Cooking for a Crowd: Healthy Menu and Recipes

Cooking for a Crowd: Healthy Menu and Recipes

Preparing food for a large group isn’t easy and a lot of work has to go into the planning and preparation of a healthy menu and recipes for a crowd. You have to make enough food, make food that isn’t time consuming, make food that can be served easily, make food that tastes good and make food that won’t break the bank. Unfortunately, this often translates into buying pre-made meals or making food that is loaded with fat, sugar and sodium.

Last fall, we hosted a fun, Ladies Night Out event packed with massages, facials, zumba and of course delicious food. Check out the menu and recipes we cooked up for the fun evening.

• Spinach and Kale Salad with Almonds, Avocado, Blueberries and Feta Cheese
• Homemade Dijon Balsamic Salad Dressing
• Healthified Chicken Salad with Grapes and Almonds
• Veggie Cups with Hummus
• Fruit salad
• Corn Tortilla Chips and All Natural Salsa
• Mini Chocolate Pie Bites with Raspberries
• Arbonne Chocolate Shake Bites

Spinach and Kale Salad with Almonds, Avocado, Blueberries and Feta Cheese

Ingredients: the recipe name says it all

Preparation: Wash the lettuce and kale and pile everything into a bowl. You can’t mess this one up and you can scale it up or down to fit the size of your crowd. Tip: Add the dressing to the kale a little earlier than usual to soften the kale leaves.

Dijon Balsamic Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Preparation:

1. Whisk everything together in a bowl, in a blender or food processor.

Tip: You can adjust the ratios of this dressing to match your taste buds: more vinegar for a more tart dressing or more dijon for a thicker dressing, etc. You can also scale it up or down depending on the size of your salad.

Healthified Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, Cooked and Cubed
• Celery, Diced
• Green Onion, Diced
• Almonds
• Grapes, Cut in Half
• Plain Greek Yogurt
• Paprika
• Pepper
• Tarragon

Preparation:

1. Mix everything together in a bowl and serve. Seriously, it’s that easy.
2. Choose the amount of chicken based on the number of people you’re serving-about 4 ounces per person
3. Add enough yogurt to moisten everything and to your taste.
4. Add enough of the extras like celery and almonds based on your preference.
5. Add the spices to your taste.

Veggie Cups with Hummus

Ingredients:

• Carrots, cut into strips
• Bell Peppers, cut into strips
• Celery, cut into strips
• Hummus

Preparation:

1. Add 2 spoonfuls of hummus to each small cup.
2. Add a couple strips of each veggie to the cup
3. Done! The hardest part is cutting the veggies and you get buy them precut if you need to.

Mini Chocolate Pie Bites

Ingredients:

Pie Crust: You can use a homemade pie crust, graham crackers, a shortbread recipe or any healthier (ie: no hydrogenated fat) pastry base.

Chocolate Pudding or Mousse: You can use any healthier chocolate pudding or mousse recipe. Here is the one we used. Just add the ingredients (we tripled it) in a sauce pan over medium and heat until it thickens. Then cool to solidify in the fridge.

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups 1% low-fat milk, divided
• 2 large egg yolks
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Raspberries and or Whipped Cream (you can add a tablespoon or two of coconut oil to the whipped cream for a twist)

Preparation:

1. Roll out and cut or layout your pastry base. You want the pastry or crackers or whatever to be bite size. I used a homemade pie crust recipe and used a small biscuit cutter to make scalloped circles about 1.5 inches in diameter.
2. Place the cooled pudding or mousse in a frosting piper or a ziplock with a corner snipped off.
3. Pipe a dollop of the pudding on each pastry bite.
4. Top the pudding with a raspberry or a dab of whipped cream. Viola!