the ultimate New Year’s Eve meal plan

If you’re not heading out for New Year’s Eve – and Brine has a pretty great celebration planned – then you may be on the “heading to a potluck” or “hosting a dinner party” train.

And we get it. After the last week of holiday dinners, cookie extravaganzas and washing dishes (seriously, how many times did we wash the same serving platter in one week?) the last thing anyone wants – or needs – is another elaborate meal. So we took to Pinterest to serve up inspiration for easy, flavorful and even healthy dishes that can feed a crowd.

Pick and choose from the below – need to make a main? a side? the booze? – and enjoy a stress-free New Year’s Eve. After all, shouldn’t we enter 2016 breathing easy?

1. In charge of an appetizer, or simply want a fun snack to have on hand if the bubbly gets cracked before midnight? We can’t wait to munch on this crispy chickpea + edamame snack from The Garlic Diaries.

 

2. Tasked with bringing a side? Keep it healthy (after all, everyone wants to feel superior about starting their resolutions early) but also flavorful – these antipasto salad kebobs from Mantitlement.com are a stroke of genius.

 

3. Okay, so you’re hosting. Or you got asked to bring the main course. It’s time to break out the slow cooker – just toss it all in and let the cooker do its thing. Crockpot chicken wild rice soup, from Pinch Of Yum, can cook all day while you primp. Toss everyone a bowl with some crusty bread and they’ll be worshipping your kitchen skills.

 

4. Every party needs a killer sweet course. By now, you know how enamored we are with all of Cava Grill’s recipes. Ones that feature harissa are particularly dear to us. So we’ll be carting this olive oil cake with harissa-candied citrus to our potluck. (Bonus Mosaic points : get the olive oil for the recipe at Ah Love Oil & Vinegar!).

 

5. Is it even a New Year’s Eve party without a champagne toast? Kick yours up this year – we’re headed directly to the bitters to recreate this champagne cocktail from Saint Paul Magazine.

 

 

Have a great celebration – to 2016…!