HELP!!!

[Anonymous]

We have friends coming to stay for a few days, and one of them does not eat anything remotely spicy or have "weird spices". I'm Indian, and most of what I cook is Asian, so I need some easy to prepare meals that fit the category. I'm sure I can do pasta one day with a side salad and home made focaccia, and do it yourself pizza another (my home made dough is excellent). Do you think a fried rice of some sort (garlic and soy sauce aren't weird, right?) with dumplings and an Asian salad would be a bridge too far? Other ideas and recipes needed please! Oh and I work FT, so something that comes together easily or can be prepped ahead of time will work the best.

[Anonymous]

I don't eat anything spicy and would totally eat fried rice with garlic and soy sauce, with chicken or shrimp dumplings.

[Anonymous]

Rotisserie Chicken
Baguette and/or other bread from bakery
Caesar Salad or other salad
maybe another side (you can find some in the freezer section and your store’s deli probably has some that just need to be warmed

[Anonymous]

You really need to be direct and specific with your guest, OP.

When my mother says "I don't like spicy food", what she actually means is that she doesn't like ANYTHING on her food apart from a few dashes of salt, possibly with a little oil or butter. She hates garlic and onions. She can't stand cayenne pepper and regular pepper. She's suspicious of cumin and curcumin and coriander and all those things we have in our spice cabinet. It's BLANDORAMA when she comes over. Luckily she doesn't visit very often.

So, please fish out specifics from your guest.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend like your mother, PP. We go out to eat, so he can eat his food with salt and maybe oil or butter, and the rest of us can eat something palatable.

She had sent me a recipe of hers, and it had such things as cilantro, onions, and lemon, so I think I should be okay with using those, and probably things like parsley (which has very little flavor as far as I can tell). I had a hard enough time pulling the 'not spicy, no weird spices' out of her. She doesn't want to be a burden, and of course by withholding information, she is in fact making things harder than they need to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rotisserie Chicken
Baguette and/or other bread from bakery
Caesar Salad or other salad
maybe another side (you can find some in the freezer section and your store’s deli probably has some that just need to be warmed

I'm 15:29 and would eat these things as long as the salad dressing was on the side so I could eat my salad without it.

[Anonymous]

If everyone eats pork, roasted pork tenderloins. You can rub some with rosemary and garlic but leave one with just salt and pepper, if that helps. Roasted baby potatoes or mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes, and roasted brussels spouts or broccoli (with or without lemon or parmesan cheese) for veg.

Roasted chicken breasts with s/p, lemon, maybe garlic. Serve with steamed green beans (with or without slivered almonds, a splash of olive oil or lemon), mashed potatoes or roast potatoes, and/or crusty bread.

[Anonymous]

Grilled meat, plain rice, steamed vegetables

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend like your mother, PP. We go out to eat, so he can eat his food with salt and maybe oil or butter, and the rest of us can eat something palatable.

She had sent me a recipe of hers, and it had such things as cilantro, onions, and lemon, so I think I should be okay with using those, and probably things like parsley (which has very little flavor as far as I can tell). I had a hard enough time pulling the 'not spicy, no weird spices' out of her. She doesn't want to be a burden, and of course by withholding information, she is in fact making things harder than they need to be.

Well, this is a horse of a different color. You had to pull it out of her, so it's not as if she came to you with a list of requirements. She's not making it harder than it has to be at all. She's not "withholding information"!

[Anonymous]

Some ideas ....
- Pulled Pork sandwiches in slow cooker
- rice and beans (cuban style)
- braised chicken thighs with cous cous or orzo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grilled meat, plain rice, steamed vegetables

This. This. This. or sub grilled fish, plain rice, steamed veggies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If everyone eats pork, roasted pork tenderloins. You can rub some with rosemary and garlic but leave one with just salt and pepper, if that helps. Roasted baby potatoes or mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes, and roasted brussels spouts or broccoli (with or without lemon or parmesan cheese) for veg.

Roasted chicken breasts with s/p, lemon, maybe garlic. Serve with steamed green beans (with or without slivered almonds, a splash of olive oil or lemon), mashed potatoes or roast potatoes, and/or crusty bread.

This is a good idea, but check before seasoning. I don’t like spicy food, either. Garlic and rosemary are fine, and I actually love them. However, I have an extremely low tolerance for black pepper, which is too spicy for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If everyone eats pork, roasted pork tenderloins. You can rub some with rosemary and garlic but leave one with just salt and pepper, if that helps. Roasted baby potatoes or mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes, and roasted brussels spouts or broccoli (with or without lemon or parmesan cheese) for veg.

Roasted chicken breasts with s/p, lemon, maybe garlic. Serve with steamed green beans (with or without slivered almonds, a splash of olive oil or lemon), mashed potatoes or roast potatoes, and/or crusty bread.

I’m a picky eater and hate lemon or pepper. And pork.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some ideas ....
- Pulled Pork sandwiches in slow cooker
- rice and beans (cuban style)
- braised chicken thighs with cous cous or orzo

I would only eat the last of those three.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If everyone eats pork, roasted pork tenderloins. You can rub some with rosemary and garlic but leave one with just salt and pepper, if that helps. Roasted baby potatoes or mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes, and roasted brussels spouts or broccoli (with or without lemon or parmesan cheese) for veg.

Roasted chicken breasts with s/p, lemon, maybe garlic. Serve with steamed green beans (with or without slivered almonds, a splash of olive oil or lemon), mashed potatoes or roast potatoes, and/or crusty bread.

This is a good idea, but check before seasoning. I don’t like spicy food, either. Garlic and rosemary are fine, and I actually love them. However, I have an extremely low tolerance for black pepper, which is too spicy for me.

Same issue with pepper.