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Summer Entertaining Tips From Your Favorite Chefs
Host stress-free summer gatherings with these tips and tricks.
We asked the people who know food best to share their favorite tips and tricks when it comes to hosting summer gatherings! Kwame Onwuachi, Andrea Nguyen, Erin Clarke, and Joanne Lee Molinaro share their fool-proof recommendations that will make summer entertaining seamless.
Have the food ready!
Summer is a time for celebration. The weather is nice, the children are free, and work seems like an afterthought. But no event is official without food. So, you’ve agreed to host. Now, what do you do?! I think a grill is a perfect vessel for entertainment. A lot of people get caught up with cooking everything directly on the grill though. Make a lot of your items ahead of time, cook the ribs in the oven the day before, crisp your bacon for burgers the day before, caramelize your onions and cut your toppings before people arrive. The devil is in the details, and the success will be in preparations. Kiss these items on the grill and your guests will be kissing the chef!
—Kwame Onwuachi, author of the cookbook My America
Stay chill Viet style.
As temps rise, stay chill by keeping certain items in your fridge. Cold beverages are handy, but so are some Viet staples for quickly creating favorites. Here’s my plug-and-play strategy: Have a jar of daikon and carrot pickle to turn practically anything toward Vietnam. Keep a stash of prewashed herbs (cilantro and mint are fine) in a tub partly filled with water and loosely cover with a produce bag and they’ll stay super perky for a week. (Don’t have space? Put the washed herbs in a ziptop bag with a paper towel.) Add summer standbys – cucumber and lettuce, and you’ve got the building blocks for rice paper rolls, banh mi, and rice noodle bowls.
For a Viet-ish lunch, brunch, snack, or dinner any day, add grilled meat, seafood, and/or veggies. Leftovers are fair game too. Just whip up a batch of nuoc cham dipping sauce, if needed. Vietnamese food is versatile, with endless possibilities.
—Andrea Nguyen, author of the cookbook Vietnamese Food Any Day, and blog Viet World Kitchen
Keep snacks and drinks on hand.
One of the best parts about entertaining in the summer (or I would argue, entertaining pretty much anytime) is that just because we call it a fancy-sounding name (“entertaining”) does not mean things need to be fancy. What we’re really talking about here is friends hanging out while eating and drinking, and what could be more low pressure (and more fun!) than that? I am all for impromptu get-togethers, especially since I live in Wisconsin where anytime the weather hits the 70s, the need to have friends over to share drinks on the patio is immediate. I always keep things on hand that doesn’t require me to go to the store: three or four different cheeses and two types of charcuterie (these can last in your fridge a long time, so don’t be afraid to stock up; plus, your life will be better if you have them around), along with crackers and easy munchies like kettle chips (everyone loves them and they taste great with cocktails, trust me) and roasted almonds. Keep a bottle of prosecco and rosé tucked in your fridge, along with some flavored sparkling water, and you can be the hostess or host with the mostess any night of the week!
—Erin Clarke, author of the cookbook The Well Plated Cookbook, and blog Well Plated by Erin
Have kimchi ready to go.
Cucumber kimchi was the first kimchi I ever learned to make because it’s so easy. It’s a great way to dip your toe into the pool of pickled Korean vegetables if you’re a little intimidated to try cabbage or radish kimchi. Not only that, it’s an excellent garnish for your salads, sandwiches, and, of course, rice. The lovely thing about [kimchi] is that you can make a bunch in advance (double or triple the recipe!) and serve it for weeks! My grandmother had a huge jar of cucumber kimchi in her fridge at all times that she used throughout the year. As a result, her bapsang (dining table) always delivered multiple different kimchis at every meal!
—Joanne Lee Molinaro, author of the cookbook The Korean Vegan Cookbook, and her TikTok, @thekoreanvegan
Excerpted from The Korean Vegan Cookbook by Joanne Lee Molinaro. Copyright © 2021 by Joanne Lee Molinaro. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Explore their cookbooks:
What is American food? In his first cookbook, the acclaimed author of Notes from a Young Black Chef shares the dishes of his America; dishes that show the true diversity of American food. Onwauachi is “the most important chef in America” (San Francisco Chronicle) and chef of Tatiana, the New York Times #1 Restaurant in New York City 2023.
Drawing on decades of experience, as well as the cooking hacks her mom adopted after fleeing from Vietnam to America, award-winning author Andrea Nguyen shows you how to use easy-to-find ingredients to create true Vietnamese flavors at home — fast. Nguyen’s tips and tricks for creating Viet food from ingredients at national supermarkets are indispensable, liberating home cooks and making everyday cooking easier.
Known for her incredibly approachable, slimmed-down, and outrageously delicious recipes, Erin Clarke is the creator of the smash-hit food blog in the healthy-eating blogosphere, Well Plated by Erin. In this essential cookbook for everyday cooking, Clarke shares more than 130 brand-new rapid-fire recipes, along with secrets to lightening up classic comfort favorites inspired by her midwestern roots, and clever recipe hacks that will enable you to put a healthy meal on the table any night of the week.
Joanne Lee Molinaro has captivated millions of fans with her powerfully moving personal tales of love, family, and food. In her debut cookbook, she shares a collection of her favorite Korean dishes, some traditional and some reimagined, as well as poignant narrative snapshots that have shaped her family history. The Korean Vegan Cookbook is a rich portrait of the immigrant experience with life lessons that are universal. It celebrates how deeply food and the ones we love shape our identity.
