Meal for Friends

HatherM

Does anyone have any good healthy recipes I could use for a meal I'm cooking for freinds tomorrow, I would like to try something exciting or different for us all that's healthy & tasty

Feeling stuck on ideas that don't just scream diet food at everyone

Any ideas please?

thanks

CaffeinatedConfectionist

What kinds of foods in general do you and your friends like? Fish? Poultry? Other meat? Egg based? Vegetarian? Vegan? As far as cuisine, American? Asian? Mexican? I love to cook, so I may have some suggestions, but I could use a little more to go on

HatherM

meat dishes are good - chicken or beef, only thing some of us don't like is fish other than that, we're not fussy.
as for cuisine again as far as I'm aware no one is fussy with that either.
just a little bored with the usual spag bol / stew / etc
thanks

CaffeinatedConfectionist

This is going to be long, sorry!

These suggestions are not necessarily going to mesh well with each other, since I'm sort of spitting them out at random as they come to me. I'm also one of those people who tends to eat mismatched foods in a meal, instead of having everything be from one ethnicity or style. These suggestions also cover a pretty wide range of calorie counts. But given that caveat...

I absolutely adore soba noodles, so I'd recommend ginger scallion noodles. Soba noodles are pretty high in protein and fiber and are gluten free, just in case anyone in your group is celiac (you have to check the packaging, though... a lot of companies make soba noodles with wheat flour AND buckwheat flour, so you have to look for the buckwheat-only ones). I've made the following recipe before, and according to MFP, 1/6th of a recipe (around 890g) is 260 calories, with 7g protein.
http://simplyreem.com/soba-noodles-with-sweet-ginger-scallion-sauce/

I also really like soba noodles with a peanut butter sauce. I don't have a recipe on hand, but I'm sure you can find some on google.



I also am kind of in love with this chicken bulgogi recipe:
http://savorysweetlife.com/2011/05/korean-bbq-chicken-bulgogi/

I love bulgogi, but I don't always have beef or pork on hand, and sometimes I want a leaner protein. If you serve 4 people out of that recipe, it's about 280 calories per serving, with 43 g protein. I usually cook the meat in the marinade, rather than draining. You can also find lots of recipes for bulgogi that use beef or pork.



This stir-fried pumpkin with chiles is an excellent side dish:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Stir-Fried-Pumpkin-with-Chiles-and-Basil-em-Fakthong-Pad-Bai-Horapa-em-355269



I like veggie stir fries, usually something really simple like bok choy, julienned carrots, onions, mushrooms, whathaveyou, sauteed in sesame oil, tossed with some toasted sesame seeds and a little oyster sauce.



Roasted root vegetables are another delicious, healthy side. You can also make home fries or sweet potato fries. Sweet potato fries dipped in jalapeno-blackberry jelly are one of my favorite sides, though I tend to go overboard on them.



I am a big fan of soups, so I'd recommend either of these (they both contain coconut milk, which I adore, but I would recommend using regular rather than lite. Also, the second recipe is a bit bland as made, so I usually add more garam masala, nutmeg, coriander, cayenne, etc. You can adjust to taste):
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/African-Curried-Coconut-Soup-with-Chickpeas-352349

http://sweetmamajane.blogspot.com/2011/09/indian-inspired-butternut-squash-soup.html



I really like chicken salad. This is a good base recipe that you can modify in a lot of ways:
http://becomingbetty.blogspot.com/2011/09/avocado-chicken-salad.html


Another chicken idea is to cut up chicken breasts into nugget sizes and dip in egg or something else to make the breading stick, then dip in bread crumbs/panko/parmesan cheese and bake – kind of like homemade chicken nuggets. You can find recipes for dipping sauces online, too, that would be a healthier than what you'd get at, like, McDonalds.


Homemade buffalo chicken quesadillas are also pretty easy – just shred some cheese, toss some cooked, shredded chicken in buffalo sauce, make into a quesadilla and cook in a hot, dry skillet. Depending on how much cheese and what type/size of tortillas you use, they can get pretty high in calorie, though.


I also like black bean and corn salads, with either rice or quinoa thrown in. Basically just an olive oil/vinegar (I like red wine)/lime juice dressing with onions, red bell peppers, garlic, cumin, beans, corn, rice/quinoa/pasta, maybe some hot sauce. I'm sure you can find tons of recipes online, though I usually just eyeball it.


In a similar vein, I really like sweet potatoes and quinoa, so this recipe from Moosewood is one of my favorite side dishes. I basically never put in currants or pine nuts, but I usually throw in a couple handfuls of kale. Amaaaaazing!
http://vgourmet.ca/2010/05/02/quinoa-and-sweet-potato/


I guess I don't cook that often with beef or pork, but I do love making beef stroganoff. It's not a super low calorie dish, though! I also adore empanadas, but they're quite time consuming to make, and one is like 500 calories. If I cook with pork, I usually do slow-cooker pulled pork. Homemade BBQ pulled pork is fantastic, and ¼ lb of it is pretty low cal. I use bacon in a lot of dishes – fritattas/stratas, quiche, veggie sautees (bacon+chestnuts+fresh brussels sprouts = awesome). There are also a lot of good stir fries and fried rices that pork goes well in, I'm sure you can find tons of specific recipes on google.


Fruit salads or sorbets are good and fairly healthy dessert types dishes, or make spiced nuts or sweet spiced roasted chickpeas.

HatherM

Thanks so much for that, it's a great help