Help with food ideas for plain eater

[Mawi]

My DS and his gf are coming to visit for a few days. This will be our first time meeting her and we want her to feel welcome. DS says she is a very plain eater, so I was thinking of doing a roast chicken dinner for the day they arrive and after that I am at a loss.

I have a plain eater here myself and if I was making the rest of us a curry, I would make her goujons/dippers but I don't want to do that for an adult. So can anyone please recommend any ideas for any and all meals for a few days.

'Plain' is a bit vague.

Macaroni cheese with some nice salad and garlic bread.
Fish pie.
Omelette.
Jacket potato.

What do you mean as a plain eater? Will she not eat anything that isn’t beige?
You could just continue to provide a meat and two veg option but to be honest I’d just cook something interesting and hope she will try something.
She’s a visitor and could probably try something out of her comfort zone unless she has an eating disorder or allergies.

My interpretation of a plain water wouldn't manage a fish pie or an omelette.

Jacket potatoes and toppings in the middle? So she can have it plain if wanted but could add beans, cheese, tuna etc

Toad in the hole using plain pork sausages? Weirdly cheaper ones go down well in my experience as they have fewer herbs or bits in!

Crusty rolls, bowl of crisps, salad, hummus and breadsticks, a chicken?

I'd go for meals where you all help yourself to limit her feeling overwhelmed or obligated. I went through an incredibly fussy plain food phase following years of an eating disorder and meals with DH family filled me with panic as they'd do chicken in sauce, dauphinois potatoes, lots of food all touching like stews or casseroles etc and it would really make me feel nervous and sick. One day they did a buffet lunch type thing and I cried in the bathroom over how relieved I was!!

You have to ask her straight out.

I think the best idea is to ask her directly (via your DS), as "plain eater" is open to far too much interpretation.

Plain eaters I know wouldn't eat fish pie....
If she eats fish...simple salmon with rice and veg to help herself to ?
Egg n chips ?
Veg soups with yummy posh sourdough ?
Salad and jacket ...with ham or tuna if she likes that ?
Spaghetti Bolognese....basic recipe so not too much garlic etc

Thanks for the ideas. He means mainly white stuff, pasta, rice, chicken, potatoes, no sauce, nothing touching anything wet. I have never eaten like that, I love gravy and sauce etc and I am afraid my idea of plain might be very different than hers, but I think the buffet idea is perfect as then everyone can eat what they want without any obligation.

I don't want to ask her what she wants as I don't want her to think she is putting me to any bother.

Cottage pie? Old-fashioned beef casserole and mashed potatoes? Homemade vegetable soup and crusty bread?

I’d go with the buffet idea but to be honest she sounds like an absolute nightmare for a food loving family. Is she a stayer?

Chip shop fish and chips? I agree she sounds a nightmare!

He means mainly white stuff, pasta, rice, chicken, potatoes, no sauce, nothing touching anything wet

Jesus Christ - I'd be hoping this relationship fizzles out quickly .

I can't say if she is a stayer or not as they are young, he is only 22 but I have being with dh since we were teenagers so I can't say that they are too young and she is the first gf we have ever being introduced to so he must like her, a lot.

I find with most fussy eaters that when they leave home and do not have the luxury of parents pandering to their fussiness they start to become more adventurous but I also know a gran who still only eats beige food.

I'm a bit of a fussy eater and don't like strong flavours so a few suggestions are:
Chicken wraps and have an assortment of fillings so she can pick which fillings she wants.
Homemade pizza and ask which toppings she'd like.
Pasta with a plain smooth tomato sauce, no onions or chunks of veg.

I’ve just realised I’m a plain eater

I love all foods, and am not fussy as such. But my ideal meal is meat, veg, potato. If and when I have sauce I have to either dip or put it on as I eat it because I don’t like sauces touching the rest of my food. Unless it’s peppercorn sauce on steak then I can just about manage it only on my steak.

Your best bet is meals like paprika chicken breast, maybe even stuffed if she’s not a fussy eater, with either boiled, new or mash potato, with broccoli and sugar snap peas/baby corn/green beans.

Meat. Veg. Potato. On a plate but not mixed together.

Fish doesn't go down well with plain eaters.

Stay away from:
Curry
Chili
Tagines
Fish of any kind
Stuff that's all mixed together so she can't separate out what she likes.

The best thing you can do is ask your DS what he knows she eats. Resist the temptation to tart it up into something more sophisticated and palatable, at least till you know her better!