Meal Suggestions, LOTS OF RESTRICTIONS

Gulfcoastguy

On the fajitas, the gluten free people could use lettuce leaves to make wraps instead of flour tortillas. Or corn tortillas can be gluten free if there is no wheat flour in them.

westernbbq

I have converted vegetarians with egged pork shouldah.  Juat sayin'

caliking

Acn said:

caliking said:

I know this doesn't help much, but I'm with @fishlessman. I hope the vegans are considerate enough to think about your dietary desires when they are planning meals.

The salad idea sounds nice and easy. For soup options - gazpacho (great for summer), and a spicy (think Indian) cauliflower soup without dairy.

Really - you'd want vegans who hasn't cooked meat in however many years to cook you a pork chop?  That sounds like a thin bone in cutlet cooked to 175 to me.  I'd rather have a tasty tofu dish.

I would appreciate the effort made. Just asking for reciprocity. Its not like I'm the world's best vegan cook.

 By your reasoning, the best approach would be for folks to bring their own meals - easiest for all involved, and everyone gets what they like. 

Hi54putty

Taco bar 

fishlessman

Carolina Q said:

caliking said:

I know this doesn't help much, but I'm with @fishlessman. I hope the vegans are considerate enough to think about your dietary desires when they are planning meals.

Same here, though I wouldn't be surprised if they served a completely vegan menu just to try to make their point. After all, part of the reason they are vegans is because of how they feel about the treatment of animals, no? So why would they serve you veal - or perhaps worse, foie gras? Besides, I don't want a vegan cooking meat for me anyway.              

“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans ... are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit.” Bourdain  

i just want to see the effort put in, imagine going to a vegan party and they have to serve meat to everyone because 4 out of 30 were carnivores my sister was vegetarian for a while and would actually email her dinner in like it was a restaurant. the family ate the 12 dollar turkey and she was served a 20 dollar fish dinner she changed back but the attitudes the same, no smoked bird for tday, i do two now, one in the oven for her. =)lettuce takes me down, does everybody go out of their way to make lettuce the main ingredient in a salad, would it be rude for me to pick all the other ingredients out of the big bowl so i can have some veggies too

YEMTrey

I would do whole hog and a beef clod.  Then send the "Vegans" off to forage in the woods for their dinner.

chadpsualum

I'm in the taco/fajita camp.  It gives flexibility and allows the normal meat eating carnivores to have their meat and not suffer with tofu or other veggie meal.

You could also do a similar concept with sandwiches (getting the gluten free bread/buns for those folks).  If you did a pork shoulder and then grilled a couple of portobellos for the vegan folks.  Then make some onion straws and coleslaw and have all of your bases covered.

DoubleEgger

In all seriousness, Thug Kitchen is what you need to produce some wow factor for your food Nazi guests. 

Legume

This thread is so full of flawed logic, assumptions, bad stereotypes and entertaining anger.

Vegans, vegetarians, whatever have things they don't eat that omnivores do.  They just work from a smaller menu.  Expecting them to cook meat for omnivores as a form of reciprocity strikes me as silly - unless of course you're not an omnivore, you're a Ron Swanson that will only eat meat.  Do you really want a vegan cooking a steak for you?  But we all cook dishes that have no meat.  If I was a vegan, I would hope or expect to have options (eg every dish doesn't have meat) but I wouldn't expect people to go vegan for me.

I would be all in with the fajita/taco/taco bowl spread, let people make their own choices.  Pizza works well too, but not for 30 people.

dopey

Legume said:

This thread is so full of flawed logic, assumptions, bad stereotypes and entertaining anger.

Vegans, vegetarians, whatever have things they don't eat that omnivores do.  They just work from a smaller menu.

As far as a smaller menu, I find myself trying way more things when meat and dairy is off the table.  I will never go vegan, but cooking that way once and awhile definitely broadens the spectrum into veggies / herbs / soy / that I'd normally never try.  

One of those teaching experiences, even if it's not your style, something you never had might surprise you when you try it.

fishlessman

Legume said:

This thread is so full of flawed logic, assumptions, bad stereotypes and entertaining anger.

Vegans, vegetarians, whatever have things they don't eat that omnivores do.  They just work from a smaller menu.  Expecting them to cook meat for omnivores as a form of reciprocity strikes me as silly - unless of course you're not an omnivore, you're a Ron Swanson that will only eat meat.  Do you really want a vegan cooking a steak for you?  But we all cook dishes that have no meat.  If I was a vegan, I would hope or expect to have options (eg every dish doesn't have meat) but I wouldn't expect people to go vegan for me.

I would be all in with the fajita/taco/taco bowl spread, let people make their own choices.  Pizza works well too, but not for 30 people.

when my sister was vegetarian i used to have to sneak my own food into her house and eat it hidden in a closet, literally nothing to eat there taking out the dairy, gluten, and making it vegan for some the taco spread is back to a salad  and if i were there i cant eat lettuce, doctors orders. and you can not convince a vegetarian that you can not eat lettuce i have tried for years, so i pack my own food and hope not to get caught

fishlessman

Killit_and_Grillit said:

fishlessman said:

fruitguy said:

and we have 4 vegans

I would like to do just a large salad, but looking for some wow factor.

Thanks,
James

theres 30 people to feed so focus the meal around the 4 unhappy people with no diet restrictions when its the vegans turn to cook i hope they just cook meat   you could just make a salad and give every meat eater a tin foil ball to throw at the vegans

This. I would do a meal that people can put what they want on their plate. Fajitas give you a lot of flex. Black beans, flank steak, chicken, maybe some shrimp.  All the sides.  Some can skip the tortillas. No need to punish the masses. If they are still hungry tell them to go eat some bushes in the front yard. 

i had to eat something that looked like it was scraped off the bottom of a lawnmower once at a vegetarian wedding. ive had to spell check vegetarian every time ive typed it today

fishlessman

gdenby said:

To start with an amusing aside. My son is wed to a fairly strict vegetarian. They live in Portland, OR, where most restaurants are vegan and vegetarian friendly. To keep a balance, my son requires they dine at places that have at least 1 meat option.

Here's my suggestion. Having cooked for smaller numbers of finicky tastes, I went w. quesadillas. Kind of like pizza, just toss onto the tortilla what you want, w. some cheese to bind it all up. Takes just a few min. on the Egg for each persons combo to cook.

But vegans make things more problematic. They won't eat cheese. I won't eat erzatz cheese. Sorry, nutritional yeast sauce is not no way cheese.

Came across something that works in the middle. There's a mid-east blend called Za'atar. Toasted sesame seeds and  various herbs. There is a variant called dukha that adds pounded nuts. Swab a pita w. good olive oil, coat w. the herb mix, and toast. The oil does the binding that cheese would do. For those who want, diced meat like lamb, and cheese can be added.

You do have my sympathy. When I grew up, the rule was "be glad you have anything to eat."  While I still hate eating boiled cabbage, the sentiment remains true.

zatar  is probably my favorite spice. pitas, lamb kafka kabobs, tebouleh salad, hummas served with red onion shovels, grape leaves stuffed with meat and some with rice and traditional spices, falafel. i think that fits everone. that puts a salad center stage with real foods around it. would have to remove the bulgar wheat from the tebouleh

SmokeyPitt

I also really like the taco bar idea. If you want to include a meat I would do something like carnitas (pulled pork) or barbacoa (pulled beef). It is easy to cook a lot and keep warm.  Something like this:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1181812/mojo-smoked-pork-carnitas-tacos/p1

You could cook it ahead of time on the egg if you like and reheat.  

Gluten free corn tortillas are readily available.  Add in lots of veggie fixins (guac, beans,corn, cilantro, salsa, slaw, etc, etc) and there should be plenty of options for everyone. 

YEMTrey

I would think that if you are Vegan and attending an event with 30+ people that you would bring your own food instead of expecting 30 people to accommodate the 1.  Just my view on things.

gdenby

fishlessman said:

... would have to remove the bulgar wheat from the tebouleh

I forgot when I posted that the OP said there was also a gluten issue. I've made blinis a few times, hard to keep them from falling apart since they have no gluten. So, to make a joke. A buckwheat pita would indeed be a PITA.

When my son and DIL come for a visit, we tend to eat at mid-eastern restaurants. The no meat stuff is usually really good, and sometimes the meat kofta can be excellent.

Years ago, there was a small corner cafe, once a gasoline station, whose cook/owner was a Lebanese guy. It was my 1st experience w. baba ganoush and mujadara. Great stuff, and suited my very thin wallet. I asked him why there was only 1 meat dish on the menu. The explanation was simple, but surprising to me, a child of the "modern" world. He explained that when he grew up in the '50s, there was no refrigeration in his village. Any meat that was available would spoil within the day. Anything w. red meat was available only on Sunday. The only dish he ever knew was shwarma, sort of gyros meat, Lebanese style.