Dinner for a group

[Retrograde]

My gaming group gets together at unpredictable times to play various games and have dinner. There are three couples who take turns making dinner for six. We usually make chili, but I'm looking to expand. Any suggestions given the following parameters:
-must be portable: the bulk has to be made here and then transported in one vessel, which means stews are ok
-should require a minimum of on-site prep other than reheating (so pasta bolognese is out)
-there are some odd dietary restrictions: one person has sodium restrictions, one won't eat anything beginning with an "a" (anchovies, asparagus, avocados, artichokes, etc.), another avoids eggs

Any suggestions?

[justaprogressive]

1. Chicken Spaghetti

https://thrivinghomeblog.com/chicken-spaghetti/

[SheltieLover]

2. Beef spaghetti

Easy, relatively quick & cheap to make a huge potful.

[Retrograde]

4. Except spaghetti doesn't travel well

I need something that can be made in one place, and then transported to another. Dishes that require boiling don't fit the requirement - if I could do this at home it would be fine, but it won't travel (we've tried)

[SheltieLover]

5. I'd make it at home & put in sealed container for txport

[buzzycrumbhunger]

13. Couldn't you precook the pasta?

I get these big WW udon that are precooked in packets from TJ’s and just dump them in a bowl and sauce and heat them for work lunches. Seems to me you could take a crock pot of sauce and that would heat up pasta as you serve in the same way. I’d also make some big, soft breadsticks for dipping in the extra sauce (I *always* have too much), and a nice salad to go with.

[irisblue]

3. Mac & Swiss Cheese casserole with cubed low sodium ham chunks & broccoli

I do not cook w/low sodium cheese so cannot recommend low sodium cheddar.

[CANADIANBEAVER69]

6. Pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw

and baked beans. You could use 2 slow cookers for the beans and pork and a big Tupperware bowl of coleslaw.

[CANADIANBEAVER69]

7. Cabbage rolls and baked sausage.

You can make lazy cabbage rolls in slow cooker and cut up the sausage and cook it with/without some type of sauce of your choice.

[slightlv]

8. I turned Tuscan chicken into a caserrole.

Other than heating it up, it would require minimal to no preps on-site, and it is so good, my grandson nearly eats the whole thing by himself! (LOL) I don't think it has an "a" words in it, but it does incorporate young spinach leaves.

Also Pasta Alla Ariabotta would be good, as long as you forgo the tube pasta like rigatoni, and use a thicker form of pasta. I like to use Cellentani when I'm going to be taking this to one of our group's functions. I undercook the pasta just a little, and the thickness of the corkscrew pasta means it doesn't turn to mush when reheated. Also, the sauce is one of the very few I've found or made that actually sticks to the pasta, rather than running off it.

BTW... both of these dishes are on the menu for suppers this week at our house.

[slightlv]

9. I just have to comment on the person who won't eat anything that starts with an "A"

I'd love to know the whole story behind that! I'll bet its a good one!

My sister LOVED my Dad's potato salad. The closest you can come to it today is the Deviled Egg potato salad. It was sooo good, and my Dad an excellent cook. My sis would eat mounds of it when he made it. Then one day she "discovered" it was made with potatoes, and she never ate it again. I lived through that one, and I STILL can't understand it! (LOL)

[kozar]

10. Fried tacos

Filling, ground beef, diced tomatoes, cumin, a touch of taco seasoning.
Rest of prep is a quick deep fry of a burrito wrap and then go to group,
Chop up lettuce, maters, grate some cheese, and put all the food on the counter.
Guests, assemble their own tacos as they please
Clean up, is a breeze, once the filling and chopping is done.
I've made this for 60 folks at the campground , and they paid 5 bucks for each taco. It was a fund raiser.
Basically, the prep work is same as chili, then, the guests, do the rest of your work.

[Warpy]

11. This sounds like an informal pot luck

so if you can't cook, beanie weenie would probably be well received and requires opening a few cans of pork and beans, cutting up and mixing in some hot dogs, and heating it all up. Nobody will complain.

If you can cook a little, lasagna is your friend. It's mostly an assembly job . Pro tip: use hot Italian sausage for part or all of the meat in it, the heat will be tempered by the ricotta cheese and the fennel will come through, making people wonder what magical ingredient you put into it.

If you cook a lot, and especially if you can make your own pie crust, consider a baking dish sized chicken pot pie. If you can't do pie crust, buy a bux of Bisquick, mis it up for drop biscuits, and drop it onto the surface of the filling. It works, and again, nobody will complain. Season the Bisquick before you add liquid with freshly grouund black pepper and finely minced parsley and drop the mixture in small spoonfuls for something that's a cross between a seasoned dumpling and a biscuit. Any extra pot pie filling can be served with rice or over toast or however you like it.


Then there's the total copout, call for pizza to be delivered. Again, nobody will complain although you might get a few pitying looks.

[Emile]

12. Hobo skillet.

[Marthe48]

14. Is that like chili mac?

I make something called macaroni creole (what my Mom called it) Elbow macaroni with a meaty chili sauce. We always had it bowls, but it wasn't soupy.

[Emile]

17. Hamburger, sliced potatoes, carrots, onion,

corn, and whatever you think might taste good. Cook it all together and then melt shredded cheese all over the top and it's ready to eat. We use to put all the ingredients in aluminum foil and put in hot coals when we camped out.

https://www.tiktok.com/@ssarrington/video/7502963762685578542

[Marthe48]

18. Thanks!

We called it hamburger stew Also, we used to make aluminum packs of potatoes, corn, green beans and onion to cook on the fire, had burgers or something along with it. We all liked it.

[chowmama]

15. My favorite do-ahead for a large group of meat-eaters.

From Bon Appetit a few decades ago. The ingredients are long, but mostly just go in the blender (except the beer). You don't even have to brown the meat. It's sort of a spicy shredded bbq beef, although I've also served the meat in large chunks at home, with cornbread and coleslaw.

JALAPEÑO AND BEER-BAKED BEEF
Pot roast or lean short ribs, enough to fill a baking dish snugly
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
1 c (8 oz) canned tomato sauce
2 or more fresh jalapeños, stems cut off
1/4 fresh bell pepper, green or red
2 or more large garlic cloves
2 Tbsp vinegar – red wine or cider is good
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 c (8 oz) lager beer DO NOT PUT IN BLENDER
Minced cilantro or parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 425⁰. Put the meat in a single layer in a pan that just fits it.
Put the next 10 ingredients, BUT NOT THE BEER, in a blender. Blend till finely minced. If you forgot and put the beer in the blender, stop to clean the ceiling. Pour the blender mixture in a pan and cook over medium heat, stirring as needed, for about 10 minutes until it thickens a little. Cool it slightly, NOW mix in the beer, and pour it over the meat. Cover the pan (foil, if no cover) and bake until it’s very tender.
Pull out and shred the meat. Defat the liquid and boil it until it reduces to about 1 cup. Mix it with the meat. Garnish when ready to serve. Good on buns.
This refrigerates and reheats very well, baking covered, or top stove, and is better the next day. I’ve used this recipe with up to 4 or 5 pounds of meat.

[chowmama]

16. I forgot something.

Scatter the chopped onions over the beef in the pan. Then blenderize the next 10 things, but not the beer.