Light, cold lunch for sort of work thing

[SpaceOP]

I have a couple of colleagues coming over for an informal work meeting next week. I've said I'll provide lunch. It needs to be something made in advance, and definitely cold as I'm not sure when we'll eat. I'm thinking some kind of salad and quiche perhaps? does this sound okay?

Salad, quiche. Coleslaw and potato salad would be lovely.

I did this once and did jacket potatoes with cheese beans and/or tuna with salad.
took ~10 minutes to sort out but satisfying and easy.

but for something cold I’d probably expect sandwiches or wraps to be honest.

I think a ploughman's lunch is due a come back. Just put out bread, cheese, ham, some salad, pickles and let people pick what they want.

Salad and quiche is a great idea.

I would do a few simple sandwiches as well.

Spanokopita with salad if you're feeling ambitious

Depends on the people

Yoofs IME aren’t big quiche fans and salad with grains might go down better. I’d do a fancy salad (can prep ahead and combine with dressing at last minute) and perhaps a loaf of sourdough/focaccia with ex voo and good syrupy balsamic to dip it in. Maybe some Serrano ham on the side.

Some berries for after, perhaps with some cut up Eat Natural bars or similar.

Chicken Caesar salad, quick and easy.

Cook the night before and serve at room temperature, selection of Mediterranean vegetables stuffed with rice/onion/tomato mixture. Add some bread to mop up the juices. Looks colourful and summery and not expensive to make.

Mixed vegetable couscous served with feta. A very economical dish.

A selection of Greek dips and spreads with some nice flavoured flatbreads. Easy and quick.

I assume you've checked for dietary preferences, allergens, intolerances, loathed foods and so on.

I'd be inclined to go for soup, nice bread, cheese and fruit. Or a mixed plate of sandwiches - egg and cress, tuna and cucumber, hummus/falafel/salad, ham and mustard, cheese and chutney, or make the cheese sandwiches immediately before eating and add sliced tomato. I wouldn't make tomato sandwiches in advance as the bread goes soggy. Bowl of crisps, nice plate of fruit, job done.

I was wondering about that. No dietary issues but quiche can be a bit marmite. I do a couple.of very good, more substantial salads with chicken/fish/steak so perhaps that is the better choice with really lovely bread/ciabatta.

LOVE salad and quiche, perfect. Potato salad, coleslaw, maybe some tuna and sweetcorn pasta salad if you have time to whip that up. Yummy

I agree! M&S do a decent mushroom pate for those who don't like cheese or ham. I think you need a fresh baguette or similar though?

Hi, OP -

I adore a lunch of quiche and salad but I agree it is a Marmite one. I think your more substantial salads, which also sound delicious, are safer options - one of them, that is.

I am going with a thai-inspired noodle and beef salad. Looks very pretty, is easily made in advance, I know that my colleagues eat thai food and while it's a bit of a faff to make, I don't have to whip out multiple sides to go alongside. I'm going to have some prawn crackers and sweet chilli dip hanging about as well.

Dessert will just probalby be one of those M&S packages of mini chocolate rolls/brownies etc unless I get a rush of blood to the head in which case I'll bake banana bread.

I would just make sure there is plenty to go with your noodle salad on the side, so that everyone has a substantial enough meal, including if they don't especially fancy the main (I know you said they likely will). In my team, not having enough food at work lunches is the main issue. We have one person who is vegan (not an issue, but lettuce in a wrap is sufficient for her for lunch) and one person who is always on a diet and a competitive undereater, so she is always just having a polo and a tea for lunch. So our work lunches when someone else procures them are very thin on the ground.

Last time it was one packet of falafel (like 8 falafel), 1 wrap each and a bag of baby spinach between 4 people. It really wasn't enough food to sustain us through a 6 hour meeting, even when competitive under eater refused to eat any of it, meaning the 3 of us managed to nab 3 falafel each. 😒I was hungry! Always better to have leftovers that you can eat the next day.

Haha, I hear you - we all like food so it will be generous and there'll be a big pile of prawn crackers alongside as well. When in the office we often get those big make your own salads so I think this is in line with what we'd eat normally. But I totally agree - there'll be no tiny little portions of a lettuce leaf and two slices of thinly cut steak over here!

This does remind me though of years and years ago in my early20s. Money was tight so the constant lunch purchases were an issue so a male colleague and I decided to share packed lunches. It was brilliant because we only had to do lunch every second day, and we had similar appetites. There were no little crustless single slice of bread smoked salmon sandwiches there! We brought in doorstoppers and pasta salads and leftover curries!