I love to entertain and serve dinner on the beach. The sunset provides an amazing backdrop for a fun dinner with friends and family.
Dinner on the beach. It’s one of my favorite ways to entertain. It’s so special that it’s almost hard to explain.
What makes dinner at our beach so special? I think it has something to do with scrunching your toes in the sand, sitting oceanfront with a view of the sunset, listening to the sound of the waves, drinking great wine, and eating great food. And you get to do all of this with family and friends.
Does it get any better than this?
It’s been unseasonably warm in Southern California and the weather in Ventura was absolutely perfect this weekend. I spent four days at our beach house with family and friends.
We spent a great weekend at the beach as we walked, biked, and ate out at a restaurant one night. We cooked, played games, watched some sports and laughed a lot.
On Saturday night we celebrated with a dinner on the beach. This was the first time some of my friends had enjoyed dinner on the beach like this and it was so much fun to spoil them.
The dinner was a bit last minute because the fog came in at about ten that morning and stayed for a few hours. I was afraid that we wouldn’t be able to dine on the beach but it burned off in the afternoon. That’s when I knew we could have dinner on the beach.
I even went with a fall theme. My decor, however, was pretty minimal. Here’s the thing. A few years ago I realized that 90% of the decor was the sunset and the colorful sky. There is no reason to compete with it. Embrace it and realize the entire evening will be focused on the sunset.
So I found a vintage tablecloth with the right colors and placed some fall leaves into two vases. I added my DIY fairy light mason jars which I made a few months ago. Instead of hanging them, I just placed them on the table.
In case you are wondering, there weren’t very many people on the beach on Saturday night. In fact, it was pretty much our beach the entire time. I think my neighbors are used to seeing me set up a dinner on the beach. The beaches aren’t that crowded and it’s the perfect setting to set up a dinner and have the entire beach to yourself.
I have shared two other dinners on the beach and you can read more about them here and here.
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I did not cook a fancy dinner because we ate a late lunch and decided we wanted a salad. So we enjoyed some great wine and an awesome Healthy Chicken Caesar Salad.
Healthy Chicken Caesar Salad
This is a delicious and healthy Chicken Caesar Salad recipe. It has a few unexpected but wonderful ingredients.
Ingredients
- Three large boneless chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup non-dairy yogurt
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Canola Oil mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp. chopped anchovies
- 1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp chopped onion
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tsp. crushed garlic
- 8 cups romaine lettuce, cut into medium-sized pieces
- 1 cup sliced cucumber
- 1 avocado, sliced and cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- Place the chicken in a Ziploc bag with the olive oil, oregano, garlic, sea salt, and pepper. Marinade for at least one hour.
- Cook the chicken on the grill at medium heat. Sear on each side, then turn the heat up to medium-high and cook the chicken on indirect heat until done, about twenty minutes. (Indirect heat means place chicken to the side of the lit burner.)
- Mix all of the ingredients for the caesar dressing in a bowl, and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Wash and cut, or tear, the lettuce. Slice the avocado and cucumber.
- Place the lettuce, avocado, cucumber, in a bowl, and toss with dressing. Top with pumpkin seeds.
The air was pretty humid so the wine glasses were “foggy” all night long!
I love hosting five people for dinner because I can arrange the seating so that everyone has an ocean front seat and view. I thought about setting the table closer to the water but I wasn’t sure if it would be a good thing if our toes ended up getting wet. Besides, I learned the hard way that if you misjudge the tide it can ruin your dinner! I chose to go the safe route this time. Thank heavens.
The secret to making this dinner is that the location is so unique. Even if you can’t set up dinner on the beach, you can find a unique location in your own home. Try finding somewhere that would be a new location for dinner. Somewhere you have never eaten before.
As the sun set, the twinkle lights in the mason jars automatically came on to add some light. It was beautiful.
If you are looking for fall entertaining items, be sure to check out my favorites.
Furnishing the Summer Outdoor Party
Creating a special dinner (on the beach or in your backyard) begins from the ground up. Tables, chairs, and lighting create the foundation to design a beautiful tablescape.
Here are my favorite items to use when entertaining outdoors.
Setting the Table
Links to the Items to Create a Beautiful Fall Table
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16 Responses
Oh wow, you are so right, the sunset is amazing. What a special treat for your friend’s birthday.
How lovely Lesley, I miss the sea so much.
How fortunate you are live practically on the beach. Perfect setting. Your friend is very lucky to have you in her life
There is a series on Amazon “The Durells in Corfu”. They often set a dinner table in the water to beat the heat. It’s one of my favorite scenes. Of course I don’t think they had the same type of waves you probably have.
Cindy- That is one of my favorite series!! I was so sad to see it end!
Wow! No, I have to say it probably can’t get much better than that. Lucky friends.
I need to see a beach sunset sometime!! I live a few miles from the beach over here in New Hampshire, and we get the beach sunrises. It’s the perfect way to start a day!
Beautiful!!
Was wondering if I saw this being set up. Hubby and I were staying at a nearby hotel. I’ll have to borrow the idea for our next weekend out there!
How delightful! What a perfect setting. Your friends are lucky and you are too!
Location. Location. Location. This is summer living at its best::
It’s like a dream!
Wow! You are simply amazing.
Thank you so much Renae!
Please don’t call this chicken Caesar Salad. It in no way resembles a TRUE Caesar salad. It may have some common ingredients; however, it is not a Caesar Salad. Also, if you make Caesar Salad in the original, traditional way, it is a very healthy salad. Unfortunately, over the years all types of garbage has been added to make it a very unhealthy salad.
Hi Leslie! I was brought to your website because I remembered your 3o day painting challenges! I loved doing them and you brought so many artists together. I was wondering if you might ever host them again.
This post is beautiful! I loved in Ventura for a year in 2016. Loved it, but can’t complain about my move to San Clemente! Ventura is a special place.
Jennifer