on navigating group decisions about dinner (A CHART!)

xoxooxox

I spent last weekend with my parents visiting my brother and sister-in-law and their kids. As I often do when I’m there, I made dinner a couple of times. I like cooking at their house. It makes me feel at home, and often my niece hangs out with me while I cook and I love that time with her. Over the years it’s been fun to watch her get more proficient and confident in the kitchen.

Another reason I like to cook when I’m there is that it removes group decision making. Some might call me controlling, others helpful…I don’t really care what you call me, I just want to eat dinner and not spend a long time figuring out what it’s going to be!

Sarcasm aside, I also like the puzzle of figuring out meals we can all enjoy since, as with most groups, there are various preferences within our family and quite a few dietary restrictions (last weekend, our group included at least one vegan, one vegetarian, one gluten allergy and one soy allergy). I’ve always enjoyed the creative process of cracking the code on meals that serve a lot of needs.

If this is all sounding a little familiar, I wrote a bit about this in the spring:

So today I’m sharing some of the meals I made last weekend (along with some other ideas) in a handy chart so you have a formula for how to cook for a group with a range of likes/dislikes/allergies/etc.

It basically comes down to “bowl-style” meals. Cook various things separately and simply, and then put them out buffet style. Let everyone mix and match to their preferences.

Here you go!

All of these meals work for the group I was cooking for: vegetarian/vegan options, gluten-free, soy-free, etc.

---

I failed to take any photos of meals I made last weekend. But they were a hit and we all enjoyed them! In lieu of food photos, here is a funny photo of my sneakers along with my dad’s, brother’s and nephew’s:

---

Can I help you find something useful?!

• Here’s my teaching schedule.

• Here’s my video library of 125 cooking classes!

• Here’s my all-time favorite class: a tour of my kitchen and also my mind! It includes a 2+ hour recording and an incredibly detailed companion document that details all of the tools, ingredients + more I use (it’s over 20 pages long!), plus a ton of tips for day-to-day cooking (lots of mini recipes within).

• Check out my ShopMy page for my favorite kitchen tools, ingredients, and even clothing items — it’s all there!

• And I catalog all of my favorite books right here at bookshop.org.