Gluten free, easily transportable, delicious
February 28, 2018 10:21 AM Subscribe
I have to feed dinner to a party of 10 people at a location that is not my house. The food should be ready to eat when it arrives, and it must be gluten free, seafood-free, and very delicious. What should I make?
This is a casual event and the crowd will only be expecting one dish (no side dishes required), so that dish needs to be hearty enough to serve as a complete meal. I’d like to bring one big pot or dish of food instead of a bunch of small components that require assembly when I arrive at my destination.
I have about a 25 minute drive from my house to the destination, and I don’t have a ton of time to prepare the meal beforehand so would prefer something that is not too labor intensive. I will have an oven available at my destination but prefer to have most or all of the cooking done before I arrive.
Allergies in the group are gluten and seafood. This is an occasion to eat somewhat decadent food, and anything appearing too “healthy” (like a salad) will be roundly mocked.
At a past event I brought a huge pan of cheesy chicken enchiladas in corn tortillas and that worked great and went over very well. What should I make next?
This is a casual event and the crowd will only be expecting one dish (no side dishes required), so that dish needs to be hearty enough to serve as a complete meal. I’d like to bring one big pot or dish of food instead of a bunch of small components that require assembly when I arrive at my destination.
I have about a 25 minute drive from my house to the destination, and I don’t have a ton of time to prepare the meal beforehand so would prefer something that is not too labor intensive. I will have an oven available at my destination but prefer to have most or all of the cooking done before I arrive.
Allergies in the group are gluten and seafood. This is an occasion to eat somewhat decadent food, and anything appearing too “healthy” (like a salad) will be roundly mocked.
At a past event I brought a huge pan of cheesy chicken enchiladas in corn tortillas and that worked great and went over very well. What should I make next?
This dish is awesome if you don't mind going kinda Mexican again. Recipe here serves 8 but I think it'd be easy enough to make a bigger amount if you have a bigger pan--throw in more beans and chips and cheese.
posted by dlugoczaj at 10:34 AM on February 28, 2018
posted by dlugoczaj at 10:34 AM on February 28, 2018
Some kind of biryani or similar rice dish would be great.
posted by mskyle at 10:50 AM on February 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by mskyle at 10:50 AM on February 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
A hearty beef stew or potroast in a Dutch oven would transport well and still be piping hot, as long as you have a reasonable way to keep it stable in your car.
posted by Candleman at 10:55 AM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Candleman at 10:55 AM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I had to do this exact thing recently and I made an enormous batch of Plov.
That's a frickin delicious vegetarian version, but you guys sound like carnivores so could do the traditional meaty version. It's oily, luxurious, and a bit different.
posted by greenish at 10:59 AM on February 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
That's a frickin delicious vegetarian version, but you guys sound like carnivores so could do the traditional meaty version. It's oily, luxurious, and a bit different.
posted by greenish at 10:59 AM on February 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Chili would also be something that would work well for this.
posted by mmascolino at 11:20 AM on February 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by mmascolino at 11:20 AM on February 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: What about a rich potato leek soup in a crock pot / instant pot? That plus a loaf or two of crusty bread (would need a gf bread too) and a bag of shredded cheese would be pretty awesome.
posted by machinecraig at 11:25 AM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by machinecraig at 11:25 AM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Eggplant parmesan with gluten free breadcrumbs. Or lasagna with GF noodles.
posted by hydra77 at 11:27 AM on February 28, 2018
posted by hydra77 at 11:27 AM on February 28, 2018
Rice noodles are gluten-free, taste just as good as regular noodles, and are pretty easy to find in most grocery stores that have an Asian section (though sometimes they're in the gluten free section too). Tinkyada is my favorite brand and the one I most reliably see at the most stores. Often I find trying to make a dish that naturally has a lot of gluten with gluten-free substitutes works... okay, but not great. This is not the case with rice noodles. They're great.
With gluten free noodles you can then make any of your favorite pasta dishes! I personally favor a basil pesto dish. I usually use shrimp but chicken would be an easy substitute, such as in this recipe. For the long drive, I would suggest cooking the pasta to al dente, combine it with the sauce, drive, and when you get there pop it in a pot to cook the whole thing together for another couple minutes to heat it up again + finish cooking the noodles. That said if you have a container with good enough insulation you probably could keep it warm all the way there without that extra step.
Oh, also remember to check to see if the instructions say to rinse after cooking. Some rice noodles get super sticky if you don't do this (such as Tinkyada).
posted by brook horse at 11:30 AM on February 28, 2018
With gluten free noodles you can then make any of your favorite pasta dishes! I personally favor a basil pesto dish. I usually use shrimp but chicken would be an easy substitute, such as in this recipe. For the long drive, I would suggest cooking the pasta to al dente, combine it with the sauce, drive, and when you get there pop it in a pot to cook the whole thing together for another couple minutes to heat it up again + finish cooking the noodles. That said if you have a container with good enough insulation you probably could keep it warm all the way there without that extra step.
Oh, also remember to check to see if the instructions say to rinse after cooking. Some rice noodles get super sticky if you don't do this (such as Tinkyada).
posted by brook horse at 11:30 AM on February 28, 2018
Best answer: Mushroom risotto. Make it with at least three different kinds of mushrooms (I recommend shitake especially), a healthy glug of white wine after you've toasted the rice in the butter but before you add any stock, and for extra super luxury, add some cream at the end as well as good parmesan, grana padano if you can. Hit me up if you want the recipe.
posted by Athanassiel at 11:52 AM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Athanassiel at 11:52 AM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Shepherds pie, Meat loaf, Chicken Gumbo, Spaghetti Squash with meat balls & marinara sauce, Fried chicken & coleslaw, Baked ham & cauliflower au gratin, Chicken curry over rice, Zoodle lasagna (zucchini strips instead of noodles), Whole baked salmon, Cabbage roll casserole (use lots of cheddar), Filipino Chicken pancit (rice noodles) with veggies (cabbage, carrots etc), Beef bacon potatoe casserole (season the heck out of it with your fave spices & use lots of cheese)
posted by IpsoFacto at 12:33 PM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by IpsoFacto at 12:33 PM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I used to host the annual Book Group dinner. Things people liked that can be prepped ahead:
- Boeuf Bourguignon, roasted potatoes
- Chicken curry with tomatoes, spinach and cauliflower
- Rice noodles with peanut sauce, topped with grilled, sliced beef (cold or hot)
- When I make Shepherd's Pie, I put a bunch of chili powder and some salt in the beef, and a little (rice) flour* to make it gravy-ish, corn in the middle, add pepper jack cheese to the mashed potatoes.
- Oven-fried chicken, tons of roasted veg - white & sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, butternut squash, onion.
- Chicken Marbella is a classic. I use apricots instead of prunes.
* you can use a taco seasoning mix
posted by theora55 at 1:06 PM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
- Boeuf Bourguignon, roasted potatoes
- Chicken curry with tomatoes, spinach and cauliflower
- Rice noodles with peanut sauce, topped with grilled, sliced beef (cold or hot)
- When I make Shepherd's Pie, I put a bunch of chili powder and some salt in the beef, and a little (rice) flour* to make it gravy-ish, corn in the middle, add pepper jack cheese to the mashed potatoes.
- Oven-fried chicken, tons of roasted veg - white & sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, butternut squash, onion.
- Chicken Marbella is a classic. I use apricots instead of prunes.
* you can use a taco seasoning mix
posted by theora55 at 1:06 PM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: (A catering trick I learned years ago): To keep things hot while transporting, bake several potatoes in the oven and time it so that they are mostly done when you are ready to pack up the other food. Put the potatoes in the bottom of a cooler, cover with a towel to keep things from sliding around and put your dish on top. Pack towels or whatever else you need around it to keep things stable and drive! The potatoes heat up the cooler, which is insulated to keep the heat in. Plus...baked potatoes for the next day (or that night...whatever!).
posted by MultiFaceted at 1:20 PM on February 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by MultiFaceted at 1:20 PM on February 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
« Older Quiet place in DTLA between 10-12 on a Friday... | Older, Slower, Colder, More Lonely Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by HeyAllie at 10:25 AM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]