Help! Cooking for large group, with dietary needs!

[Tailfeather]

I'm cooking for 14 and want to prep in advance. 4 are gluten free, 1 is nut free, another is dairy free and 2 don't eat red meat (yes.....I know....!). For starters I'm going to do picky, sharing platters so there's something for everyone. Same for pudding. But I'm stuck on the main course. Ideally I'd like to make something we can all eat, but still something worthy of a dinner party, and something I can make in advance so I don't spend the whole evening in the kitchen.

I have spent the evening pouring through cookbooks, but am not inspired. Has anyone got any clever ideas? They would be gratefully received!!! Thank you. X

Baked potatoes with a range of fillings.

Red Thai prawn curry and rice.

A vegan sauce with rice should do it.

I regularly cook pulses in a tomato sauce with lots of veg and a good sprinkling of spices

• fry onions and garlic,
• add spices, let them fry for a bit,
• add tinned pulses and coat in the onions etc for a bit
• add tomato passato/diced tinned tomatoes and lots of veg stock
• add lots of veg, including spinach
• s+p

The longer it bubbles the better the taste. So easy to make and YUM. Everyone's happy.

I'd make a chicken and mushroom/bacon pie using jus-rol gluten free puff pastry with roast new potatoes and some sort of veg.

Or maybe a lasagne made with turkey mince with gf garlic bread and salad

risotto, paella, fish stew and rice or jacket potato, moules marnier with chips, a few roast chickens and veg or a side of salmon with salads.

Coq au vin or au Riesling. Serve with mash - you can use stock or a dairy alternative - or rice. You can use packs of thighs and drumsticks or joint chickens yourself.

Salmon - one big whole one or lots of fillets - baked in foil, served with lemon and dill sauce, potatoes or rice, vegetables.

A chicken casserole like this would work and reheat nicely. Just make sure you use GF stock. Maybe mix hot and sweet paprika in case it's too spicy for some tastes. Serve with rice.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1146638/spanish-chicken-stew

Turkey mince makes a nice chilli, so long as you don't get turkey breast mince. You can have cheese and/or soured cream on the side so it wouldn't be a problem for people who can't eat those things.

I would go for recipes that naturally avoid allergens because milk substitutes would spoil the taste for people who don't need to avoid dairy and GF pastry and pasta are just plain disappointing compared with the normal stuff. Rice and spuds are GF, anyhow.

My lovely sister in law hosted a large family get together and to cover all dietary requirements made a vegetable and chickpea tagine. She served it with either rice or cous with lovely thick bread and butter on the side. Even the fussier kids ate it!

my work canteen for halloween served individual stuffed pumpkins (those little patti pan ones)
vegan - filled with rice & bean.
then additional toppings: cheese, croutons, bacon bits, grilled chicken...

maybe something like that would work?
vegan base and toppings of your choice.

I'd go for curries..... deliciously ella has a great recipe for cauliflower and red lentil dahl using coconut milk; I'd make a chicken curry to go with it using cream and no nuts of any kind. Just make sure you add lots of spices so it has a good depth of flavour.

Then serve with rice, and a massive salad. Make the day before and it will taste amazing.

don't want to make salad day before, though, won't be fresh.

Chips? :)

If not curry, you could adapt your starter to be the main, eg Turkish/greek/ME style with chicken shawarma, rice, lovely ottolenghi ish salads. On a different thread, someone suggested coconut panacotta which may be good. Could just do olives, (gf, df) dips etc for picking before main.

@Span1elsRock - I have looked up that Deliciously Ella recipe and it looks gorgeous - I will definitely be making it - thanks!

Thanks all. I think I'll do a casserole. I would never have thought that stock wasn't gluten free! 🙈 Terrified I'm going to make someone ill!