3-4 Course Meal - For 4

neuro-praxis

Hi guys. I need those of you with culinary skills but also keeping an eye on the calories to help me out.

I am cooking for 4 picky eaters on Thursday night. In the group we have a strong dislike for red meat and an allergy to mushrooms. Two people present will eat fish at a push but don't like it very much. So I guess we are looking at chicken, pork or vegetarian - anything else you can suggest?

I want to provide something nourishing, tasty and filling over 3-4 courses. I would love your ideas and specifically your recipes...for example, don't suggest I serve soup unless you can offer me a great soup recipe!

All help for starters, mains and desserts appreciated. Thanks!

g'em

wow, they are picky eaters!! Well, I'll have a think for sure, but off the top of my head I can think of one really nicce and super easy main dish: Primavera Pasta.

diced chicken
mange tout
baby sweetcorn
petit pois
good quality fresh egg pasta (taglietelli or penne work best for this dish)
equal parts of fresh cream and creme fraiche
salt and pepper to taste.

Steam the vegetables, cook the chicken whichever way you prefer (I love to broil it as it stays nice and moist), cook the pasta, bung it all together in a pot and add the cream/ creme fraiche mixture and stir it all up!

The lovely thing is you only need to use the creamy sauce very sparingly to barely coat the chicken/ pasta mix as the cream makes it lovely and rich, but the creme fraiche keeps a lightness to the sauce. You could even use plain creme fraiche and no cream if you're really concerned about calories, and keep your pasta portion down. But once you use fresh pasta it's be low in fat anyway.

A great dish with lots of fibre, lean protein and healthy carbs

olaola

If I have a group of people coming who like different foods - I usually do a tapas style evening:

Meatballs in tomato sauce
Chorizo cooked in red wine (most of the fat melts into the wine)
Patatas bravas (done in oven, not deep fried)
Fish pie (make it with milk instead of cream)
Potato tortilla
And then a few salads - chick pea or cous cous and a green salad.

That covers a few courses. And they all can be prepared in advance and either kept warm or re-heated successfully.

Then for dessert - baked peaches with fat free fromage frais or frozen yogurt.
You don't need that much sugar to make the peaches sweet.

Edited to see - red meat is a no-no. Maybe chicken skewers instead of meatballs? Or you could also make them with minced pork or turkey.

neuro-praxis

Those are really excellent ideas - thank you.

Any more, keep 'em coming.

neuro-praxis

I actually decided to go with the tapas idea, so this morning I pre-made some stuff in advance. We will be eating:

Spicy turkey meat-balls in a home-made tomato sauce
Spanish tortilla (potato omlette)
Mixed roast vegetables (courgette, red and white onion, red, green and yellow peppers)
Couscous and apricot salad
Roast baby new potatoes cooked with garlic and herbs
Fresh corn on cob "wheels" (you cut each fresh cob into 4 thick slices before boiling)
Large green salad (leaves, cucumber, tomato) with home-made dressing of olive oil, honey, wholegrain mustard, balsamic vinegar)

Baked bananas for dessert with home-made applesauce (apples left to stew all day in the slow-cooker) and natural yoghurt.

I'm actually really looking forward to it!

olaola

So how did you get on!? Did your guests like it!!