Planning a Menu

As anyone that ever has people over for a meal knows, planning a “get together” is easy. That is until you get to the “what are we going to serve” part of the discussion, something the QT team does every month.

A fair amount of research goes into our planning, from frequent trips to the farmers market to make sure the things we are considering are in season, and to whole foods to order locally raised meat etc. It is a fun experience since the team brings a diverse perspective to the discussion.

For the first time in almost 2 years since we started QT, we planned a completely Indian meal to celebrate Diwali.

For those who are curious about what Diwali is, Diwali or Deepavali is also known as the “festival of lights” celebrates the triumph of good over evil. People light diyas (small oil lamps) to welcome the goddess Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth) into their homes. For the business people Diwali represents the start of the new financial year.

Regional traditions vary immensely when it comes to celebrating Diwali, however the one thing that is common is the celebratory feast prepared across the country. We had the tough task of planning a menu that represented the diverse cuisine of India withiin a finite number of courses.

We of course had a million things we wanted to make. Shortlisting dishes to make it both a menu we could pull off, and something our guests could finish within what would be acceptable as “dinner time” was tough. We were all really happy with what we finally came up with, and from the feedback, it looks like our guests really enjoyed it too.

Voila! The Menu!

Recipes to follow...