Anybody got a favorite potluck buffet recipe?

[channlluv]

My daughter's martial arts studio is having an open house on Saturday and I have no idea what to make. I'd like to try something new and healthy. I like to bake and I've got pans big enough to serve 30. I've also got a really big salad bowl.

I'm just blank on ideas. Anybody got a no-fail favorite buffet dish?

Thanks!
Roxy

[malkin]

Potluck is one of my excuses to eat things I normally wouldn't.

I look for stuff that is yummy and really unlikely to be contaminated. For baked, I'm all for fluffy white buns and butter.

As for bringing food, if it is for people I really like, I'll make banana cake, spice cake or pumpkin pie. Usually the crowd is not anyone I need to impress or anyone who would even appreciate a killer spice cake, so I'd take 'em salad or something from Costco.

I'm kind of a cynic.

[malkin]

I used to make Aram sandwiches for parties--you know, get the big crunchy flat bread and soften it in damp towels, spread with--something--and then roll up tight in plastic wrap for a while and then slice.

Olive and cream cheese
Pepper jam and cream cheese (or some snootier white spread)
PB & J for a kid event.

They were fun and pretty easy. Easy to eat.
Black olives will get under your fingernails and you can pretend you are a mechanic.

Have fun!

[badger]

I look for stuff that is yummy and really unlikely to be contaminated.


ha ha, I'm glad I'm not the only one who avoids things with mayo like potato salad or iffy meat like chicken wings that may have sat out for a long time.



I usually make a UBC Ponderosa cake (http://members.shaw.ca/amyfong/recipes/ponderosa-cake.html) which is a banana chocolate chip bread. I find it fool proof and very easy to alter the recipe. Cheap and easy to find the ingredients.

I've made it with spelt flour once and turned out great. It tolerates whole wheat quite well but does turn out more dry. Organic egg and demerara sugar (which makes it somewhat crunchy), grapeseed oil instead of butter, and yogurt instead of sour cream.

You should probably double it if you want enough for 30 people.

[channlluv]

I don't think anyone would buy me as a mechanic, but that's a funny image. Ha!

Badger, that banana cake sounds really delicious. And you've mentioned several substitutions that I have in stock, so I won't need to go shopping. Excellent! Thank you!

I'm open to more ideas, too, in case anyone finds this on Friday.

Roxy

[NbyNW]

Depends on the time of year. Spring/summer, I have a cole slaw recipe that is quick and easy. The dressing is oil + cider vinegar + sugar.

If plums are in season, especially Italian plums, I'll make a plum coffee cake. It's not healthy at all, as the recipe calls for a fair amount of butter.

Recently I made a boule (a la the bread baking thread) and mixed some fancy salt with butter in a small ramekin. That was pretty well received.

[susan.wells]

I'm no cook but this has been a favorite at every pot luck I've taken it to: Pioneer Woman's Sundried Tomato Pasta Salad (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/06/fourth-of-july-week-sundried-tomato-pasta-salad/).

[Susan]

Do you like Cous-Cous salad?

Boil water, add Cous-Cous and let it ahm.. soak (?whats the right word?). Let it cool down after making it.
Chop cucumber, feta cheese, Rucola and add it to the Cous-Cous. Take a glass of dried tomatoes in olive oil. Chop the tomatoes. The oil in the tomatoes will serve as salad dressing so you don't have to be too cautious about draining all of the oil.
Add some salt, a little bit of vinegar ( I use dark balsamico) and some pepper (if you need to take some more of the left-over tomato-oil).

At home I also add eggs but maybe thats not such a good idea if you cook for a lot of people.

Its a really quick and tasty recipe.

[ridenread]

I always bring a huge fruit salad to potlucks and it is always one of the first things to go. I know it is not a recipe but it seems to be always appreciated.

[OakLeaf]

Last time I went to our bike club cookout, I just brought a big spinach salad. Toasted pecans, crumbled bleu cheese, dried cranberries, and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette (on the side). Super easy, and it was a big hit.

[dinabean]

ARe you OK with bringing a salad? I make a super yummy salad with a bag or 2 of cole slaw mix, a large can or 2 of mandarin oranges (reserve a little of the juice for the dressing). Toss this with a dressing made of equal parts low sodium soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, vegetable oil, a splash of sesame oil, a splash of the juice from the oranges and some crushed, grated, or even powdered ginger.

When you are ready to serve, add 3 packages crushed ramen noodles (uncooked; they dd crunch kind of like croutons in a normal salad). Toss once more time and serve. If you want more heft to it, marinate some chicken breasts in soy sauce and then cut into chunks and fry or grill. Or, add the chicken shredded from a rotisserie chicken.

[sjane]

This Asian Cabbage Salad (http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/07/asian-cabbage-salad.html) has gone over well every place I've taken it. I'm veg, so leave out the chicken and it's still really tasty.

[Biciclista]

wow, all these veggie ideas.

I peel carrots, make sticks, also you can make sticks of cucumbers, zucchini and celery.
I also will buy heads of cauliflower or some broccoli and make them into bite sized pieces too. Then buy a dip or two.

In the past we'd been to some pot lucks where no one ever brought anything substantial to eat (like this imaginary pot luck we're having on this thread) so we'd bring a piece of ham (or turkey ham) slice it up. it's already cooked.

and I eat almost anything.. mayo, eggs, whatever..

[withm]

I'm no cook but this has been a favorite at every pot luck I've taken it to: Pioneer Woman's Sundried Tomato Pasta Salad (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/06/fourth-of-july-week-sundried-tomato-pasta-salad/).

I have copied and pasted this into an email to myself. It looks delicious! Thanks.

[channlluv]

These really sound fantastic. I'm fine with bringing a salad. In fact, I've got a watermelon and a honeydew sitting on my counter needing to be cut up before they go bad. Fruit salad would be good.

DH bought me a mandoline slicer for my birthday, too. I'd love to use it on some cucumbers and carrots.

I love baking bread, too, although I just had the bloodwork done for celiac disease this week and I'm gearing myself up mentally for dropping all wheat products. Still, it could be a good opportunity to get rid of all the rest of the flour in my house.

Keep the ideas coming. I've got a few more hours before I need to commit and buy the supplies I don't already have in my pantry.

Thank you!

Roxy

[skhill]

I love to bake, so that's my usual route. A pie (or 2), using seasonal fruit when possible. Homemade bread always goes over well, too! Maybe not the healthiest options, but tasty. And probably healthier than store-bought versions...

[malkin]

If you do end up with celiac or some other reason to avoid wheat, you might still enjoy baking for other people.

Good luck on your bloodwork!

[channlluv]

Thanks, Malkin. And thanks everyone else for the tips on what to bring. I think I'm going to go for that spinach salad. Or maybe the cole slaw. Or the banana chocolate chip cake....oy.

Roxy

[channlluv]

Okay, just to update everyone who was kind enough to share earlier, I went with a cobbled-together quinoa salad and a cucumber salad. The cucumber salad was pretty basic. Three sliced cucumbers and half a sweet Vidalia onion that I ran through my mandoline slicer so they were crinkled, and a dozen cherry tomatoes cut in half, and then I salted and peppered them and dressed them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I think the balsamic vinegar was a mistake, though. I'm new to using it and I didn't realize that it would turn it all brown. The cucumbers looked like they'd been sitting out in the sun for several hours.

The quinoa salad turned out pretty good, but it had the same problem with the balsamic vinegar (the final dish looked like dog food with cranberries in it). It tasted good, but not many people were trying it. Here's what I put together:

2 cups of quinoa added to four cups of water in a largish sauce pan, brought to a boil, then set to low until all the water was absorbed. When it was cooled off a bit, I transferred it to a large glass salad bowl and added the following:

2 cups of dried cranberries
2 cans of mandarin oranges, drained
1 can of crushed pineapple
2 cups of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of green onions, sliced pretty small. I think I used five of them.

In a 2-cup measuring cup, I mixed a 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar and a 1/2 cup of grapeseed oil, and then I added two cloves of garlic, chopped really small (but not small enough -- there were a couple of chunks that burned my mouth and a friend's mouth).

It tasted pretty good, but in retrospect, I think I might try rice vinegar, which a friend tells me is clear (and didn't someone here say it is sweeter?).

I'd also fold in the mandarin oranges last -- they got pretty mangled in the mixing process. I'd also use chunk pineapple, and maybe mix pineapple juice in with the oil and vinegar to flavor the wet part more.

Apple chunks might be a nice addition.

I also think I'd drop the garlic. It didn't really add much to the flavors and only stood out when it burned my mouth.

So thanks, everyone! I like sharing recipes here. You ladies are really great cooks.

Roxy

[OakLeaf]

I usually do my salad dressings in the small blender attachment for the stick blender. That chops the garlic (and any herbs) very fine, and emulsifies the oil.

Rice vinegar has a definite "Asian" flavor. If that's not what you're looking for, you might try sherry or champagne vinegar. Even red wine vinegar doesn't color a grain salad the same way balsamico does.