Pot Luck Recipes

[BucketsOfCool]

Here is my dilemma:

I work in an office full of "meat and potato" people and we are having an office pot luck on Friday. I have only been working there since mid-March and although no one is opposed to veganism they are all very, very wary.

I want to bring a main dish or appetizer that is appealing to all but that is not a veggie plate or a salad. I love to cook and have never run into this problem because everyone I cook for is either vegan or open to trying new things.

Suggestions?

Ellen

[harpy]

Hi Ellen. If they are suspicious of vegan food then I would try and think of something that is just "regular" food rather than containing any specialist vegan foods, if you see what I mean. A bean stew might be good?

I've been feeding the following to omnivores for years (intermittently!) and it usually goes down well. If your colleagues like potatoes they might like it (unless they don't like olives :D).

Patates Yahni Me Elies/Potato Stew with Olives

Olive oil
3 lbs potatoes, cut into bite-size chunks
4 large onions, sliced
10 garlic cloves, sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
6 fl oz wine (white in the recipe, but we used red)
2 tsp dried oregano
1.5 lbs chopped tomatoes, tinned or fresh (we used a mixture)
6 oz black olives, pitted and rinsed, then roughly chopped
2 tbsp olive paste
parsley

Heat oven to 190C/375F/Gas mark 5. Cover bottom of a heavy pan with oil
and saute the potatoes for five minutes - in batches if necessary, but I
just put them all in together and turned them frequently.

Remove potatoes from pan to an oven-proof dish large enough for them to
lie in a shallow layer. Use a slotted spoon so the oil is left in the
pan. Add more oil if necessary, and saute the onions, garlic and chili
for a few minutes.Then add wine, tomatoes, oregano, olives, olive paste.
Cook for a minute or two, then pour this sauce over the potatoes. Bake
for 45 minutes to 1 hour until potatoes are tender. Top up with water or
wine if it gets too dry during cooking (mine didn't but I left the lid on
the dish, though the recipe says "bake uncovered".) Sprinkle with chopped
parsley and eat.