So there’s gonna be a potluck at my office. (Yay.) We’re all bringing stuff - sides and desserts. (The turkey & ham are being taken care of, somehow.) The hitch is: we all arrive in the morning, and the potluck is lunch. Furthermore, the only cooking appliance available is a little microwave. We do have a (small-ish) fridge, but everyone will have to share that, so something that is a space hog won’t be a good idea.
Under those circumstances - what should I bring? It needs to be something that is either a) good cold or b) good at room temperature after sitting around for 3-5 hours or c) can be successfully nuked. Most of my ideas won’t be good within those parameters - they have crispy toppings that will get soggy and sad in the microwave, or they need to be served rather soon after cooking, etc.
I’m thinking pasta salad. Does anyone have a more creative idea? Bonus points if it’s something that can be made at least a day ahead, since I won’t be doing much in the way of cooking 1st thing in the morning before heading out.
Your stuff has crispy toppings + looking for a more creative idea = (to me) you’re trying to be fancy. Personally, my experience is that potlucks tend to attract too much in the way of fancy dishes (multiple ingredients) and not enough in the way of good old plain stuff.
My suggestion is to bring something plain and simple – a pot of rice, or baked beans, or green beans. People do enjoy those, and some of us appreciate having an alternative to “every dish is a work of art.” Plus they’re bone simple to reheat in a microwave.
Slow cooker. OK, you still can’t do your faves with crispy toppings.
But you can do yummy appetizers (swedish meat balls, lil smokies, queso, etc.), or a side dish (corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, baked beans, sweet potatoes, squash soup) without fighting for the microwave.
It’s the dope way to go for potlucks.
Depending on the dish, you can cook the night before and warm it up in the crock, or cook it up in the crock that morning.
Will you have a plug for a crockpot? There are plenty of crockpot recipes that you can bring pre-assembled and then plug in to cook in the AM and have it ready by lunch.
I fall back on a simple dish, with an easy twist, that people just love. Filipino tomato salad.
Slice a bunch of tomatos (Romas work well because they hold up.) Toss it with thinly sliced green onions or sweet onions, some cilantro if you like, and (the twist) finely grated ginger. Dress it with lime juice, white vinegar, salt and pepper.
The ginger makes it something special. People love it and it takes five minutes to make.
Yeah, I can find an outlet somewhere, and I do have a big ol’ honking CrockPot at home that’s actually too big for just the Other Shoe and I (I wanted the smaller size, but noooo … one of the few times I was well and truly right for once, but don’t tell him that!) and I could bring that in and plug it in. That’s an excellent simul-suggestion - thanks!