It can be a challenge to come up with a meal that satisfies omnivores, vegans, and other guests with special diets. And the more diversity you have in the guest list, the more creative you will have to be.
But there are two similar options perfect for lunches or casual dinners - Build Your Own Burrito/Taco or a Salad Bar. By offering a variety of ingredients buffet style, you allow guests to take their diets into their own hands and choose what they can eat.
But you have to figure out what to offer to give everyone enough to eat. Burritos with meat and cheese filling, lettuce and tomatoes will leave your vegans guests a little hungry. Only serving flour tortillas will give the gluten-free guests nothing to wrap the filling in! No-carb folks will appreciate
Here are some ideas for ingredients to include and which guest can eat what. As always, the ingredient listed are in their most natural forms, not variations manufactured for “low fat” or “no carb”. Please read labels when purchasing packaged foods – many contain hidden sources of gluten, fat or animal byproducts.
Taco Bar
Salad Bar
Another delicious option, if the weather is cooperative, is food grilled on the barbecue. Vegetarians will enjoy grilled vegetables and of course the meat-eaters will be happy with the meaty bits. Because everything is cooked separately, there’s no meat-veg overlap, though it might be best to grill the vegetables first to avoid charred meat bits from clinging to the peppers and onions. Again, please read labels on any manufactured foods you buy - especially sauces and dressings - to avoid hidden gluten, fat and animal products.
Grilled Feast
(Note: my plan is to put all of these charts and the text together into one PDF that you can download when I’ve completed the series. Please be patient and suffer the on-screen charts until we’re through with this topic!)
