The only flavour that is a little out for me is the bacon in the spinach salad unless it's a favourite of the kids. If you're looking for a punch I might consider dried cranberries instead. But....not my dinner.

Hard to comment because I don't like many of the ingredients! I would only eat some of the spinach salad and although I tend not to eat carbs/pasta, I might eat a few of the cheese ravioli to put something else on my plate.

BlFenton, Yes ... the kids like that salad with bacon in it.

Chispa, These are people who I know like fish and I know they like lentils (I know not everyone does).

I am feeling like it is all sort of an odd combo (even ignoring the spinach salad for the kids).

Ravioli with fish seems odd to me, but my guests wanted to try to make it (i just bought a pasta machine). It will be in brown butter or somesuch, not marinara.

Maybe chicken instead of fish goes better w ravioli? But chicken never seems like "dinner party" food to me.

I thought the ravioli with the halibut sounded great. I usually look at overall flavours, colours, presentation on a plate for company. The light flavour, slightly white colour and the light texture of the halibut combined with the orange of the butternut squash ravioli and green and slightly crunchiness of the beets./carrots/ will be a picture on a plate with a variety of textures.(well ok except for the bacon :).

OT I'm looking for ideas for New Years Eve dinner - it's my turn this year and I may consider halibut. I'm doing cheesecake for dessert so main will have to be light.

I see no issues with this menu, I've seen fish served with pasta many times and it's a welcome addition where a few people don't care for fish. My husband is from Italy and they serve that combo very often. As for the salads, yum to both of them. I would enjoy that offering, invite me over lol.

I would tie the 3 dishes (halibut, lentil salad, ravioli) by carrying over a few herbs/ingredients to "marry" them. You can incorporate sage and/or rosemary into the butternut ravioli, and then use one or both in the brown butter and herb butter for the halibut. The halibut could be served over arugula to tie in the lentil salad, etc. You may even consider adding some roasted butternut to the lentil salad (it's not a stretch to add it to roasted carrots and beets).

I think the whole lineup sounds delicious! I could happily eat every bite and wouldn't change a thing.

I like every single thing on your menu, except the goat cheese garnish, which is only because I don't like goat cheese one little bit. The lentil salad is gorgeous.

That salad is beautiful.. and homemade ravioli is an absolute treat! I think your menu sounds great .. but much as I love halibut, after seeing the lentil salad which is so elegantly rustic, I immediately thought of something like the Zuni Café chicken. The much lauded Zuni Café recipe is pushing the timeline--as it needs to dry brine for about 24 hr-- but I think a perfectly roasted chicken .. or lemon herb roasted chicken pieces on an arugala herb salad would be lovely protein for your menu. Chicken has been rising (again) in the foodie circles.

A wonderful menu that feels light, healthy and fresh! A nice break from the typical winter offerings.

I love the menu, and I think a roasted chicken could also work. I know not everyone is a fan of fish, but I'd personally enjoy the halibut. Duck would also be fabulous, festive and hearty, but you might not be able to find fresh duck or be able to defrost a frozen duck in time for the dinner.

Otherwise, it looks great, and no need to overthink it. :)

Funkyart - that first recipe, the lemon and artichoke roasted chicken sounds really good. I'm going to try that and the recipe is printing as I type.

OT, but I must now try that Zuni Cafe chicken recipe. I had come across it before and dismissed it because the seasoning was too simple and cutting into skin to drain juices goes against every roasting rule I've ever learned. However, over Thanksgiving, for the first time I flipped the turkey over during roasting and it made a huge difference. I'm going to give this a try. I don't mind "minding" my bird during roasting.

mtn, you really don't need that butternut squash ravioli - because you're sending it straight over to my house! :-) Seriously, it sounds wonderful! Interesting and lots of options for different tastes and dietary restrictions.

That lentil salad looks like heaven to me. And you all give such good advice, I am going to ask here any time I am menu planning!

Thank you all, off to the grocery store now. I really like Lisa's ideas about tying it together. I think that is what I didn't like about the menu, it needed more of a tie-in. I was set on the ravioli (last month we had a guest chef at our cooking club and we made ravioli ... my fave was roasted diced butternut squash with fresh whole milk ricotta and nutmeg, so those are what we will make). I was set on the lentil salad because I personally love it and my DH only tolerates it and the kids just won't eat it, but I know my guests would really enjoy it. And the halibut just feels special (it's something like 35/lb here but it is my family's favorite fish.) The nice thing is that this is a dinner party with people whose food preferences I know very well, which I always prefer. I hate cooking something and having no idea what folks' preferences are. I always ask if I don't know, but a lot of people sort of demur.

Let me know how the Zuni CAfe chicken turns out, I might take it to a NY Eve pot luck.

Sorry folks, I wasn't recommending any specific recipes other than the zuni café chicken which has had cult-love for the technique (salt brining + high heat cooking) and the bread salad with pine nuts and currants. I only posted the other photos for examples of "rustic elegant" plating of the simple chicken. That said, BFelton, I learned to make lemon roasted chicken when I was 14 and had an after school job preparing dinner recipes for a neighbor. Love roasted lemon. I just can't imagine how that recipe could go wrong.

I love halibut-- in fact, we were just talking about it on Christmas Eve. My nephew was in from his NOAA ship in Alaska (currently ported for the winter in Oregon). He'd shipped in Dungeness crab for the family but we also talked of our shared love of halibut. It is sooo expensive here-- more so now because it's out of season until the spring-- but such a wonderful and versatile fish.

Your dinner sounds wonderful, Mtn.. the platter of lentil salad is just so beautiful. With the wonderfully earthy flavors of roasted beets and carrots and the butternut ravioli, you've conceived a great, healthy twist on "surf and turf"!

Funkyart - What's that saying? - Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. That picture looked so good which is why I googled it and sounds good - nothing to lose in trying it.

Definitely not! I think it looks delish.. and it's a fancier version of a dish I love. I'll probably try it too. I just wanted to be clear that I hadn't made that specific recipe.

Menu sounds great to me! I'd have to pass on the almonds, due to a food sensitivity, but otherwise I'd find everything yummy. Serve it all!

Thanks everyone. It turns out we had a fair amount of uncooked tenderloin (the one my kids eschewed in favor or using it for quesadillas one night), so we added that to the menu. It was all quite delish, and we all really had fun making the ravioli.

The recipe that was totally new for me was the pears, and they got a big thumbs up. I love pears but I really never liked them poached in wine. These were so good. I cut mine in half. And only drizzled a little of the warn salted caramel and toasted almonds on top. Then a spoonful of creme fraiche on the side. Elegant,special, but relatively easy and light.

Here is the recipe:

https://nadialim.com/recipe/salted-caramel-poached-pears-yoghurt-almonds/

Sounds wonderful.. I especially like butternut with beef. I don't know why as I am not a big beef eater but something about the earthy sweet and savory mix.

The pears look amazing-- thanks for sharing the recipe!