Making an easy home-cooked meal for friends and family can be challenging with food sensitivities.
Post by Kimberly Shaw.
When my daughters are all home for a visit we have a mixture of food sensitivities, allergies and other special considerations. If you add my mother and mother-in-law to the mix, we have even more foods to avoid. It is an adventure to plan a meal that is fairly easy to make and yet enjoyable for all.
I generally go for a themed build-your-own meal, two of my favorite being Southwestern and Italian. Then I set up a yummy buffet and people can pick items what works for them. I try and have options for vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
Southwestern Feast
“Build your own soft taco or taco salad”
Buffet items (organic, if possible):
Tortillas (organic wheat, organic corn and/or organic brown rice)
Mixed green salad
Diced tomatoes
Sliced avocados and/or guacamole
Sliced olives
Sliced or shredded carrots or other vegetables
Cooked brown rice or Mexican style rice
Salsa (can make fruit salsa, if you cannot have tomatoes)
Cheese (cow, goat, soy, and/or rice)
Sour cream or yogurt (milk or soy)
Cilantro
Unseasoned cooked ground beef, ground turkey, shredded chicken and/or tofu
Black beans
Pinto beans
Italian
“Build your own pasta”
Pasta (organic wheat and/or a gluten-free pasta)
Steamed shredded organic zucchini – to use as “pasta” for those who cannot have any type pasta
Sauces – Pesto *, buy or make a tomato based sauce with or without added meat, and/or an Alfredo sauce. *Omit nuts or cheese, if allergic. I just make one with olive oil, basil and garlic.
Serve with steamed vegetables and/or a salad.
If you enjoyed this post, you might like these related stories:
