What do you want for a buffet lunch?

[scissorsandsellotape]

Getting ideas
Have some chicken breasts but no idea how to prepare them (ideally in advance)
Alongside salads

Depends on whether it's stand up or do guests get to sit down at a table with knives & forks!

For example, platters of cold meat and leafy salads etc are no good if there's nowhere to sit and cut up food.

New potatoes and lovely bread (carb queen). Coleslaw.

Salmon or veggie quiche/pastry like samosa. Leafy or mixed salad. Coleslaw, potato, cold flavoured pasta or cousous. Crispy nibbles. If you're looking at something sweet, strawberries or traybake bites.

I would chop your chicken breast and marinate in natural yoghurt then cook in the oven. Nice either hot or cold.
I like buffets that aren't beige!
Selection of crudités and dips.
A green salad
Tomato, mozzarella and basil salad with plenty of balsamic vinegar.
Apple coleslaw
A Moroccan chickpea and roasted veg cous cous salad with pomegranate seeds
Fresh bread with real butter.

To go with sliced roast chicken breasts:

Something creamy (potato salad/coleslaw/hummus)

Something fresh (cucumber salad/tomatoes)

Something grainy (tabbouleh/cous cous)

Something sharp & pickled (olives/onions/gherkins/beetroot)

Fresh bread & butter.

Placemarking!

I'd butterfly the chicken and marinade it in olive oil with lemon paprika and garlic and then griddle fry it. Pop them all in a warmed dish with some herbs.

I'd set out some salads - maybe Caesar salad, and a Greek salad, or a bacon, spinach, garlic and balsamic salad.

I'd also and do some roast vegetables and couscous with feta and with sauce (olive oil, tomato purée, lemon, cumin and cayenne).

Crusty bread, cheese, meats.

Olives, hummus, sundries tomatoes, cheese, onions, cucumber, crackers yum!

I think you need a carb option alongside the chicken and salad, so maybe new potatoes; chips; wedges or some nice bread

I’d turn the chicken breasts into coronation chicken, and have wedges of baguettes and lettuce to assemble into sandwiches.

m then I’d have other salads - a carrot and raisin salad, a cous cous salad, a potato or pasta salad and great big mixed salad with beetroot and tomatoes and cucumber and assorted leaves.

I’d have some nice crisps, some salad dressings or dips, and possibly hard boiled eggs and slices of mushroom pate for those who can’t eat the chicken.

if I needed more, then plates of crudités, a selection of cheeses, possibly sone quiche or pork pies.

then I’d have lots of different summer fruits, slices of melon, fresh strawberries, other berries, grapes, and whatever else like that. I’d have some very small slices of chocolate cake, cheesecake, shortbread biscuits and maybe something brandy snappy. Fresh cream, Greek yoghurt, and some runny honey. potentially some good vanilla ice cream and sorbet if I could serve it sensibly.

I made coronation chicken using the Guardian recipe (but poached chicken breasts rather than a whole chicken) for a jubilee party and it went down an absolute storm. Plus it was recommended to prepare the day before which is a bonus

Lots of vegetables, salad, olives, cured meats and fresh fruit - all kept completely separate from the gluten and dairy so there's no cross contamination.

I've spent too many lunches sat watching other people trough the beige and not being able to even have a wilted lettuce leaf and two cherry tomatoes because somebody's thought it would look pretty to plonk the quiche and sausage rolls on the same platter.