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Original poster

Main course (lunch) for 20

54 replies

Lysianthus · 12/04/2023 15:28

Please could I have suggestions! It's for a lunch club for seniors, so I need to avoid curries/spice etc and I can't use onions.
I've exhausted the sausages, cottage pies and roast ham, so looking for ideas which I can prepare at home and which won't cost the earth. TIA.

OP posts:
bellac11 · 12/04/2023 19:47

NetZeroZealot · 12/04/2023 17:22

Don't see how the OP could make a stew or lasagne without using onions?

Just leave them out, you dont have to slavishly follow a recipe word for word

onitlikeacarbonnet · 12/04/2023 20:20

Toad in the hole, with gravy and buttered cabbage.
Gammon (or roast ham), egg (or pineapple) and chips.
Stovies (though be prepared for anyone who knows what it is to tell you you’ve made it wrong 😂)
Haggis, neeps and tatties.

berksandbeyond · 12/04/2023 20:23

onitlikeacarbonnet · 12/04/2023 20:20

Toad in the hole, with gravy and buttered cabbage.
Gammon (or roast ham), egg (or pineapple) and chips.
Stovies (though be prepared for anyone who knows what it is to tell you you’ve made it wrong 😂)
Haggis, neeps and tatties.

I came here to write stovies!
Things that used to go down well at a senior lunch club I knew of -
cottage pie
beef stew
macaroni cheese
sausage casserole
chicken casserole and dumplings
kedgeree
pasta bake
meatballs
fish pie

Belmondo · 12/04/2023 20:27

Some good ideas here. Do you have access to a big/industrial kitchen? Presumably it doesn't have to be done in a home one?

My only other suggestion is a non-onion-focused but filling pasta dish (e.g. fettuccine with smoked salmon/creme fraiche/peas), with some garlic bread and salad on the side. Might be too continental though 😳

Hopeful16 · 12/04/2023 20:48

Using ready made puff pastry you could make all sorts of pies - I know a traditional pie has sides but a pastry top can be nice and allow you to make a variety of fillings quite easily: chicken and veg (with either a creamy sauce or a gravy base), minced beef, steak and ale, steak and kidney...

Nothingtoseehereagain · 12/04/2023 20:53

Go very traditional - in my experience the lunch club crowd won't be up for spice as you covered off, but will also shy away from anything well seasoned, eg stroganoff or Spanish chicken.

I'd stick to meat and two veg, shepherds / cottage / fish pies and gravy-based casseroles. Basically, potatoes every time. Could you make toad in the hole work for that many people?

Tryingtokeepgoing · 12/04/2023 20:55

Lysianthus · 12/04/2023 15:28

Please could I have suggestions! It's for a lunch club for seniors, so I need to avoid curries/spice etc and I can't use onions.
I've exhausted the sausages, cottage pies and roast ham, so looking for ideas which I can prepare at home and which won't cost the earth. TIA.

Are you sure you need to avoid curries/spices for the ‘seniors’? Our village hall has a curry night once a month, and the average age of the attendees must be at least 78 😂

RideACockHorseToSunburyCross · 12/04/2023 21:02

How can you exhaust pies?

CatsAddictedToDreamies · 12/04/2023 21:05

I recently did a lasagne (well... 2 lasagnes) for 12. It worked really well and i made them over a few days popping them in the freezer as required.

Plus bought garlic bread and a super simple salad followed by ice cream with sprinkles and maraschino cherries. It went down very well (or at least that is what they said). But I had the time to make it beforehand.

QuickNameChangeForMeToday · 12/04/2023 21:10

Baked white fish in a parsley sauce, potatoes and veg.
Smoked haddock in a cheese sauce, mash and broccoli. (Although more expensive)
Roast chocken, baby potatoes and salad.
Cheese and tomato puff pastry tart with baby potatoes and salad.
Macaroni cheese and salad.
Homity pie.
Bolognaise pasta bake.

Whatthediddlyfeck · 12/04/2023 21:12

Tryingtokeepgoing · 12/04/2023 20:55

Are you sure you need to avoid curries/spices for the ‘seniors’? Our village hall has a curry night once a month, and the average age of the attendees must be at least 78 😂

Show quote history

I’m bemused, I used to take my dad to a lunch group-he was in his 80s, the rest were of a similar age and loads of them used to order curry, chilli, fajitas etc….old doesn’t have to equal bland….the worst thing for my poor dad when he had to live in a care home was the bland food-we used to take him in food parcels so he could get something with some flavour!

NetZeroZealot · 12/04/2023 21:17

You can't just leave out the onions from many of these classic meat-based dishes or they will be tasteless and horrid.

OP might be able to get away with substituting leeks. We don't know as she didn't say why no onions ...

RideACockHorseToSunburyCross · 12/04/2023 21:21

"You can't just leave out the onions from many of these classic meat-based dishes or they will be tasteless and horrid."

Calm down 😅

DancingWithTheMoonlitKnight · 12/04/2023 21:24

Won't somebody think of the onions 🧅

Lizzt2007 · 12/04/2023 21:33

NetZeroZealot · 12/04/2023 17:22

Don't see how the OP could make a stew or lasagne without using onions?

You just leave them out! It's not that hard 😂

Original poster
Lysianthus · 12/04/2023 23:54

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for your replies! I've been at work so just got back to this.
It's a club for partially sighted/blind folk who quite apart from their impairments have their own particular tastes so I have to cater to the vast majority.
As for the onion bit, in the past I've made dishes and made separate portions with no onion but tbh it's easier to have something without.
I don't have a commercial kitchen so would struggle to do lasagne for 20 in my oven. Much as I'd like to.
I know I should google but have no ideas what stovies are! If I'm honest, I really need to know how to cook within the limitations of a domestic kitchen and transporting to the venue. I do have a large thermobox which is capable of retaining high temperatures to EHO standards but I'm still limited to my own equipment and dishes etc.
So hopefully I've addressed any questions, and once agin I am so grateful for all the inspiration. Sausages are definitely off (over served recently) but with summer round the corner I'm looking forward to quiche and salad but judging by our weather today we may be a few months off that yet!
Thanks again all.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lysianthus · 12/04/2023 23:58

NetZeroZealot · 12/04/2023 17:31

NO ONIONS!!

Steady on! I know, it's a bore, but I guess might be a health trigger. Anyroad, I'm going to stick to the rules...

OP posts:
OMGitsnotgood · 13/04/2023 00:08

You can't just leave out the onions from many of these classic meat-based dishes or they will be tasteless and horrid.
My FIL couldn't eat onions or leeks, but only liked traditional foods like shepherds pie and stews. Filled me with dread that I would be serving up tasteless food but i increased the amount of herbs and spices (of the none 'hot' variety), and snuck in some garlic (he could tolerate it physically, always claimed he didn't like it but the odd clove went unnoticed) Worked well.

Jux · 13/04/2023 00:13

Chicken and leek pie
Pork and mushroom creamy stew
Even tuna pasta bake!!!!
Roast veg and quinoa
Lancashire hotpot

You can have endless combinations if you swap the carbs around, so instead of spuds use quinoa or cous cous or pasta or yorkshire puds or rice etc etc.

Findyourneutralspace · 13/04/2023 00:22

Hot pot, minus onions.
Corned beef hash, as above.
quiche and salad
chicken and leek pie with veg and mash/new potatoes

Coxspurplepippin · 13/04/2023 07:32

You should be fine doing things like lasagne for 20 in a domestic oven - large foil trays with lids - lasagne in a couple of these would serve 20 with say some salad, coleslaw and g/bread

foil trays

Full - GN1/1 Full Gastronorm Deep Aluminium Foil Containers Recyclable

https://www.catering24.co.uk/food-packaging-containers/full-gastronorm-deep-container.html

charliegirl86 · 13/04/2023 12:44

Corned beef hash!

AtleastitsnotMonday · 13/04/2023 14:08

With limitations of domestic catering facilities I'd think a casserole or at least some kind of dish that could be cooked in one big pot would probably be best. What do you have in terms of casserole/Pyrex dishes? Do you have a slow cooker? If so what capacity? Do you have anyone you could borrow things from.
I'm thinking a chicken, bacon and leek casserole with small jacket potato and peas. Jacket potatoes would be easy as they don't need prepping and can be cooked loose on the oven shelf. A big saucepan of peas that could be done on the hob or even a bowl in the microwave. The casserole could go in a slow cooker, pressure cooker, in the oven or on the hob.

MyAnacondaMight · 13/04/2023 18:24

If you’ve done cottage pie for 20 then I don’t see why you can’t do lasagne. I get 10 generous portions of lasagne from my biggest oven dish (fits in a 50cm oven). So a couple of big oven dishes or aluminium lasagne trays should easily do it.

You could even branch out from the traditional ragu and do creamy mushroom lasagne, or sausage meat with kale etc. Basically any of the fillings you’re serving with potatoes, but chopped finely and shoved between pasta sheets.