You've just invited four friends round to dinner. It's six o'clock, there's half a baked potato in your fridge and you're still at work. What are you going to do?

One day soon, I'm told, we'll be able to access our fridges at home from our desks in the office, so we'll know exactly what to buy on the way home. Until then I'll just have to make do with my appalling memory. Impromptu dinner parties are great fun, but they can raise the blood pressure to less-than-healthy levels. A little planning, however, and you should be able to get yourself together in the 90 minutes between leaving work and your guests turning up - just insist that no one's early.

Make your shopping trip count, so when you get home, preparation time is minimal. Whenever I have to do a supermarket dash, I try to visualise the store and decide the route around the shop to correspond with the ingredients I need to buy.
Simple, fresh ingredients pave the way to a good starter. A really ripe melon and some Parma Ham is always a winner (if you suddenly need a vegetarian option, remove the Parma Ham).
The fish section of most supermarkets will usually stock ready-made blinis, which are a good standby. Serve as a starter with smoked salmon and sour cream and chives sprinkled over the top.
Antipasto is an easy and interesting starter and one you can whip up from storecupboard ingredients. As almost everything can be bought in olive oil, it makes sense to keep jars of artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, and roasted peppers for just this sort of occasion.
Plan a main course that is high in flavour and low on maintenance: a stir-fry or Thai chicken dish is ideal.
Always do rice instead of potatoes because there's no preparation involved.
Serve salad in place of vegetables.
When it comes to puddings, one of the most delicious and hassle-free is affogato: vanilla ice cream with a shot of hot espresso coffee over the top. If you haven't got an espresso machine buy instant espresso coffee powder and make up as instructed.
If you completely run out of time, a delicious cheeseboard served with nuts and fresh fruit is hard to beat.

Last-Minute Dinner Party Menu

Starter
Parma Ham with melon
or antipasto platter
or blinis with smoked salmon, sour cream and chives

Main course
Chicken Baked in Thai Green Sauce
Jasmine rice
Green salad

Pudding
Affogato: vanilla ice cream with hot espressoand/or cheeseboard with nuts and fresh fruit

Next page: Chicken in Thai Green Sauce recipe

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Last-minute dinner party