Summer gathering with different diets

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esby

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
1
Location
Scranton
Planning a casual summer get together with food restrictions for some of the guests

Some are vegetarians, some eat everything, others can only eat food without nuts or seeds of any kind (even tomato seeds!).

What food can I make to keep everyone satisfied?
 
Welcome to the forum!

There's really not much that can satisfy everyone. Let's face it - there are even some out there that don't like chocolate! :LOL:
 
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Welcome to the forum esby. You didn't mention if anyone is lactose intolerant or gluten intolerant. Those are fairly common. Also, how careful do people have to be? For example, can they be in the same room as the peanuts? Is this snacks or a full meal? For some things you might just have to make an alternative dish. Do your vegetarians eat eggs? What about dairy? I'm sure we can help you with lots of ideas, but I think we need a little more info.
 
If you are doing a bbq, you can do kababs. Just put everything in separate containers and they can grab what they want.

If allergies are serious enough, give each guest their own small tongs or forks.

Then just be aware when they cook as to getting any seeds left on the grill.
 
Also, selecting a specific cuisine or meal type may help. If its Italian, you could serve several things that all complimented each other, yet meet certain dietary needs. Opening it up to everyone if they eat everything, or a specific person ( with dietary needs) so they can make their own decisions.

I ve been to dinner parties where the person left a bunch of nicely written recipe cards ( next to their accompanying dish) so the guests 1) know what tis in it, and 2) if they like the dish, they can take the recipe card and make it for themselves in the future.

Call this could be applied to anything (Mexican, BBQ...)

If you have a general direction in mind, let us know, and Im sure with the wide variety of folks here, with different dietary restrictions and cooking backgrounds could help planning a Mal that satisfies everyone.
 
You could plan two mains, one with meats and no worries about seeds, etc.

The second one could be vegetarian using absolutely no seeds (roma tomatoes, meaty and are easy to deseed) for those with diverticulosis type issues.

Whether they are casseroles or kebabs for the BBQ, it can work for either. If the chosen vegies are too soft for a kebab there are always foil packs.

Sides should be easy enough to separate. Potato Salad, Egg Salad (have to be careful there - alot of add-ins will have seeds), Three Bean Salad would be great and loved by all!

Are you sitting to eat? or buffet style? In either case, labels should be easy. I would just specify "meat" or "seeds". You supply and present, you don't have to babysit.

How big is the gathering? Big enough to need more than the two mains? If so then perhaps the guests could contribute a dish to reflect their needs.

Again, two ways to go there - guests bring the sides and let you concentrate on the mains.

or guests bring the mains and let you concentrate on the sides and little special extras.

Or you could be entirely creative and make it entirely vegetarian - Larry would have some excellant recipes for you :LOL: and they probably wouldn't even know they were vegetarian! For those with intestinal issues, it might be a little harder but I should think doable!

Hope this gives you a few ideas to start with
oh, and btw


Welcome to DC!
 
WW pasta salad with small cut vegetables (either partially cooked or raw), pickles or olives, sauced with a mixture of white beans mashed with finely chopped pickles (sour or sweet or both), garlic, vinegar or pickle brine. An un-sauced fresh fruit salad with pineapple juice or lemon juice, no sweetener or very little. BBQ'd pork or beef or chicken sandwiches.
 
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