What dish should I bring to a company BBQ/potluck?

I need help. (Not that kind. Well ok maybe.)

Next weekend is a company BBQ / potluck. Everyone has to bring a communal dish to share. These people are not foodies, so something fairly generic and crowd-pleasing would be best. I'm considering a basic cold pasta salad or something like that, but I'm hoping to get some other suggestions. I thought of Vietnamese salad rolls too, but then I realized that: a) not everyone might like that, and b) making salad rolls for 20 people would be a big pain in the butt.

What would you bring to a company BBQ?

Is the company providing the meat? If not, you could bring ribs. My go-to dish for such events is deviled eggs. Mash the yolks with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, yellow mustard, Coleman's dry mustard powder (or fresh horseradish) and just enough mayo for a thick consistency. Sometimes I use the two-spoon method to fill the egg whites. I've also used a cookie press, which makes for a fancy, flower shaped filling.

I would do deviled eggs like Howie or a pasta salad.

I took this to a large family reunion, it was a hit and everyone wanted the recipe.

REC: TEXAS PARTY SPAGHETTI

Men & kids love this - it can be made ahead and reheated beautifully - it feeds >>>> a crowd - it is delicious - it is good for a buffet - and all you need with it is a big salad and lots of crusty bread. Now this doesn't pretend to be an Italian-type dish -- travels well.

2 1/2 lb. ground round
4 or more to taste garlic cloves, minced
2-16 oz. cans of tomatoes
1-10 oz can of Rotel (tomatoes & peppers)
8 oz of sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped green olives
1/2 cup chopped ripe olives
1 med. onion, chopped
2 lbs. American cheese, cubed
1 lb. package of spaghetti, cooked
1 lb. bacon, cooked crispy & crumbled
salt & pepper to taste

Brown the meat and toss in the garlic cloves at the end for a couple of minutes. Mix all the other ingredients together gently, and you need a huge bowl - I have a monster pottery bowl I use. Pour into a large baking dish, or use 2 smaller ones, and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with grated parmesan cheese. This is another recipe you can tinker with. I use a lot more onion that the recipe called for. The original recipe didn't call for garlic. If your local supermarket doesn't carry Rotel, throw in another can of tomatoes and chop up some hot peppers to suit your taste. This is a good buffet dish, because it doesn't need a knife and you can eat standing up if you have to. It is also a good dish to take when someone is sick because it reheats well.

A King Ranch casserole, lots of recs for it online. It's easy, quick and will disappear about as quickly when presented.

I'm with Howie and Maria, deviled eggs are always welcomed (unless there are vegans present, in which case they are clearly nutso anyway and don't count).

Melissa, have you ever made the Ramen Noodle Cole Slaw? It's a real crowd pleaser. Here's the recipe...

Ramen Noodle Coleslaw

Slaw:
2 - 1 pound bags of cole slaw or broccoli slaw (or similar amount of cabbage, red cabbage, carrots, broccoli, etc. that you process yourself)
1 bunch of green onions (optional)

Dressing:
2 packages of Ramen noodle seasoning (yes, really)
1/3 cup cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar
½ cup sugar (more or less to taste)
½ cup oil

Crunchies:
2 packages Ramen noodles, broken up (Oriental flavor - or 1 oriental, 1 chicken)
4 oz. package of almond slivers
4 oz. package of sunflower seeds (shelled)

Combine salad ingredients and dressing ingredients separately. Toss salad with dressing and crunchies right before serving.

Do not add dressing until just before ready to serve. If taking this dish away from home, transport the dressing and the noodles/seeds/nuts in a separate container.

"Joy of Cooking" has a recipe for a spicy barbeque slaw that is great.

You can never go wrong with an interesting slaw or salad. How about watermelon and cucumber salad or cornbread salad (dressed up with a little crispy bacon or dry roasted peanuts).

If it's a "real" barbecue you can't go wrong with potato salad, slaw or deviled eggs. All three incredibly simple.

I'm with Chef. I have a recipe for a nicoise-style potato salad with smoked trout that goes over well at potlucks. Let me know if you want to take a look at it.

[Jenise]

Melissa, have you ever made the Ramen Noodle Cole Slaw? It's a real crowd pleaser. Here's the recipe...

A friend of mine makes this often for potlucks and you're right. It's absolutely delicious--the scrunched up noodles provide a great texture and taste (they wilt just slightly when the salad's mixed but never lose their inner crunch), and the spice of the soup mix (I presume you use the "oriental" flavor) adds a haunting exoticness that no one would ever guess for being what it is.

Note to Melissa re non-foodies: I live in a neighborhood that exists on potlucks, and am constantly surprised at what these midwestern non-foodies go nuts over. In recent memory I took a South African babootie (an assertive baked dish of ground lamb with apricot jam and lots of curry seasoning) to one event and an enormous tabbouleh to another, and in spite of the fact that both far were much more ample in size than most of the dishes others brought (why do people going to a pot luck that 30 or 50 people are going to attend bring small bowls of the size you might serve at a family style dinner for 6 or 8? I'll never understand) and way outside the norm, both were the first empty dishes. The vast majority of the people I made that tabbouleh before had never even heard of bulghur wheat--and lots of people tracked me down to find out what it was in spite of the fact that the occasion was a funeral and everyone had a lot of other things on their mind. Anyway, moral of the story: people eat with their eyes. I've come to realize, and happily so, that it's less important that the food be familiar than that it is eye-catchingly colorful and just as tasty as it is attractive.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, everyone! I think I'll be going with the consensus, and whip up a salad - probably potato or that ramen salad, which I have made a variation of in the past. Though, tabbouleh salad does sound very good too.

I'll let you know what the verdict is on my contribution! I'm also hosting a wine basics tasting for them afterwards...so even if my dish doesn't go over well, hopefully I can woo them with my wine knowledge. Or at least just get them drunk.

Anyway, moral of the story: people eat with their eyes.

My eyes may lead me across the room to the buffet table but it's my nose that makes me fill up a plate and sit down. Guess that distinguishes foodies?

[Jenise]

Anyway, moral of the story: people eat with their eyes.

My eyes may lead me across the room to the buffet table but it's my nose that makes me fill up a plate and sit down. Guess that distinguishes foodies?

I think it's just plain caring more than most of the people in the room that distinguishes foodies, caring about freshness and quality, much of which you can see in the average buffet line. (This said by someone who largely dislikes, and has a somewhat adversarial relationship with, the food that is brought to most pot lucks.) At the very least, this helps you rule out the jello salads, the Costco lasagnas, and any food in a shallow 13 x 9 dish that's buried under half an inch of 'lite' sour cream. The scary pot lucks are the ones in which the Costco lasagna is actually a welcome sight. And believe me, I've been to my share of those! (At the tabbouleh pot luck, someone bought four donuts at the supermarket, cut each into quarters, and put those on a plate. That was it. Probably brought by the guy in line ahead of me who, looking at a pan that only had six meatballs left in it and who knew that there was a long line of people behind him, took four of the six meatballs left anyway and then chided me for only taking of the remaining two. Pretty sad.)

I'm with Chef. I have a recipe for a nicoise-style potato salad with smoked trout that goes over well at potlucks. Let me know if you want to take a look at it.

Mike, I'd love to have the recipe. it sounds very different and delicious.

Mike, I'd love to have the recipe. it sounds very different and delicious.

My pleasure!

I think it's just plain caring more than most of the people in the room that distinguishes foodies, caring about freshness and quality, much of which you can see in the average buffet line. (This said by someone who largely dislikes, and has a somewhat adversarial relationship with, the food that is brought to most pot lucks.)

I get fed a good bit by corporate largesse... sandwich trays, a bowl of salad, and a bowl of cold ziti... foil trays (kept warm over sterno) of salmon w/mushroom sauce, chicken piccata, vegetarian lasagna, more salad, more ziti... for which I just have to click off that foodie portion of my brain.

I used to attend quite a few church potlucks (back in my previous existence Before Gail), and it was quickly learned who could actually cook and who couldn't. It's funny that there may be 3 Pyrex dishes of potato salad, and at the end of the event, one will be licked clean, one mostly gone, and one hardly touched. Yet the same people will bring the same things next time, and the next, etc. I usually took baked beans and desserts. Nowadays the extent of potlucks is at work functions 2 or 3 times a year, and the company either has pizza from Mazzio's (a decent chain HQ here), or BBQ from RibCrib (another chain HQ here) - both customers of my bank employer.

I'm actually very curious to see what people bring to this event. There are a few ladies at the office who make themselves out to be foodies, but incidentally they also happen to be rampant fad dieters who only use "low-fat" or "non-fat" or specially purchased "diet" ingredients in their dishes. Seriously, it's kind of awful. Whenever they share recipes, it sounds like this: "then you add a cup of non-fat milk / then sprinkle some low-fat cheese on top / make sure to only use the Weight Watchers dressing"....It annoys me to no end.

I'm almost tempted to make some ridiculous butter-laden concoction and watch them drool over it.

Anyway, moral of the story: people eat with their eyes.

My eyes may lead me across the room to the buffet table but it's my nose that makes me fill up a plate and sit down. Guess that distinguishes foodies?

I used to tell my students (to emphasize the importance of presentation)that ones eats first with one's eyes, second with one's nose and lastly with one 's mouth.

(What I didn't tell them was I've run across some dishes that fared so badly in the first two tests that I actually had to touch the food before I'd put it in my mouth). And, now that I think of it, I've listened to some foods, too.

I'm actually very curious to see what people bring to this event. There are a few ladies at the office who make themselves out to be foodies, but incidentally they also happen to be rampant fad dieters who only use "low-fat" or "non-fat" or specially purchased "diet" ingredients in their dishes. Seriously, it's kind of awful. Whenever they share recipes, it sounds like this: "then you add a cup of non-fat milk / then sprinkle some low-fat cheese on top / make sure to only use the Weight Watchers dressing"....It annoys me to no end.

I'm almost tempted to make some ridiculous butter-laden concoction and watch them drool over it.

Well, it sounds like they're on Weight Watchers and counting points. As someone who is currently on the plan myself and looking to shave points wherever possible I can understand the mind set. Of course in my case I decided it was a perfect excuse to buy a sous vide machine so as to cut down on frying but I don't know that I'll be suggesting that at the next meeting .

Regarding the original question I'm in the deviled egg camp. Everyone loves them, they're easy to make, and they are very traditional picnic food.

Jay -

I'd be very interested in hearing about your experiences with sous vide.

[Jenise]

Jay -

I'd be very interested in hearing about your experiences with sous vide.

Me too.