This vegetarian dinner party menu lets the host relax

By David Tanis, The New York Times

Most of the time, I take a very casual approach to having guests for dinner. I don’t mind doing a little cooking while people hang out in the kitchen; in fact, I enjoy it.

But sometimes, it’s more relaxing to have the entire menu ready, especially if some of it can be cooked a day in advance. This is one of those menus. It takes a little work to put together, but comes with great reward: There’s barely any last-minute fussing.

In Morocco — and similarly throughout the Middle East — the most delicious salads are made with seasoned, cooked vegetables, not leafy greens. For a first course, I made a smoky eggplant salad with cilantro, infused with cumin, hot pepper and a generous amount of olive oil. It’s a winning combination.

Seriously blackening the eggplants — preferably very firm ones, with fewer seeds — under the broiler achieves the perfect smoky flavor. Once they collapse from the intense he...