when I think of basic, simple dinners, I always refer back to the one and only Feast of Simple Fare I attended, many years ago.

Soup
Salad
Roast chicken
Simple sausages or a pork dish, depending on price
buttered worts, preferably cabbage
A baked vegetarian pottage.
frumenty
fruits and or fruit soup

breads, cheeses, and a couple of sauces.

I like doing things in a somewhat spartan manner, and allowing the sauce to be the fancy element, when it is a meal with fewer dishes. That allows people to avoid things they ought to avoid a little more easily.