Oops....can't do the pasta fazool salad....gotta be vegan....back to the drawing board.

Vegan pasta? Sure, you can make a good pasta salad and be vegan.

LindaC, I've had several dishes that have both pasta and beans, so that would fill the protein requirements as well as being vegan.

I agree about the muffins, they tend to be messy, and it's zucchini season, so there's always zucchini bread.

Annie

yeah....I can make a good vegan pasta salad.....but not that pasta fazool recipe....calls for cheese and some sort of sausage.

but thinking....haven't yet gotten the list of "can't have" stuff....but I will bet there will be some who can't have gluten....so think I will do a bean salad. One I have made a couple of times has onions and cucumber....but they can pick that out.....thought about the cowboy caviar....but some who can't eat wheat can't eat corn either.

Zucchini bread! Genius!...

You know....I have made or planned....I do a lot of the cooking but have lots of help...75 big meals for the church......and only the ones that are "church oriented"....groups of pastors or representatives..like that....have "requirements!"...occasionally I will have someone say for a funeral lunch "aunt Bessie can't have dairy" or our "grand daughter is vegan"....so I make sure there is something they can eat....but for this meal....there are all sorts of restrictions...no onions, low salt, vegan, no fish, no red meat, gluten free etc!

Linda, I think you can make the pasta e fagioli salad to fit all requirements. Maybe not that particular one, but a good one. The hardest part would be low salt, but if you just don't add salt, and rely on what's in the products, celery, etc., you can make it work. Find out if "no onions" means no alliums (allergy), or if it's just large bulb onions, which are what usually give abstainers transitory GI issues.

So, GF pasta--easy to find in good tasting and fairly sturdy. Annie has some that she's recommended before. The only issue is to check for the protein content--Barilla makes a red lentil penne with what looks like a good amount of protein (13 g per 2 oz). Cooked from dry beans--white beans are about as high in protein as beans (not soy) go-- or no-salt added canned. A small amount of vegan sausage for flavor (small because it can be pricey, but many have a good sausagey flavor). Scallions or chives and/or garlic, if permitted. Or perhaps fennel. Even low FODMAP diets usually allow the green parts of scallions and fennel. Broccoli or broccolini, florets cut into little sprigs and stems shredded or julienned thin. Celery, carrots, radishes/daikon, summer squash and anything else neutral. I'd go for no nightshades (no tomato or peppers) to stay anti-inflammatory. Add some extra sausage herbs and pepper to the dressing. Buy a vegan mayo if you want white (which can boost the power of the flavorings), but classic herb vinaigrette would be good. This would be vegan (no meat, no fish), gluten free, low salt, no onion, but anyone could enjoy it.

You're a good cook. I can't imagine that you would have any trouble making something like that.

Or try this three bean pasta salad from Spruce Eats, and perhaps sub radishes for the onion. I haven't made it, but it sounds good.

A group I belong to feeds our newly naturalized citizens once a year. There are many vegetarians among the group. We do sandwich fixings (think deli tray) and then fix a big pasta salad full of vegetables with an oil, vegetable and herb dressing -- it's a side for the sandwich eaters and a meal for the vegetarians. So I would recommend a pasta salad. We did our church ladies last year and did a hot chicken casserole (chicken, celery, mayonnaise, cheese baked), a big tossed green salad dressed before serving, hot rolls and butter. We served muffins, a coffee cake, and a tea bread upon arrival with coffee and juice (but we are Lutherans and coffee is the 4th sacrament -- LOL). We had around 100 come to our event and we received rave reviews on all of our food.

I just made a vegan, gluten-free Greek pasta salad for a party using DeLallo Corn Orzo and was pleased that the pasta didn't get hard when chilled. I followed a suggestion to add the olive oil/lemon juice dressing to the pasta while the pasta is hot, then to allow the pasta to come to room temperature before chilling. https://avirtualvegan.com/vegan-feta-cheese/

I often make this GF, vegan cheese for parties and serve with dipping vegetables like carrots and celery or GF vegan store-bought crackers.

https://www.thefullhelping.com/go-to-cashew-cheese-recipe/

Did you serve buffet? My concern is that it would take a while for 100+ people to go through the buffet and make their own sandwiches.

What i really want to do is make a chicken salad.....a bean salad, a green salad and a bowl of assorted seasonal fruits cut up. But that's a lot of work for us. I am trying to knock it back to 3 items and rolls or bread.

I think a chicken casserole would be yummy....but it will be hot.....and I think cool foods will be better.

And Presbyterians are no slouches when it comes to coffee....it runs in our veins!

a pasta salad is quick and easy ... macaronis and frozen peas and a very light mayo/mayo substitute with dry ranch dressing mix ... put some shredded cheese next to it if people wanna be 'risky' ...

That would never fly....peas are the thing most often picked out of anything I make.....and mayo is not vegan unless you buy a vegan mayo....nor is ranch dressing.

This is a recipe blog I like. While I do not cook vegan, I haven't found a recipe on here I do not like.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/diet/vegan/

This one sounds good (no peas).

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pasta_and_bean_picnic_salad/

Oh, by the way, if you need whipped cream for a dessert, this is great. You will not miss regular dairy whipped cream at all!

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/coconut_whipped_cream/

Linda, I'm of the school "make it easy on yourself!" Lunch and coffee for 100 or up to 150 (and on a hot day) meets that criteria of making it easy on yourself. Three items, rolls and bread, and done! Pasta primavera is pretty simple and colorful and served cold and feeds a lot and isn't expensive so that's a good option.

If the fruit bowl is empty before half the people have gone through the line, you may want to consider plastic or paper cups with a serving of fruit inside each of them - that's what we have to do with our church buffets! Prepping fruit is time consuming so to get around that, the person in charge will just go buy some large packages of frozen fruit from Costco and add fresh grapes to it.

We may have to go to the premeasured fruit cups....we try very hard not to add to the landfill....using real china plates and flatwear....and having a dishwashing crew. And we have many many fruit cup glasses and punch cups that could hold a reasonable serving of fruit.

But I also want to give good value....people are paying $10 for this meal. But I want to give a $10 value for about $1.75 spent!! LOL!

And I have gone the frozen fruit with a few fresh things added in the winter....but in the middle of summer with all the bounty...I feel a bit guilty not serving lovely fresh.

If you don't have enough of the fruit cup glasses, is there any estate sales before the dinner? Most of the china and glassware is going for next to nothing around here.

Maybe just cut the fruit, like use an apple corer-wedger, or just cut in quarters? People can take a single piece that isn't a whole fruit and doesn't take a separate plate.

Actually, they do -- sort of -- they get their bread and pile meat/cheese on it, add whatever they want to top it (onion, lettuce, tomato and I think pickle), then move on down to the pasta salad and we also buy fruit but the guy that buys it gets like 2 packages of strawberries and other nice fruits but not enough for 100 and I think that is a waste of money -- he should just go with grapes because the first through get the good fruit and then no one else does, we always seem to run out and it would be better just to do grapes. We also serve chips and cookies.

If you expect some people will take large amounts of some items try putting out only a third of it at a time and using a small serving spoon in it. You can then put out a new bowl when the first gets low. It seems that most people aren't as likely to take giant servings if it does not look like there is a huge amount of the food. And they tend to take a spoon or two no matter how large serving spoon is so big spoons = big servings. It has worked well at a camp where I help in the kitchen. YMMV

Melons can often be an economical choice to add bulk to a fruit salad in the summer months.

The idea of offering just one fruit is a good one, too. Grapes can be cut into small clusters with a scissors and served still attached to the stems. Or small wedges of melon could be the only offering.

I finally figured out the small spoon bit!!...but nearing the bottom of the bowl doesnt' seem to matter with this crowd....at least with the crowd 4 years ago....as they were taking the last scoop, she said....we need another bowl of fruit!

There were people who ate nothing but fruit....filled their plates mounded full. And we use punch bowls to serve. There were 2 at the church when I started this and I discovered how good a huge glass bowl was for serving stuff.....and bought 4 more at the Salvation Army. They are not "fine crystal"...but they are big and glass and work very well.

I just wanted to add that those little plastic cups for individual fruit servings can be sanitized, washed, and reused so there's very little waste to put into a landfill.

Then I don't know what kind of cups you mean....tell me more.

I have some that I bought years ago for something. They are clear and are sold where the paper plates are in the stores. They are clear, sturdy, and very washable. I think that this is what I bought.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Solo-Clear-Cups-9-Oz-50-Count/50178075

It might of been the Hefty brand.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/3-Pack-Hefty-Deluxe-Cups-9-Oz-40-Count/47235656

This time of year? Lemon poppyseed bread comes to mind.

Linda, the cups are also called "tumblers" and come in 9 oz (see tigereye's link) or 5 oz sizes. They can be purchased at Dollar Tree, 99¢-types of stores, as well as Walmart, Target, and online. Sometimes they have a decorative 'etching' on them (cup on right).

The one on the left holds 5 fluid ounces and the one on the right holds 9 fluid ounces--convert this to a spoonful or so of chopped fruit, et voila!

I don't call them washable....!h less able to be sanitized......but they are cheap enough......maybe I'll try that....or maybe I'll cheat and do a spinach and lettuce salad with strawberries....that way I'll have fruit and greens in one dish....and a bowl of chicken salad and a bean salad..
And I have found that if I put a sign on a dish that says "Vegan"...many people who are not vegan won't take any...LOL!

Linda, we use hot soapy water with a couple glugs of bleach in it, then we let them air dry. We are all trying to reduce, reuse and recycle, as are you, and happily, this works for us. :0)