Porch dinner on a warm night

Last night I made a late dinner for friends. Happily, I'd done all the advance prep earlier, so it didn't take long until everything was ready. I lit the lanterns, hung them on the porch, rearranged the furniture on the porch just a bit, and we ate, the cool breezes of the evening being really pleasant, as was the low light from the lanterns and the musical neighbor's room light.

The menu:

• flatbreads with garlic in the dough, topped with olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, zaatar, and extra sumac
  
• roasted fillets of steelhead trout, topped with a mixture of wasabi-ginger sauce mixed with soy sauce
  
• a green salad, using three kinds of lettuce, arugula, basil, halved cherry tomatoes, and mango, dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette that included a touch of cayenne

The salad turned out well, and the fish was good too, though I think I'd put a bit more sauce on next time, since the wasabi didn't come through so well. The flatbreads were devoured, not a bite left.

It was really satisfying coming up with a meal that felt like it so matched what I wanted to make, what people wanted to eat, what suited the weather, and the time of day (well, night).