American Menu themed dinner.

We like our meat here! BBQ chicken, hamburgers, meatloaf. Peas and carrots, corn on the cob. Apple pie!

Also instead of Buffalo Wings try Buffalo Cauliflower (veggies)
http://www.persnicketyplates.com/2013/04/buffalo-cauliflower.html

Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean casserole
Sweet Potato Casserole

What about Jambalaya? That's some seriously tasty stuff!

Vegetarian American...hmmm.

Summer (some would be good year round): watermelon, corn on the cob, cucumber sandwiches, baked beans, potato salad, jello salad, carrot raisin salad, deviled eggs, banana pudding with vanilla wafers and whipped cream, fake meat with BBQ sauce, zucchini bread, banana splits or sundaes

Winter: artichoke dip, spinach dip, potatoes au gratin, candied squash or carrots, mashed potatoes with gravy, southern style green beans, collard greens, cranberry sauce, stuffing, nut crusted cheese log and club crackers, veggie tray, snickerdoodles, oatmeal raisin cookies, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, pumpkin pie, mincemeat pie, pecan pie, vanilla ice cream, pumpkin bread, breakfast casserole with fake sausage

What do you eat in New Zealand? :P

In the midwest states we eat a lot of meat....pork chops, steak, baked potatoes, fries, baked chicken. For a vegetarian maybe cheese pizza, mac n cheese, cheese lasagna, tater tot casserole without the hamburger? We eat a lots of casseroles here too

America is a melting pot. We eat foods from all over the world. The "fry everything" craze that has swept the state fairs and carnivals was largely fueled by a British immigrant that opened a fish and chip shop and decided to fry a Twinkie and a Mars bar. The one thing that may be uniquely American is barbecue, and even that is unique in style to particular regions.

Traditional, but also a bit stereotypical, foods from the South include fried chicken on Sunday, apple pie, greens (collard and turnip) doused in pepper vinegar, fried green tomatoes, sweet iced tea, barbecue (dry rubbed and slow-cooked in Texas), etc.

But, as people travel and media extends its reach, cultures get watered down and integrated into others. 20 years ago, you couldn't find Cajun food outside of Louisiana and parts of Mississippi and Texas. Now you can find it overseas. I've found Tex-Mex all over the world. Sadly, KFC and McDonald's have successfully invaded overseas markets. Maybe we will eventually export something a bit healthier, like Chipotle or MyFit Foods.

America is a melting pot. We eat foods from all over the world. The "fry everything" craze that has swept the state fairs and carnivals was largely fueled by a British immigrant that opened a fish and chip shop and decided to fry a Twinkie and a Mars bar. The one thing that may be uniquely American is barbecue, and even that is unique in style to particular regions.

Traditional, but also a bit stereotypical, foods from the South include fried chicken on Sunday, apple pie, greens (collard and turnip) doused in pepper vinegar, fried green tomatoes, sweet iced tea, barbecue (dry rubbed and slow-cooked in Texas), etc.

But, as people travel and media extends its reach, cultures get watered down and integrated into others. 20 years ago, you couldn't find Cajun food outside of Louisiana and parts of Mississippi and Texas. Now you can find it overseas. I've found Tex-Mex all over the world. Sadly, KFC and McDonald's have successfully invaded overseas markets. Maybe we will eventually export something a bit healthier, like Chipotle or MyFit Foods.

QFT ~ thank you!!

The food here in the USA is more varied then one would assume. It is as inane as saying that a Sizzle@ a NZ Saturday Fair staple is traditionally Kiwi (a grilled sausage meat/vegan on a piece of white bread with tomato sauce & onions). Even a sausage on a stick ~ much like the American Corn Dog is another Kiwi staple. When one says burgers, hot dogs, pizza etc ~ the reactive response is that the person is ill-informed. A Hangi is traditionally the food prep for NZ ~ yes? BBQ is traditional here, as is pit roasting and earth ovens or clay adobe ovens ~ TRADITIONAL.

A Kiwi Sausage Sizzle


You would need to isolate which part of the USA you want to emulate. Clam bakes is traditionally of the Northern Eastern seaboard. Conch or oyster raw salads ~ Miami. Ribs and meat array BBQ ~ there are those who'd eat it as you are familiar at a BBQ, and then there are those who traditionally douse it with thick pasty sauces. It is as varied as the cuisine is from the North Island to the South Island. If you were to travel to Stewart Island ~ the dishes are very different to something they would serve you in Queenstown, which will be different to Blenheim and totally outpaced by someone's table in Khandallah in Wellington. You would dine at Herne Bay in Auckland ~ thinking that they overdo everything and overspend per dish ~ resembling a very NY table ~ the wannabe New Yorkers live there.

Thankfully ~ it is drawing closer to Thanksgiving and Vegetarians and Vegans are abound here. I will collate some dishes and post them here.

ETA: Adding pic

If he is just getting back from San francisco, make Rice-a-roni - that's the San Francisco Treat!

Burger and fries....can't get more American than that.

To make it healthy though, you can do turkey or chicken burgers. Then for dessert, nothing screams American like apple pie.

People are right. America is a melting pot, and everyone brings their own cuisine with them when they immigrate. The only "traditional American Food" that I can think of is Thanksgiving dinner: Roast turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy, baked squash, green bean casserole, & pumpkin pie. The English Pilgrims began this tradition with the help of their Native American neighbors. If your brother was on the West Coast he would probably have had sea food, Mexican food, and Chinese food. Thai food is gaining in popularity. Ask him what he likes.

Agreed that you should ask what he ate while there and use that for a jumping-off point. I can guarantee what he ate in San Francisco is a lot different from the cornbread and beans we eat so often here in West Virginia.

Burger and fries....can't get more American than that.

To make it healthy though, you can do turkey or chicken burgers. Then for dessert, nothing screams American like apple pie.

Why would you need to do turkey or chicken burgers...there is nothing inherently unhealthy about red meat. Burger is just ground steak and can be had at various fat contents...there is nothing inherently "healthier" about a turkey burger than a beef burger...pure nonsense.