A Crowd-Sourced Meal With Casey Elsass

Please bring one of these salads when you come over to my place.

Inviting people for dinner over can feel like it’s adding too much to your already-full plate. But a recent conversation with Casey Elsass, author of What Can I Bring? got me thinking about ways that gathering together—especially in summer—can actually lighten your load.

It starts, of course, with letting go of control of the menu, and really answering the question in the title of Casey’s book.

Yes, bring a salad—the fish-free Caesar recipe and the bright, tangy pickled-potato salad printed below are great places to start. The Caesar gets its creamy emulsification with the help of store-bought hummus; the potatoes drink up the tangy brine of pickles and pepperoncini so they’re seasoned all the way through.

Yes, bring dessert. Or arrive with the pre-dinner snacks—that is, if you’re honest with yourself about when you’re going to show up.

The point is not to buzz around setting out a perfect restaurant-style meal; it’s to slow down and spend time together. “You’re never gonna be in the mood to cook a three-course dinner for people, but opening it up as a crowd-sourced meal is such an easy way to just go for it, do it,” says Casey.

Maybe there’s a window on the calendar this weekend. Grab some extra sausages or veggie burgers to throw the grill. Text about a picnic plan on the day that the weather looks clear.

Forget about how it will all appear in the pictures after. “I dare you,” Casey says, “to have a party with your friends and don't tell anybody about it. Just enjoy that moment together.”

Win a copy of What Can I Bring?

If you’re new around here, welcome!

Here’s how it works: Every week I talk to a cookbook author about how they grapple with the challenges of dinner—and everyone here gets a full recipe and all the many inspiration links below, free.

But with every episode of The Dinner Plan podcast, I host a cookbook giveaway just for paid subscribers—a thank you for your support, which helps to cover my studio and sound-engineering costs and keep the recipes flowing.

To enter to win, be sure you’re signed up as a paid subscriber by end of day Monday, May 26, 2025. There’s nothing else you need to do. But I do appreciate your clicking on the ❤️ at the bottom of the page to help bring this newsletter to the attention of new readers.

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Casey mentioned

Casey’s Zucchini Risotto (Epicurious)
Tara O’ Brady’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Richard Sax’s Chocolate Cloud Cake (reprinted on Food52)
Bill Smith’s Atlantic Beach Pie (reprinted on Southern Living)
Cartier-Bresson's picnic photo: "On the Banks of the Marne, France" (1938)
Jeremy Salamon’s Second Generation (Bookshop here)
Mina Stone’s Lemon, Love, and Olive Oil (Bookshop here)

Maggie mentioned

Judy Rodgers’s Zuni Chicken (Food & Wine)
Pizza Cognition Theory
Julia Moskin’s Gazpacho (NYT Cooking, gift link)

This newsletter contains some affiliate links; your purchase is a small way to support my work. Have you checked out this list of every cookbook recommended by the cookbook authors I’ve talked to so far?

Did you catch these episodes?

Gena Hamshaw’s Meal Prep System for Busy Weeks
Hailee Catalano on Fresh Spring Dinners and Sandwich Construction
Kenji López-Alt Cooks Differently Now
Quick Dinner Favorites With Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTin Eats

Photo: Gentl and Hyers

Caesar Salad with Bouillon Crouton

Reprinted with permission from What Can I Bring? by Casey Elsass © 2025. Published by Union Square & Co., an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group.

I love big croutons, but I hate feeling like my gums are under attack. And I love anchovies more than life itself, but I don’t love an anchovy dressing sitting out in the sun all day. So we’re going to solve for both problems in this salad. Croutons: Big chunks of torn bread get tossed in bouillon and lightly toasted so they’re crunchy on the outside but pillowy inside. (Sidebar: I love making this with chicken bouillon for an incredible chicken Caesar feeling, but I’ve made it with vegetable bouillon, too, and honestly, no complaints.) Anchovies: We’re ditching them entirely. This stealth Caesar dressing starts with hummus as a creamy base, meaning no pressure to nail an emulsification, then layers on a bunch of acidic, savory, briny ingredients to help you fly undetected.

Party Trick: If you’re making this ahead, wrap the lettuce in dry paper towels and pack in a large zip top bag. The croutons and dressing can travel in separate airtight containers. The Parmesan can stay in its wrapper and the lemons can be sliced at the gathering. Don’t forget your serving bowl!

Serves 6 to 8

CAESAR DRESSING
½ cup store-bought hummus
Juice of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons capers
2 teaspoons caper brine
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari
2 ice cubes
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt

CROUTONS
1 (12-to 16-ounce) loaf soft Italian or French bread, gluten-free if you want
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon vegetable or chicken bouillon paste, like Better Than Bouillon

SALAD
2 romaine hearts
4 ounces Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons, cut into wedges

Make the dressing: In a blender, combine—in this order—the hummus, lemon juice, garlic cloves, Parmesan, capers and brine, the olive oil and Dijon mustard (in alternating tablespoons so the mustard slides out), soy sauce, ice cubes, pepper, and salt. Blend on high until the ice cubes go silent and the dressing is completely smooth, about 1 minute. It’s great now, but it’s better later so pour it into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days. (This makes 1⅓ cups of dressing.)

Make the croutons: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Tear the bread into roughly 1-inch pieces with irregular edges. Arrange the croutons on the prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil and bouillon together, then drizzle it over the croutons and toss to coat.

Slide the baking sheet into the oven and set a timer for 4 minutes. Flip the croutons over, then set a timer for 4 more minutes. At this point they should be a little crunchy on the surface but soft inside. Give them 2 more minutes if you think they need it, then set aside to cool on the baking sheet.

Make the salad: Lay a romaine heart on a cutting board. Slice it lengthwise, starting at the top and stopping just before the root. Flip the heart a quarter turn and slice lengthwise again, stopping before the root. Now cut across in 1-inch pieces, stopping just before the root, for perfectly bite-size lettuce. Do it all over again with the other heart. Now do everyone a favor and wash that lettuce in cold water and dry it well.

In a large bowl, toss the romaine and 1/3 cup of the dressing until coated. Take a taste and decide if you need another tablespoon of dressing. Use a vegetable peeler to shave about half the Parmesan in long strips directly into the bowl, then switch to a rasp grater to grate the rest. Toss once or twice to make sure the cheese gets evenly distributed, then add a ton of good cracks of black pepper. Serve immediately with lemon wedges for squeezing.

Photo: Gentl and Hyers

Pickled Potato Salad

Reprinted with permission from What Can I Bring? by Casey Elsass © 2025. Published by Union Square & Co., an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group.

I’m Irish, so if you put a potato in front of me, I’m going to love it. But if you put a potato salad in front of me, I do have this short list of requests right here: lots of acid (that will always work in your favor), a little bit of heat (never a bad idea), fresh herbiness (a reliable balance to starchy), and a hard no to raw onions stinking up the bowl. If you’ve been dying to have a killer potato salad in your arsenal—and really, everyone should—this recipe will help get you on the right track.

Party tricks:
• A simple swap to vegan mayo makes this 100% plant-based.
• If you’re making this ahead, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. (Not a bad idea, the flavor only gets better over time.) Let it sit, covered, at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Wrap some herb leaves in damp paper towels and bring them along for garnish.

Serves 6 to 8

3 pounds baby creamer potatoes (that’s two 24-ounce bags), preferably in a mix of red, yellow, and purple
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dill pickles plus ¼ cup pickle brine
10 pepperoncini plus 2 tablespoons pepperoncini brine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
½ teaspoon celery seeds 1 bunch chives
1 cup mayonnaise (see Party Tricks below)
2 tablespoons grainy mustard or spicy brown mustard
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish
½ cup loosely packed fresh dill fronds, plus more for garnish

In a large Dutch oven, combine the potatoes, 1 tablespoon of the salt, and 8 cups cold water. Set over high heat and bring to a boil, about 10 minutes. Once bubbles are starting to pop all over the surface, set a timer for 8 minutes. When the timer goes off, use a spoon to remove a couple potatoes; if a paring knife slides in and right back out with no effort, you’re good to go. If not, give them 2 more minutes before testing again.

Drain the potatoes, but don’t rinse. Let them sit for about 5 minutes until you can comfortably cut them in half. Throw the halved potatoes in a large bowl and while they’re still warm, toss with the pickle brine, the pepperoncini brine, vinegar, celery seeds, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Let the potatoes cool completely and absorb those flavors, about 1 hour.

When the potatoes are cool, finely chop the pickles, pepperoncini, and chives. Add them to the bowl with the mayonnaise, grainy mustard, and black pepper and fold everything together. Add the parsley and dill and lightly toss to mix.

Pile the potato salad in a serving bowl, then garnish with more parsley and dill before serving.