Birthday Buffet - need ideas for cold/room temp food

jzmom

Tue, Jul 02 2013, 11:00 am

I am making a bday party for my DH in August. It will be in the evening, think dinner. I would like to put a buffet of food but I dont want to worry about food staying warm. I also dont want bread because it is not sit down and I dont want to worry about washing and benching.
There will be about 30-40 people.
My ideas so far are:
sushi platter - this will be bought but I would like to make the rest
cold pasta salad - need ideas and recipes please
guacamole, salsa, chumus, with veggies and chips

Please give ideas on other food that will be good cold or room temp and that I can make a couple of days in advance, prefer no mayo.

Also looking for creative ways to set up buffet.

Drinks will be in a different room and I am looking for creative ways to set up drinks.

Thank you for your help.

groovy1224

Tue, Jul 02 2013, 11:26 am

Just out of curiosity, why can't the food be warm? You can get those warming trays they use at kiddushes very easily- at amazing savings if you live in NY, or even party city if you don't. I would really suggest looking into this. I say this because personally, if I was going to a party around dinner time, I would expect there to be a proper hot dish. People will be coming not having eaten dinner. Not everyone eats sushi, and cold salads and dips are really more like sides.
And the warm food doesn't have to be 'sit down' fancy type stuff- some baked ziti or other warm pasta, eggplant parmesan.
The nice things about the warmers is that it tends to look a lot fancier than it is, so you don't have as much decorating to do around the table.

amother

Tue, Jul 02 2013, 3:16 pm

sesame noodles are good room temperature. salmon is prob ok room temperature. tuna fish, if meat chicken salad.. hmm it's tough.
I know it doesn't answer the question but I would consider either the heating trays the other poster mentioned or to be able to wash somewhere - because then you could always do deli sandwhiches/wraps which is also more like a meal.. plus all the other room temp/cold sides and salads

ra_mom

Wed, Jul 03 2013, 8:28 pm

jzmom wrote:

try to bulk up your menu with more protein.
besides for the above:
-cheese pasta salad
-chick pea salad
-parve taco salad (greens, scallions, beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, etc.)
-quinoa salad
-cubed salmon skewers
-cheesecake
-glasses/vases with various shapes and sizes of breadsticks, flatbreads, melba toast
-you can also do a pasta section - have a green pasta (dressed with pesto and/or spinach), a red pasta (tomato basil), and a white pasta (mayo based salad) or tri colored pasta salad (tri colored spirals, baby corn, mushrooms, pickles, olives, lemon, olive oil, onion powder, garlic powder)

abaker

Thu, Jul 04 2013, 7:25 pm

make meatballs in a crock pot....easy to eat and can be kept on "warm" (if you're serving fleishig) and are more grown up friendly than franks & blanks....

you can also make a vegetarian chili (serve with cheese and sour cream and toppings) if serving milchigs...that can easily be kept warm crock pot

other ideas that will fill up guests:
-falafel balls with all the fixings...hummus pickles techina etc
-grilled chicken served over salad with lots of toppings they can choose from
-wraps (turkey or chicken with honey mustard dressing and veggies) or a panini station with ingredients to choose from...grilled chicken/roasted red peppers and balsamic vinegar)
-salads-- chef salad or taco salad with kidney beans for protein

will post more ideas if I think of any!