I'm having six girlfriends over this Saturday. It's super casual and very laid back, we're doing one of those murder mystery kits. I'm planning lots of good food and alcohol.
So, two are gluten-free, two are dairy free. To make it easy, I'm planning a menu that's GF/DF. Any ideas? I'm thinking taco bar, maybe? I'm fine with a full meal OR heavy apps. And I would much rather prep everything ahead of time and spend time with my friends, not in the kitchen so prep-ahead is necessary. Any ideas?
Post by penguingrrl on Aug 21, 2019 18:58:27 GMT -5
My go to for dairy free (we have quite a few vegans and vegetarians in our circle, so this is something frequent for us) is to make Chinese or Indian dishes since there are a ton of options within those cuisines. And since many serve over rice that should be easily adaptable.
A taco bar would be good for the ability to customize as long as you can find GF shells.
I'm having six girlfriends over this Saturday. It's super casual and very laid back, we're doing one of those murder mystery kits. I'm planning lots of good food and alcohol.
So, two are gluten-free, two are dairy free. To make it easy, I'm planning a menu that's GF/DF. Any ideas? I'm thinking taco bar, maybe? I'm fine with a full meal OR heavy apps. And I would much rather prep everything ahead of time and spend time with my friends, not in the kitchen so prep-ahead is necessary. Any ideas?
What about a big make your own antipasto salad? You could have cut up olives, peppers, cooked pasta (some gluten free - us chickpea pasta gluten free?) meats, cheeses, etc. and a few tasty vinegars with some olive oil. Then, you should be able to find gluten free breadsticks and grab some pre-made desserts. That’d be easy and good with wine. You could even add a couple of appetizers as well if you want. I assume meatballs could be made gluten and dairy free, for example.
Post by iheartbanjos on Aug 21, 2019 19:07:50 GMT -5
Tacos are what came to mind for me as well for something easy for a group. Corn tortillas are usually GF (check the label, obviously) but most of my girlfriends prefer their carbs in the form of wine, so a taco salad would be a hit with my group.
If you do tacos (which I think would be an easy fun idea), you could do cowboy caviar and corn chips along with a couple of salsas.
A baked potato bar would also work and you could do sweet potatoes and regular potatoes.
I’ve been making chimichurri a lot this summer. That with steak, roasted fingerling potatoes, and cold roasted veggies would be good and it would still be good at room temp if you wanted to serve it all kind of buffet style.
Me and H are both GF and the only gluten we have in our house is a loaf of bread and a box of corn dogs (for David). I'm familiar with reading the ingredients of EVERYTHING and cross contamination, which is why I just want to do the whole thing GF.
Me and H are both GF and the only gluten we have in our house is a loaf of bread and a box of corn dogs (for David). I'm familiar with reading the ingredients of EVERYTHING and cross contamination, which is why I just want to do the whole thing GF.
You’re a good woman I still don’t trust my in laws to cook for us lol. Mexican would definitely be the easiest.
We usually do Mexican. Meat in the crockpot and shred it, rice, beans, corn & flour tortillas, guacamole, salsa, chips, toppings and fruit.
I was thinking of trying chicken, veggies and quinoa this weekend for a gathering, but I'm drawing a blank at the flavor portion of it. What type of sauce would pull it all together?
If you do tacos, just be sure the meat seasoning for the taco meat is gluten free. A quick google will tell you which brands. A lot contain flour.
Also check that the seasoning is dairy free. I’ve been GF for years and we had to go dairy free for DS. Penzey’s are always our go to spices and I was surprised to see dairy in the regular taco seasoning. Their chicken taco seasoning is both gluten and dairy free.
We often have dinner with the neighbors and our DF/GF friend. Tacos are frequent (flour tortillas for most, corn for him - and we're all ultra-careful about not touching tortillas then the other food). We've done pot roast, potatoes, and roasted veggies several times. GF fried fish with grilled veggies and dairy free grits. Grilled chicken sandwiches, with our without cheese, with grilled veggies, chips, and GF or regular rolls depending on preference.
I've brought dairy free ice cream for dessert. We've done a few dairy free/gluten free pies (blueberry and cherry), or french macrons for dessert.
ETA: I make a homemade slaw that I love putting on tacos that's GF & DF if you want the recipe.
I did a taco bar last night to solve these issues as well!
Worked out really well. The only gluten option were flour tortillas but we also had hard corn shells and corn tortilla chips. The only dairy was sour cream and cheese, in their own dishes and easily avoidable.
We often have dinner with the neighbors and our DF/GF friend. Tacos are frequent (flour tortillas for most, corn for him - and we're all ultra-careful about not touching tortillas then the other food). We've done pot roast, potatoes, and roasted veggies several times. GF fried fish with grilled veggies and dairy free grits. Grilled chicken sandwiches, with our without cheese, with grilled veggies, chips, and GF or regular rolls depending on preference.
I've brought dairy free ice cream for dessert. We've done a few dairy free/gluten free pies (blueberry and cherry), or french macrons for dessert.
ETA: I make a homemade slaw that I love putting on tacos that's GF & DF if you want the recipe.
Post by sotally tober on Aug 22, 2019 8:27:57 GMT -5
We often do a taco bar in these situations because it's simple and accommodates all diets (our family has GF, DF and vegans as well as people who can eat anything). Ideally, the Costco Carne Asada and some chicken thighs marinated and then grilled...I've kept both warm in the crock pot for large parties, you may only need one meat option though. Friends had us over a few weeks ago and did chicken and fish on their taco bar, it was so good. She also did an arugula/corn salad.
When we've done these in the past, I get tons of extra lettuce so people can make a taco bowl if they want. We've also done fajita veggies, fire roasted corn (frozen from TJ's), beans and then the standard taco toppings.
We've also done pulled pork and provide GF buns (I have to eat GF), but I often just do the pulled pork and slaw together and eat it that way, without a bun.
For heavy apps you can do meatballs (though have to likely make them from scratch because I have yet to find frozen GF), salad, bacon wrapped dates, veggie platter, cheese tray, chips and dip.
The taco bar is a great idea; easy to prep ahead and who doesn’t like tacos! I make a black bean, corn quinoa salad that would go well and actually is better if it’s made ahead and refrigerates for a few hours. Just make the quinoa according to package, add in juice from a couple limes, avocado or olive oil, chopped cilantro and red onion, rinsed can of black beans, and some roasted corn (or frozen works). Really simple but it’s great for hot weather.
We often have dinner with the neighbors and our DF/GF friend. Tacos are frequent (flour tortillas for most, corn for him - and we're all ultra-careful about not touching tortillas then the other food). We've done pot roast, potatoes, and roasted veggies several times. GF fried fish with grilled veggies and dairy free grits. Grilled chicken sandwiches, with our without cheese, with grilled veggies, chips, and GF or regular rolls depending on preference.
I've brought dairy free ice cream for dessert. We've done a few dairy free/gluten free pies (blueberry and cherry), or french macrons for dessert.
ETA: I make a homemade slaw that I love putting on tacos that's GF & DF if you want the recipe.
YUM! I want the recipe, please!
Green Cabbage (1/2) Red Cabbage (1/4-1/2) Red onion Carrots (I buy preshredded #lazy, 1/2-1 bag) jalapenos (to taste, I usually use 2-4 in a batch cilantro (a bunch)
Quarter, core and shred cabbages. I use a mandolin if it's just for us, but if I'm cooking for a crowd ain't nobody got time for that, I just cut it fine with a knife. I use about half of the green cabbage, and 1/4-1/2 of the red, depending on what I'm feeling like. I've done it with just green cabbage before, too, when I didn't feel like buying both. Half the red onion then slice super fine with the mandolin. Dump all that with the cabbage. Mix in carrots. I'm lazy and buy them preshredded, but you could use that mandolin to do it yourself. Jalapenos are halved, seeded (because I hate pepper seeds, you can leave them in) then carefully shredded super thin on the mandolin, too. Cilantro gets rough chopped and tossed in with everything else.
Dressing: 4 cloves garlic 1/4 cup neutral oil 1/2 C lime juice (go fresh or go lazy and get bottled) Some honey to taste Salt pepper more cilantro if you have it cumin
Dump the garlic (feel free to use more if you want) with everything else but the oil into a blender. Blend until smooth. Slowly (very slowly) stream in the oil to make an emulsion. Dump over the veggies. Mix. Let it sit for a bit and that's all there is to it. I have no issues letting it sit out for awhile, since it's also egg/mayo free and the garlic and peppers help keep nasties at bay.
As an aside, make the veggie mix without cilantro or dressing, add some shredded ginger and green onions, and you have a great filling for egg rolls