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The viral savoury girl dinner isn't just a meal but a whole mood
Salty, snacky and slightly chaotic by deeply satisfying, it's a little hard to not indulge in this one
We should've been past explaining what girl dinners are, but for the uninitiated — it's an eat all you can (which mostly means little) assortment of items you want to eat with little to no congruence needed between everything that co-exists on the plate. So think, 3 frozen dumplings, a hand full of fries and half a can of some crisp diet coke.
Now the girl dinner craze may have died off social media after it's tenure of reign, but the last push of the year has seen it resurface, with a chic new update. We're talking about the viral savoury girl dinner plates. Now there's literally a million variations of this out there you could try, between the viral reels and even your own creativity and palette. But for all practical purposes, this is the give-or-take template for savoury girl dinner that's been voraciously going around the internet.
Slices of chopped red onion are nearly non-negotiable, followed by some crisp baby cucumbers. Chilli peppers — the preserved kind — appear to be the third essential, though variations (such as cheese-stuffed chilli preserves and the like) are also thoroughly welcome. Remember, you can't really go 'wrong' with girl dinner. Dousing the cucumbers and onions with salt, a crack of pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, followed by some onion powder is also pretty recurring on the plates being arranged the world over. Chilli oil on the side proceeds to be a non-negotiable, and the crunchier and more texture-dunked, the better. Gherkins or pickles are the next non-negotiable followed by your choice of cold cuts — though pepperoni and salami seem to be winning the battle hands down as the most popular picks. Next up, you need one creamy dip. Many are opting for hummus, many for tatziki. The only rule to follow here is that the dollop must be generous and absolutely doused in garlic. The same rules apply for the secondary dollop of cream cheese. Everything Bagel seasoning is the next stop on flavour central followed by some mozzarella pearls — and you have full liberty to pick up the flavoured ones. Take a free-hand with the capers, olives, feta cheese and parmesan, moving onto a dollop of hummus with a bunch of fresh dill. A fresh squeeze of lemon later, fill up the plate with some olive oil-toasted slices of sourdough bread and 2 crisp hash browns, the latter being an ABSOLUTE non-negotiable, and you're good to go.
Are you getting your girl dinner on, this last push of the year?
