Help - dinner party with the most complex set of dietary requirements ever.

[Suli]

Thought I was cooking for one family tonight. Had invited another family but they were originally going away for the weekend, but now staying around and want to come over after all.

So I have 6 adults and 4 kids for an informal dinner party with the following requirements:

1 adult and 1 child are vegetarian
1 adult is pescatarian (i.e. will eat fish, but no meat), but doesn't like melted cheese
1 adult can't eat dairy but can eat cheese apparently
DH doesn't like vegetables much, but loves meat and melted cheese. (But he'll have to suck it up!)
DS is a fussy little bugger but will fill up on carbs.
DD and I and adult number 6 will eat most things.

I thought I'd do antipasti type things for starters - bruschetta perhaps, some homemade pesto, olives, etc.

Veggie mum is bringing a pudding.

Originally I was planning a braised beef and mushroom dish for the main course before I heard the vegetarians were coming.

Any ideas for a main course?

Go out.

What about a curry? Make enough sauce and do one with lentils or butternut squash and one with a firm white fish. Serve with rice, fairly easy.

I'm a regular on a namechange by the way. Suspect one of the mums is on MN and don't want to be outed by menu details!

How about a chunky veg lasagne? Or you could make a chilli with quorn mince. Or do either of these but a meaty version and a veggy version.

Other option is to serve something like fajitas where everyone helps themselves and you could do one dish with chicken & veg filling and another with a veggy one.

And next time make sure you invite 'easier' guests....

Yes curry is a possibility, mmm.

Also wondered whether to stick with the braised steak and do a mushroom stroganoff alternative.

Is it rude to have meat at the table (which might have quite a pungent aroma) when there are non meat eaters present?

How about something where there are many many different things all in bowls, and people can help themselves to the combination that they like.

Curry maybe, or fajita-ish wraps (with lots of different fillings) or something like that.

Also 'not liking' something is not a dietary requirement. And would kind of make me more likely to serve it but I am evil

I did veg lasagna last time for the vegetarians! The veggies were saying last time that they don't like meat substitutes like quorn (sorry forgot to mention that!)

I like the fajita idea.

Lol at Dawn. Well yes, I did say DH would have to suck it up!

I'd be tempted to do some kind of meal which people can take which bits they want from, kind of like a hot buffet type thing.
I wouldn't have meat with vegetarians there, but I'd probably have fish. Although not a stinky fish (i.e. oily one) unless it's cold, like cold steamed salmon. But I would also ask the vegetarians if they could stand other people eating it in the same room, which they'd have to in a restaurant anyway.

Melted cheese isn't a statutory requirement of most diets - your DH can suck it up

And stroganoff usually has cream in it, which your non-dairy person won't be able to have.

(and the reason the dairy-intolerant person can eat cheese is because they are probably lactose-intolerant and there is hardly any lactose in cheese - it mostly all disappears in the cheese-making process)

Thanks for that explanation Thumbwitch. I was wondering.

Def think you could serve meat on the same table as veggie food. I find chick peas pretty offensive but wouldn't get much support in suggesting the shouldn't be provided for those with different tastes to me.

I'd support you in that, tentative. Can't stand the things.

No problem, Suli :)

Oh Lordy, I'd be ordering in a takeaway.

Sorry, no help am I.

Tempting isn't it, MissBerta?

Jamie's Aubergine parmigiana?

I would do a large vegan tagine (have a good recipe if you like?) with a roast lump of lamb and couscous. Bread and Salad if you like too.

1 adult and 1 child are vegetarian - can eat tagine and couscous
1 adult is pescatarian (i.e. will eat fish, but no meat), but doesn't like melted cheese - can eat tagine and couscous
1 adult can't eat dairy but can eat cheese apparently - Can eat everything
DH doesn't like vegetables much, but loves meat and melted cheese. (But he'll have to suck it up!) - Can eat lamb and couscous
DS is a fussy little bugger but will fill up on carbs. - Couscous and a bit of lamb and carrot from the tagine
DD and I and adult number 6 will eat most things. - Sorted.

Sorry - vegan tagine would be root veggies - carrot, squash, yam, parsnip, onion, prune etc

Lentil and vegetable soup! You could serve garlic bread and cheesy garlic bread alongside. :)

That covers all bases Silent!

Got to go out for a bit - will be back later. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Tragically your nightmare dinner scenario is pretty much our daily family situation. God I hate cooking for us all every day!

Thai curry - no dairy as coconut milk is used. make one veggie and one chicken - job done!

I've done this Veggie tagine before (similar requirements!) and it went down v well. Would be easy to slow roast some lamb to serve alongside it. I also had a big dish of hoummous drizzled in EV Olive Oil and some flatbreads.

I do tacos (I am in california) for a dinner like that. You can buy the hard shells in a box (they definitely sell them in england - foreign food section in tesco). Then you put at the table in separate bowls, the seasoned meat (I do mine from scratch but you can get the seasoning in the box with the tacos), chopped tomatoes, chopped lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream and salsa. Everyone makes up their own tacos and puts what they want in it. Count on each person eating 3 or 4 tacos. It's not sophisticated, but everyone loves it....especially the kids.

That Jamie Oliver dish is yummy btw, best with the optional melty mozzarella though.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Am going Mexican in the end.

Hot bean dip and garlic prawns for starter.

Veg fajitas and Delia's cheesy enchiladas for mains. with side salad, guacamole and salsa and stuff.

Nearly went for the tagine, but not that fussed about Moroccan myself (although will happily eat it). Here's hoping they all like Mexican!