Help Me Feed 8 Picky People Once Per Week

Cafe Society
1

Hello all,

I’ve got a culinary challenge for you. Every Monday night my gamer’s group gathers together at my house. Traditionally our default has been pizza, however, me and another member have been working toward healthier eating and we agreed pizza is not a helpful prospect. It’s also not the most economical solution, either.

I don’t mind cooking for everybody as long as it’s a slow cooker/throw everything in the pot kind of deal, the problem is we’re dealing with a myriad of allergies. (I know, the title of the OP is misleading, but it read better.)

-No beef
-No chicken
-No tomatoes
-No dairy

(Yes, pizza has tomatoes + dairy. My husband has been out of luck on those days. He actually has thirteen food allergies, I’ve just listed the most significant ones. The chicken allergy is our DM, and I mean… seriously, of all things, chicken? It’s the cheapest meat. :()

Tonight I’m making a huge pot of white chicken chili. I offered to make our DM some pork loin but he passed, and I feel bad that I can’t feed everyone.

Yes, I know it’s not my responsibility to feed everyone every time. And sometimes I do take a break. But in general, I feel better/like more of a host plus this is kind of dumb but it guarantees they are all getting a decent meal. Usually in the past they brought their own fast food or something like that, and the nurturer in me is like, ‘‘That just won’t do.’’

Okay, so our challenge is: quick and easy meals to serve 8 people, that do not involve chicken, beef, tomatoes, or dairy. I’m home on Mondays so I have time for food prep, as long as I can dump everything into my Instant Pot, set it and forget it I’m able to start three hours in advance or whatever. Something like a bean salad would also be fine - it wouldn’t have to be a hot meal. I need enough suggestions that it won’t be the same thing every week.

Thank you!

2

Pork carnitas (or an approximation thereof) tacos would be one suggestion. Or slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches.

3

I think I’d just plain give up on trying to make everyone in that group happy. :frowning:

4

That’s exactly where I went. Eastern North Carolina-style pork, to be exact. Serve on buns with slaw.

5

Pot luck? Everyone brings something, so hopefully there’s something for everyone.

If not, something that folks can assemble themselves, like a taco bar or a salad bar, with lots of toppings. Same idea with flat bread, then heat in the oven. Sandwich bar. Pasta bar.

I wouldn’t worry too much about nutrition, I suppose. Game nights often have lots of snacks and junk food. Just part of game night.

6

Everyone bring their own fuds, or at least something to contribute. Why should the onus be on you every week? However, if you feel you must, do a big @ss salad with fresh produce from the local farm stands. Lots of lettuce, cukes, onions, optional cheese, sprouts, corm…

7

It’s not slow cooker but it’s easy peasy anyway!

Prepare in advance: fresh carrots and green beans, cut into penne size pieces. Some kind of cooked pork, thinly sliced in bite sized pieces, (preferably leftovers from something you cooked your family maybe the night before?) Lots of chopped fresh parsley. Garlic intense garlic butter, lots of it!

On the night, boil up a mess of penne pasta. While it’s on, boil up the veggies in a different pot. When it’s time, drain the pasta and add an ungodly amount of garlic butter and some fresh parsley. Now share out the veggies into the bottom of the 8 dishes, top with the garlic coated penne. The sliced pork, (cold from fridge or room temp, doesn’t matter!), goes on top of each, sprinkle with black pepper and a little more parsley. The guests mix it together!

If you’ve got garlic bread in the oven, they’ll love you. (Add a small Caesar salad and it’s an easy, yummy, three course meal!) (Switching out the pork for shrimp is always a wonderful meal too. But maybe not for eight!)

It’s really a simple meal to make, when entertaining, as it’s just boiling things, which also makes clean up a snap! Only two pots, nothing stuck on!

Good Luck!

8

I did do this one night! It went over pretty well. I even made fresh salsa and guac.

9

Since pork looks like an option:

Pork tacos (yeah, yeah, I know - it’s already been suggested)
Hot and sour soup

Those little pork-based cocktail sausages with toothpicks. Yes, I know, not super healthy but you serve them along with other stuff.

Assuming beans are OK - beans for the tacos or as a side dish

The following may or may not be something you want to fix yourself, but you would have the option of purchasing them from various grocery stores, delis, etc.

Sweet and sour cole slaw

Vegee tray

Fruit tray

Cracker assortment and dips:

Sushi - yes, I’m serious. And no, it doesn’t have to involve raw fish. Vegetarian sushi is essentially a fancy sort of salad/vegee thing and you can ask to avoid any item you don’t want. In fact, traditional sushi is chicken, beef, dairy, and tomato free to begin with! Made-to-order maki-roll sushi isn’t the cheapest but it would certainly be different and can be very healthy.

You can make your own maki. Forget the usually listed ingredients, you can put anything you want into the rice roll. The first few will be messy but once you get the hang of it they’re actually pretty easy and you can make a wide variety of them for finger-food.

10

Bean soup? Either (ham, bacon, or smoked turkey and) bean or bbq bean?

Pork pot roast?

11

The nice thing is, you can serve sauce on the side (which is what I do with these things), and let people choose between the vinegar sauce, the tomato/ketchup sauce, and even the mustard sauce (don’t even start, silenus. It’s good stuff.) Heck, you can do carnitas and pulled pork all with the same batch of pork by just having whatever breadstuff and condiments you want on the side. A stack of tortillas, a stack of buns, taco toppings, coleslaw, various sauces, there ya go.

Of course, there’s really no need to have all that extra stuff and all those options just for a gaming night with picky/dietary restricted eaters.

12

Pork and pineapple stew. Pork, pineapples, mushrooms (optional), and bell peppers (again optional)

Gravadlax. This you need to start days in advance, but it’s just fish, sugar, salt, and dill.

13

The Official Food of gaming groups is Igor Bars. Customize to fit your group.

And puly, believe it or not, I’ve been playing around with mustard-based BBQ sauces lately. I’m willing to recant my previous position that they are heresy and am willing to downgrade such foodstuff preparation as merely a venial sin.

14

Needs kale. And snow peas.

15

Stir fry made with tofu or pork would work. Cook up a pot of white or brown rice and follow my “how to make stir-fry with anything” method:

[ol]
[li]Chop up protein into bite-size bits (pork or tofu in this case)[/li][li]Mince garlic and/or ginger in desired ratio: lots of garlic, no ginger; only ginger; half and half, whatever.[/li][li]Chop one or more vegetables into pieces[/li][li]Make a flavoring liquid out of whatever ingredients you like, being sure to include a teaspoon or so of sugar and either salt or lots of a salty ingredient. I keep bottles of Asian flavors around and usually just toss stuff in haphazardly. Things that you can use include:soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, mirin (rice wine), oyster sauce (or the vegetarian version of oyster sauce made with mushrooms), teriyaki sauce, Worcestershire sauce, whatever happens to be in the fridge (I’ve found that BBQ sauce, while hardly traditional, is an excellent addition, though you’ll have to watch out for tomatoes, I guess), broth cubes (vegetarian/mushroom ones are good since you can’t use chicken or beef). You may also need some water for additional cooking liquid.[/li][li]Make a thick liquid out of cornstarch and water.[/li][li]Cook by heating oil in a wok and adding the ginger/garlic. Then stir in the protein and vegetable items one by one, starting with what will need the longest cooking time and ending with the most delicate ingredient. Add your flavor sauce, cover and cook as needed. At the end, drizzle in the cornstarch-water mixture and stir to thicken.[/li][/ol]

This works every time - the worst that happens is that I miscalculate and it isn’t all that flavorful. Chili sauce and soy sauce served along side so people can kick up the flavor will fix that. On the other hand, if it is too salty, just eat it in a high rice-to-sauce ratio.

Instead of rice, you can make a hearty fried noodle dish almost the same way: forget the rice and pre-cook some thick noodles (rice noodles as are used for pad thai are great; you can even use cheap Indomie ramen noodles in a pinch) and add them after the protein/veg have cooked in the flavor sauce a while; you can probably skip the cornstarch thickener.

Another source of ideas would be vegan cookbooks: as long as you choose recipes that don’t use tomatoes, vegan cooking by definition will leave out the meat and dairy. A nice quinoa salad with beans, scallions, chopped bell peppers, and a lime-olive-oil dressing, for example.

16

An Indian buffet? There are a lot of tasty (and easy) vegetarian dishes out there, e.g. chickpea curry. That would get around the no chicken/no beef issue.

Or a baked potato bar? Bake a bunch of potatoes, set out various toppings, let guests help themselves. Easy peasy.

17

probably a silly question, but are tomatillos a problem along with tomatoes? I don’t know what the specific allergen(s) are in tomatoes. if not, there’s always chile verde, which is amenable to slow-cooker preparation.

eta: Broomstick’s dips suggestion is a good one; stuff like hummus and baba ghanouj are tasty and don’t usually contain any of the problem ingredients. plus they go well with a variety of crackers along with flatbreads like khebz.

18

Chicken is out, but is turkey?

I’ve made meatloaf in a slow cooker before, though not in an Instant Pot, so how about turkey meatloaf?

Or turkey and dressing?

19

OK, Alabama white sauce is next, then! (At least I think it was you; I mostly remember you for the mustard sauce comments, but I have a vague feeling you weren’t feelin’ the Alabama sauce, either.)

20

Don’t push it! 1 - It’s Alabama. 2 - It’s white. 2.5 - It’s chicken. Chicken is meant to be fried, dipped, shredded or smoked, not bathed in mayonnaise.

Back to the OP - turkey meatballs in a sauce are always hovered up at any gathering I’ve taken them to. Mix red currant jelly and mustard 1:1 for a simple sauce.