Help! Dinner party for fussy eaters

Cafe Society
1

The last few weeks I’ve spent decorating my our house which Darkhold and I will be moving into this Saturday when he flies out to England. The place has been pretty much ripped apart and put back together again. My parents and some close family friends have given me a ton of help with this- I’m talking hours and hours of serious manpower here. Heavy lifting, painting, plastering, sawing, refitting, breaking things up into little peices with big hammers… an awful lot of things I couldn’t have done myself.

We want to thank them by having a dinner party of sorts, but I’m really struggling to think of a menu that everyone will like.

These are the specifications:

  • I’m going to cook it. I’m not a bad cook, but I’m not an expert so anything super difficult or precise is out

-I want it to feel a little bit special so I don’t want it to be the same stuff we have every time we’re together (usually Indian food, or roast dinner)

-Ideally three courses.

But to complicate matters just a little more, between us we’re horribly fussy eaters.

-I wont eat any kind of fruit or vegetable, with the exception of roast parsnips, or veg cooked in soup or similar until it has no real texture.

-Darkhold is marginally better than me in that he will also eat corn and carrots, and lettuce at a push. But he wont eat fish, or anything spicy. He’s also diabetic.

-One of our guests is ‘vegetarian’ (the inverted commas are because she actually will eat fish, but I can’t remember what the proper term is for that)

-My Mother is on a diet which is very low carb and low fat. I know she would deviate for a special meal, but I’d like to accomodate as much as possible.

-The other members of the party are fairly easy to please, with one person seconding the dislike of spicy things, and another seconding the dislike of fish.

So… any suggestions? Is there any way I can plan a menu that will please everyone or am I destined to make twelve different alternatives? I don’t mind a few variations (such as a main course which I can make with both meat and fish) but if possible I’d like everyone to have basically the same to keep it simple.

Any suggestions for one or all the courses will be much appreciated!

2

For the main dish you could make burritos which while not exactly gourmet, can be customized by person. Beans, veggies, meat, cheese, olives, rice, mild sauce…

Maybe start with a creamy soup (corn chowder, pumpkin soup), burritos, bread and butter or bread and dipping sauce, dessert.

3

I’ve looked over my favorite recipes, but I’m not sure I’m going to be much help. I have a couple ideas, and maybe you can adapt them.

For the quasi-vegetarian, make Grilled Shrimp with Mango Salsa as an appetiser, and then he/she can load up with more if necessary for the main dish. Here’s the recipe:

Grilled Shrimp with Mango Salsa

Mango Salsa:
2 (4-ounce) tropical fruit cups, drained (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 scallion, finely chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1 small jalapeno, ribs removed, seeded and minced
Kosher salt

Shrimp:
24 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Olive oil cooking spray
1 (8-ounce) bag shredded coconut
Wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For the mango salsa: Chop drained fruit into small pieces. Combine the fruit and remaining salsa ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until chilled.

For the shrimp: Place coconut on baking sheet. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until coconut turns light brown. Set aside

Spear 3 shrimp on each bamboo skewer.

Heat a ridged grill pan over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Place shrimp skewers on grill pan. Cook shrimp for 2 minutes per side or until shrimp turns pink. Place shredded coconut on serving plate. Remove shrimp from skewers and place on top of coconut.

Place salsa in a decorative bowl and serve with shrimp skewers .*

For the main dish, I suggest lasagna. It’s festive enough for a special meal (my mother often makes it for Easter or Christmas for one of the meals), yet you can tone down or play up the meat and vegetables.

Here is a basic Vegan Lasagna recipe that I have. I don’t know if you’ll tolerate it since you don’t care for vegetables. In that case, I’d recommend making a standard lasagna, with ground beef and cheese.

**Vegan Lasagna **

1 (16 oz.) oz pack uncooked lasagna noodles
1 10 oz pack frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well

Sauce (combine)
2 28 to 32 oz jar spaghetti sauce

Filling:
1 to 2 pounds medium tofu, drained, but do not squeeze out the water. Put tofu in food processor or blender to mix. You want it about the consistency of cottage cheese so you may need to add some soy milk to thin.

Add the following:
soy milk (as needed–see above)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
or as much spices as you want–taste and decide.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*To assemble lasagna, spread 1 cup of the sauce on bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Top with 8 uncooked noodles, then 1 cup of the sauce.

Next, spoon 1/2 of the tofu mixture over noodles and top with all of the spinach (if using), add 1 cup of the sauce. Repeat. Press down firmly. Spoon remaining sauce over noodles, making sure noodles are entirely covered.

Bake 40 minutes, covered. Uncover and bake 20 minutes.*
I love vegetables, so it’s hard for me to think of ideas to help. For example, this time of year would be great to add fresh squash–zuccini or summer squash if you still have it–to a lasagna. I ususally add a layer of fresh mushrooms too (sauteed first).

Another idea to help the vegetarian out would be to make hummus. You can serve it on crackers or bread.

**Hummus **

28 ounces garbanzo beans (canned or dried and cooked)
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp. cumin
dash or two cayenne pepper, optional
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
liquid from cooked beans to make good consistency
salt or garlic salt to taste (depending on how many garlic cloves used)

Blend all in food processor.

I’ve made this with just the beans, garlic, salt and oil, so it’s a pretty flexible and forgiving dish.

I have never cooked for a diabetic, so I don’t know if these ideas will be of any help or not. Good luck!

4

I totally didn’t see that as “fussy” at first glance.

I’m in this situation all the time. My solution is to do a mixed kebab grill. Do a whole lot of small things–beef, chicken, salmon, shrimp, squash, small potatoes and tomatoes, onions, peppers, whatever looks good and can be put on a skewer. Skewer it all up separately, ideally the night before. You can salt and pepper them and maybe brush everything with oil, but don’t get too fancy with marinades and such.

Then make up a bunch of interesting sauces; my favorites are honey mustard sauce (great on salmon and shrimp) and chimichurri (for the beef and chicken). I’ve also made sort of a zinfandel marmalade that killed on beef.

Day of the party, just fire up the grill (two grills are ideal) and grill it all up. Also throw on some fresh corn-on-the-cob cut into thirds and some good-quality bread cut into small pieces and brushed with butter.

Arrange everything in the middle of the table, and let everybody dig in. If you use wooden skewers, people who don’t want a whole skewer of something can break it in half. Provide ramekins for the sauces.

For dessert, I continue the theme with skewered pineapple wedges and bananas, doused in a simple syrup spiced with vanilla and rum and grilled. Serve over ice cream.

5

You know what the funnest dinner party I ever went to was? We all got to make our own pizzas - she had all kinds of neat toppings, not just the regular stuff - you know, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, etc, as well as the usual pizza stuff, and then we popped them in the oven and ate them. It was a great time, very interactive, and everybody got to have exactly what they wanted.

6

A fajita and fixin’s “bar” would be good, too. Grilled chicken and/or skirt steak. Beans - fresh or canned refried. Lettuce and tomatoes and grilled onions and peppers. Tortillas - flour and/or crispy corn. Spanish rice. Cheese dip. It could all be mix and match for the various diets.

7

As a take on the “kabob” dinner by Doctor J. We do a make it yourself kabob, and everyone seems to like it.

I cut up veggies, chicken and beef (you could also do tofu or fish) and put everything in it’s own bowl. Then the guests prepare a bowl of their own with the meat & veggies, and a variety of marinades. We cover the bowls, stick them in the fridge for an hour, drink while they are marinating, then either the guests, or me (usually me) will put the ingredients on a kabob and grill it. I serve it with teriyaki rice or udon noodles on the side.

Its easy, and no-one can bitch because they made their own.

8

Anything where people make up their own food can work good with fussies. Fajitas works well, with comunal dishes of beef, prawns, and vegies. Maybe a fondue (though not good for the Low fat option) with a nice salad on the side. A mixed vegitarian Indian can be nice if you want to experiment with more exotic foods (there is no need for Indian meals to be spicy).

9

No, no; she said at least two of the attendees don’t like fish.

10

shudders Yikes people I’m talking about my parents here! Spare me the images!
Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I guess it is going to have to be a mix-and-match meal then, with people picking out their own things. I suppose the reason I didn’t go for that to start with is because the fancy show-off part of me likes the more traditional formal dinner party where you don’t help yourself. That said, it could be a lot of fun doing it that way if I get creative with the foods. I’ve definately made some notes :wink:

Any more suggestions you have are welcome too!

11

I have another one, which might suit you better. But I’m not sure if your non-fish eaters will eat shrimp but a simple shrimp Creole is pretty, delicious, and you can fancy it up with bread and salad.

Shrimp Creole:

Ingredients:

2 pounds med-large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 small can tiny shrimp
1-2 tsp oil
2- 16 oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 oz can tomato paste
1 med. onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
2 stalks celery diced
2 cloves garlic diced
Creole seasoning
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup water
2 cups Cooked white rice
Heat oil in a deep frying pan.
Add, onion, pepper, celery stalks and garlic to oil. Cook until tender. Add tomatoes, and tomato paste to pan.

Add sugar and creole seasoning depending how spicy you want it. The sugar cuts the acidity of the tomatoes, and the creole seasoning will get spicier the longer it cooks, so be aware.

When you get how you like it, add shrimp and allow shrimp to cook through. Last step is to add tiny shrimp (with the juice from the can if you like shrimp stock), and allow then to cook through. The tiny shrimp will break up when you stir the mixture, so be gentle.

Heat through.

Serve over cooked rice, with a slice of garlic bread, and an Italian salad.

12

“Everybody make their own” (i.e., kebabs or fajitas/tacos) was also my first thought.

A third way to do that is individual sized pizzas. I’m not sure where you are, but in most American supermarkets you can get invididual-sized pizza crusts (like “Bobolis”) or, if you prefer, you can make your own pizza dough and make individual pizza crusts that you can pre-cook. Set out a selection of sauces (tomato-based pizza sauce, alfredo sauce, olive oil); two or three kinds of meat (ham, sausage); three or four kinds of veggies (onions, peppers, mushrooms); and a couple kinds of shredded cheeses. People can assemble their own and you can finish them (i.e., warm the toppings and melt the cheese) either in the oven or on the grill. Serve with a nice mixed green salad with low-fat dressing – you don’t have to eat it – and a bottle of wine and there you go.

A fourth way to do the same sort of thing is fondue, but since that involves boiling pieces of meat and veggies in oil, it probably isn’t a great idea for guests who are trying to eat low fat.

The “make your own” types of dinners are IME really fun, but actually are more work than you just cooking something yourself. You have to chop up a ton of veggies and meats and make up a few sauces and basically get everything ready and laid out attractively so that all the guests have to do is assemble it. It’s less “cooking” but a lot more “prep” work, but a great way to please people with different tastes or dietary restrictions.

13

My dad and stepmother did a dinner for a bunch of their friends in the style of a Mongolian grill. Empty bowls and lots of raw meat (sliced very thin) and veggies, different oils and spices, and a couple woks on the barbecue on the patio. Everybody makes their own the way they like it, then you stir-fry it for them in one of the woks and onto a plate. A bowl of white rice on the table and you’re all set.

14

I once went to a make your own pizza tyoe party. It was a lot of fun. Then we baked a couple of kinds of cookies for dessert. Also, this will give you a chance to let people wander around and see the finished house they worked so hard on, while the food is cooking.

15

I’m a big fan of things like fajitas, which can be personalized and are a great way to be social while eating (lots of bowl-passing, etc).

Also, Fondue of any kind is always fun. Either for appetizer, shish-kebob or chocolate dessert, it’s another one you can personalize and be social about.

16

I’m down with DoctorJ. That will please everyone. The fun is in the sauces! Serve with sides of rice, sliced potatoes and onion, maybe a pasta salad. Everyone’s happy.