Christmas Dinner Stuck on Limited Options

[Anonymous]

We have guests coming for Christmas and have given us the following parameters on what WE are to serve (!). They will be staying with us so they won't be able to go home and eat if they don't like the meal. I am at my wits end... I have some ideas for sides but not the main meal. I am an ok cook and can follow a recipe.
- No ham, turkey, roast
- Main meal cannot have pasta/gluten
- Must have a few gluten free and nut free options

[Anonymous]

Oh man, those are some annoying guests. Hopefully this is the last year you have to put up with this. You are a better person than I am.
Salmon. I think with those parameters i would do a side of salmon.
Big fancy salad
Roast potatoes
Some sort of delicious pasta side. So that you can laugh silently when they all dig in.

[Anonymous]

Does no ham/turkey/roast mean the meal must be vegetarian, or do they just not want those particular dishes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh man, those are some annoying guests. Hopefully this is the last year you have to put up with this. You are a better person than I am.
Salmon. I think with those parameters i would do a side of salmon.
Big fancy salad
Roast potatoes
Some sort of delicious pasta side. So that you can laugh silently when they all dig in.

Yes, salmon, polenta, eggplant.

Then make a delish mac and cheese and some hot buttered rolls to watch them all be hypocrites.

[Anonymous]

OP, I would say to them, GREAT! Here's the phone number for Whole Foods. You make your arrangements and I'll feed my family a proper Christmas dinner. We'll all sit down to eat together at XX o'clock.

[Anonymous]

You could ask them what meals they've enjoyed for holiday dinners past.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t cater to this. I’m doing appetizers all day. If you don’t like what I am serving wait an hour I’ll put out something else. I’m not spending Christmas Day in the kitchen to make a fancy meal for people to fuss at me about it. Meatballs in bbq sauce in crockpot, shrimp with cocktail sauce, chicken in peanut sauce wrapped in cabbage etc.

[Anonymous]

Lamb chops
Chicken or capon
Duck

potatoes, rice, vegetables, salad

[Anonymous]

When you say no roast do you mean no to all types of beef and pork?

[Anonymous]

We are doing Christmas enchiladas and I am pretty damn excited. Corn tortillas are gluten free (and work better than flour for enchiladas anyway). If you are serving a crowd, make it extra Christmas-y by doing both red and green. You can do chicken, beef, or cheese options. Serve with Spanish rice, some kind of beans, and salad.

[Anonymous]

Tell them to either stay home or bring dishes. Seriously, screw them. Serve what you want and if they don’t like it, let them eat cake.

[Anonymous]

Roast chicken. Shrimp scampi over rice or use rice pasta. Depending on oven space, you can still make yourself a roast beef and have some chicken for them. One picky guest cannot dictate everyone’s menu options.

[Anonymous]

Just have 2 separate mains, one that your family likes and maybe buy something that can be heated for them that ticks all the boxes, whatever that is, so that your family doesn't have to miss out.

[Anonymous]

Serve them a Tofurky and be done with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have guests coming for Christmas and have given us the following parameters on what WE are to serve (!). They will be staying with us so they won't be able to go home and eat if they don't like the meal. I am at my wits end... I have some ideas for sides but not the main meal. I am an ok cook and can follow a recipe.
- No ham, turkey, roast
- Main meal cannot have pasta/gluten
- Must have a few gluten free and nut free options

We’ve made a not-quite feijioda several Christmases because it can be very flexible for food allergies and if you have a couple who are vegetarians, remove a few servings of beans and then add meat to the rest of the beans. Or you can add a good vegetarian sausage crumble to the base and skip meats. Make Brazilian collard greens, slice some oranges, and then you are done. Farofa is gluten free if you can find it, but it is delicious without. Or do a gluten free cornbread.

Lots of recipes online. Start with nice black beans in your instapot. Select smoked and roast meats for your omnivores. Pork and beef are traditional.