Healthy Entertaining: Nutrition Parties

On the second Wednesday of each month, Lauren Gray meets up to 12 friends for dinner. This isn't your typical girls' night out at a restaurant. Instead, the women have started a dinner club. The first meetings were casual; Lauren's friend Melissa Clough would invite gal pals over for a meal and gabfest on her husband's poker night. But it soon morphed into a not-to-be-missed tradition that now, three years later, is known as Fancy Dinner Night.

Hosting duties rotate, so you're either cooking for the group or bringing wine. When it came time for Lauren, 30, a fundraising officer from New York City, to host again, she had an idea. Why not ask her former colleague, Caryn O'Sullivan, a certified health counselor who founded the Appetites for Life nutrition practice, to visit the group? Caryn was game. Soon, she and Lauren were planning their first nutrition party. The concept was simple: experiment with healthy new dishes, preparing and tasting them together in a casual setting.

Lauren wasn't sure how her friends would react to the conversation switch—from relationships and work to nutrition and eating. After her guests arrived, settled cozily into sofas and slipped off heels, Caryn started talking about energy-boosting foods.

The party went off with a bang. Before long, voices piped up around the room. "Should I nix sugary snacks? If I drop caffeine, how will I stay awake?" Turns out the women had been feeling inundated by the health information streaming at them and unsure about what to believe. "I was surprised how into it everyone was!" says Lauren. "Our group is dynamic and I knew they'd be polite, but I didn't expect so much interest."

Lauren's group walked away from the party with a ton of practical info they could put to use right away. Once you know what to eat, where to find and how to cook it, says Lauren, making healthy decisions becomes much easier. Want to do the same for your crowd? Follow these suggestions:

1. Find a local expert. You can search for certified health counselors in your state here. And, it couldn't be easier to locate a registered dietitian in your area. Just go to eatright.org and type in your zip code to see a list of options. Prices will vary by speaker, so get in touch with a few to discuss going rates for preparing an informal talk on a nutrition topic, creating a theme-based menu, as well as providing recipes and handouts.

2. Get a headcount. Find out who will attend and decide how to split costs for ingredients and speaker fees. Dividing the total expenses among your group can reduce the bottom line and get all of your guests invested—literally—in making the event a success. Be sure to ask what vegetarian or allergy requirements your friends have.



3. Pick a hot-button topic. Have a brainstorming session with the expert to i.d. a compelling, buzzed-about food topic that will pique your crowd's curiosity. "We chose 'Eat for Energy'," says Caryn. "Every woman can relate to feeling sluggish or craving sugar and caffeine pick-me-ups. Knowing which foods zap or naturally boost energy is key." Skip the PowerPoint to avoid a snoozefest lecture. Do ask the speaker to prepare recipe packets and take-home handouts chock-full of refresher tidbits and tips.

4. Build a menu. Ask the speaker to suggest recipes based on the chosen theme and work together to design a menu. "To go along with our 'Eat for Energy' topic, we included supercharged foods that are healthy and quick to make on our menu." Tip: Want to try the 'Eat for Energy' topic? We've created this simple powerfoods menu with healthy SHAPE recipes:
   APPS: Spiced Red Pepper Hummus, Poached Salmon Spring Rolls, Vegetable Sushi, Braised Leeks in Orange-Fennel Dressing
   MAIN DISH: Red Peppers Stuffed with Quinoa, Tempeh Ratatouille
   DESSERT: Mocha Pudding with Crystallized Ginger, Sour Cherry Compote with Cream



5. Dole out recipes and shopping lists. Preparing a meal for a group, or even one person, can be a lot of work when you're solo in the kitchen. Go potluck so each woman receives a shopping list and recipe to prepare in advance of the party. This way, guests not only get to taste but also shop for and cook new foods. "I don't normally buy ginger root and quinoa," says Lauren. "So I had to ask for help finding these things at the store. It took more time than loading the cart with my regular staples, but exploring the new foods was fun. I was glad the store wasn't crowded when I went!"

6. Have a cooking demonstration. If there's room, cook a dish together as one of the night's activities. Since each guest will be preparing something to contribute to the meal, reserve just one main-dish recipe to whip us as a group. Lauren set up side dishes buffet-style in her kitchen. As the girls loaded their plates, Lauren sautéed quinoa pilaf. Seeing how easy this food (unfamiliar to many of the guests) was to prepare, made it approachable.



7. Talk chow. After everyone sits with their stacked plates, have the expert explain why she chose each food and how it relates to the night's nutrition theme. Open the floor to feedback on tastes and textures. Ask what it was like finding and preparing unknown ingredients. Are there tips for where to locally buy health food on the cheap? "I loved the quinoa!" says Lauren. "I'm not sure I'd make tempeh for myself, but it was fun taking a risk with something new."