahh, cjm, I see you type faster than I do! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by sneezles (edited 06-08-2001).]

[clairea]

Originally posted by cjm:
KLynn-In the May 1999 issue of CL on page 102 there is a section/article called "Beachside Banquets - a cook's easy guide to a week of sun, sand, and surf that doesn't mean leaving great meals behind." The article includes six daily menus. If you don't have access to this issue...maybe we can work something out - like I could fax you the pages or ...

I recently made the Creamy Pesto Rigatoni from this article while we were at the beach. There are a couple of other threads with a lot of reviews of this recipe, so I will just add that we loved it too, and enjoyed the leftovers cold for lunch the next day. I knew I wouldn't have access to a blender or food processor, so I made the pesto ahead of time and took it down in a cooler. This seemed to work fine (I probably made it 2 days before we ate it). I also took the pasta, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and parmesan (so I wouldn't have to buy large containers of these items that I already had at home), and just bought the fresh ingredients there.

I also made the Grilled Lemon-Basil Snapper from March, 2000, which we also really enjoyed. We did not have a grill, so I just cooked the fish under the broiler. I already had the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, so again just bought the fresh ingredients at the beach. This was another quick and easy, but good, dinner.

[BosunsWife]

If you don't want to have to cook and have a freezer in your beach house, how about making up a lasagna ahead of time, packing it in ice for the trip and putting it back in the freezer when you get there. I guess its not real beachy, but you could do a vegetarian one with grilled zucchini and yellow squash.

[KLynn]

Thanks for the idea about the May 99 issue...I will pull that out when I get home from work. I am new to CL, but recently bought some old issues off of Ebay - and May 99 is one of them. I have not even looked at it yet - now I will have a great reason to!

There may be a grill there...but I have never grilled in my life (that is DH's specialty) and I don't know if I am up to learning right now! Thanks for the ideas, though.

Keep the ideas coming...I want to have my planning done by the end of the week...and you are are my best resource!!