Delicious Dinner Ideas to Use in Your Stories

Writing is one of my several hobbies, and lists like the one below help me with writer's block every now and again.

Awesome Dinner Ideas for Your Fictional Characters

Coming up with cooking ideas on the fly to put in your story sounds like an easy chore, right? Just hop on the internet and find some food. While this may sound simple, it's not so easy to come up with something that has not been used hundreds of times before, plus for some reason there just doesn't seem to be the wide variety of recipe ideas that there used to be. After not finding enough dinner ideas that struck my fancy for my cooking-inspired horror story, I decided to make a list I could go back to when needed.

The list of dinner ideas you're going to find below will be just that—a list of good ideas for dinner. In most cases, it will be up to you to look up a recipe for a particular meal, and with some meals you may have to come up with a recipe on your own. So while you'll find French dishes, classic American meals, and even wild game dinner ideas, you won't find detailed recipes for those particular meals. Thank you for giving this article a look-see, and I hope it saves you a little bit of time when trying to find that perfect idea for dinner.

Good Dinner Ideas That Are Delicious

• Lemon Chicken and Jeera Rice Soup with Grilled Provoleta Cheese
• Mock Turtle Soup with German Toast
• Oven Baked Trout over a bed of Rice Pilaf and Cheesy Potato Casserole with Bacon
• Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass (With Roasted Asparagus, Seasoned Hot Fries and Cole Slaw)
• Roast Wild Duck with Cracker Dumplings and Duck Fat Fries
• Shrimp Scampi with Linguini and Sourdough Bread

Mountain and Appalachian Cooking

• Biscuits and Gravy with Scrambled Eggs and Bacon / Sausage
• Chicken n' Dumplings with Collard Greens and Biscuits
• Country Meat Loaf with Mashed Potatoes and Drop Biscuits
• Fried Chicken Livers with Biscuits and Country Gravy
• Fried Pork Chops with Hash Browns and Muscadine Pie
• Soup Beans with Fried Cornbread Crisps, Pan Fried Potatoes and Hog Jowl

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.

— Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance

Quick and Easy Ideas for Fictional Dinners

In the table below you can choose a meat and two side dishes from each column to create your own unique dinners. One column will be for protein, another for carbohydrates and the last for vegetables. Feel free to add stuff like bread, butter and sauces to your meal at your convenience, as I won't be putting to much of those in as choices.

Good Dinner and Food Ideas From Nigella

Although I don't watch cooking shows on a regular basis, I will stop channel surfing when I come across one that interests me in some way. I like the ones that can give you some delicious dinner ideas instead of the cooking competition type of shows. Watching shows that talk about specific dinner recipes as well as giving you the time to let them sink in is always better.

Good Food Ideas for Meals

• Chicken Cordon Bleu with Lyonnaise Potatoes and Green Bean Almondine
• Fried Frogs' Legs with Zucchini Fritters and Kulcha Flatbread
• Homemade Chicken Cacciatore with Caponata and Spinach Arancini
• Pan-Seared Porterhouse Steak with Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes and Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Polynesian Pork with Cooke Cabbage and Pineapple
• Teenager’s Mammoth Sandwich with BBQ Potato Chips or Shoestring Fries

The poll question above is one I'm genuinely interested in, because I know people who simply won't eat any leftovers no matter what. I grew up on eating leftovers from dinner, whether it was for later in the day, the next day or the next one. It blew my mind when I found out everyone wasn't like this.

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Tasty Supper Ideas

• Barbecued Elk with Rutabaga Slaw and Macaroni Salad
• Chicken Alfredo with Garlic Bread and Creamed Spinach
• Chicken Katsu with Steamed White Rice and Katsu Sauce
• Fried Bologna Casserole with Crusted Potato Pancakes and Garlic Toast
• Oven-Broiled T-Bone Steak and Waffle Fries
• Seafood Platter Redux (Alaskan Crab Cakes, Salmon Patties and Codfish Balls with Hush Puppies and Crinkle Cut Fries)
• Tom Yum Noodles with Combination Fish Balls

Sausage Macaroni Pecan Casserole

Back in the days before Food TV, if you wanted to watch a nice variety of cooking shows you had to turn to PBS. One of the more entertaining ones was by the gentleman from above; his name was Justin Wilson and was known for Cajun inspired cooking and comedy.

More Delicious Dinner Ideas

• Blue Shark with Black Rice Assorted Herbs and Vegetables
• Broiled Swordfish with Cucumber Sauce (With Roasted Greek Potatoes and Caesar Salad)
• Fire Roasted Lamb with Vegetable Stuffed Grape Leaves and Cucumber Radish Salad
• Kushiage Variety Plate with Kettle Rice
• Southern Fried Catfish with Vinegar Slaw and Crunchy Tater Tots
• Wild Boar Flank Steak and Chestnut Sauce with Grilled Mushrooms

Weird Foods and Exotic Dinner Ideas

• Lion’s Head Soup with Hand-Pulled Noodles and Peanut Cookies
• Pig's Blood Cake: A Taiwanese street delicacy made up of sticky rice and pig's blood.
• Potted Pigeons Served With Cheesy Cauliflower Rice and Texas Toast
• Pot Roast with Ratatouille and Fresh Brioche
• Ribeye Steak with Cauliflower Puree and Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Sweet Potato
• Opossum Shanks with Turnip Greens and Thick Grits
• Toad in the Hole with Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Vegetables

Great Meals From Chefs Around the World

Another great PBS cooking show from back in the day that showcased chefs from all over the world. It was actually quite the treat back then to see how people cooked in countries you've never been to. This was definitely before heavy internet usage.

Spring and Summer Meals

• Basil Balsamic Chicken with Summer Squash and Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
• BBQ and Ranch Chicken Thick Crust Pizza
• Blackened Chicken with Steak Fries and Caramelized Onions
• Blackened Tilapia with Tarragon Asparagus and Arborio Rice
• Pork Chops with Cornbread Stuffing and Spring Asparagus
• Pulled Pork Sandwich with BBQ Pork Rinds and Coleslaw

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

— Virginia Woolf

Fall and Winter Dinners

• Beet Stew with Lamb Meatballs and Falafel
• Large Bowl of Cullen Skink with Bannock Flatbread
• Pork Goulash with Glazed Pearl Onions and Curly Fries
• Prime Rib and Provolone Sandwich on Grilled Texas Toast with Kettle Chips
• Roast Beef with Garlic Crust and Mashed Potato Cakes
• Roast Leg of Lamb with Mushy Peas and Twice Baked Potatoes
• Turkey Wild Rice Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwich on Focaccia Bread

Good Side Dish Ideas

Whenever feasible, one should always try to eat the rude.

— Hannibal Lecter

Supernatural Foods and Meal Ideas

• Boiled Dragon Tail with a Side of Bhut Jolokia Peppers and Fairy Wing Chips
• Griffin Steak served with Elfen Noodles and Honeycomb
• Leg of Werewolf with Coal Roasted Eggplant and Romanian Country Bread
• Roasted Bigfoot Foot and Brainiac Cake with Dandelion Greens
• Stuffed Indus Worm with Candied Phoenix Feathers and Steamed Arugula
• Thunderbird Egg with Spiced Cactus Steak

© 2022 Don