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[duckumu]

Hey all,

I'm planning a cookout/barbecue type thing and I'm trying to put the menu together. I'm worried that it's not a coherent culinary statement at all and I'm trying to eliminate some of the ideas I have, so I would love your opinions!

The sole protein I'm serving is hamburgers. For my hamburger mix, I add finely chopped or grated red onion,

Comments

[punzerel]

Hmmm, my first thought is maybe to take out the potato salad. It doesn't really fit with the other stuff, I think. And maybe you don't need two bean salads. Maybe also take out the raratouille - although it does sound tasty! Alternately you could just go with the first 4 side dishes listed? They seem to match more than the last 3.

[aleph_zahir]

I love Thai noodle salad. Like the others, I would probably eliminate the potato salad, a bean salad, and the ratatouille. Good luck!

[belladonna]

Hm. Not sure what kind of culinary statement these are making but they sound awesome together for a bbq:

1. Thai noodle salad
2. Tomato salad-- maybe add some fresh mozz too?
3. Tuscan bean salad
4. Potato salad

The tropical fruit salad sounds delicious, but maybe have it with dessert?

Also, can I come to your bbq???

[brienze]

I would keep two non-starchy sides and one starch, because you've already got hamburger bun there. Ratatouille and tomato salad seem somewhat redundant since there should be tomato in the ratatouille. I'd probably keep that (I loved the movie so it's kind of a fad food with me right now), the German potato salad to please any barbecue traditionalists, and take the cucumbers from your Thai salad (sounds good on its own, but noodles are a bit much) and turn it into a cucumber/yogurt Greek/Mediterranean type thing instead. That gives you non-creamy veggies, creamy veggies, and non-mayo starch

[duckumu]

That's exactly what I was thinking -- one starch, two veg or one starch, two veg, and a fruit side.

I was also thinking of doing a Thai cucumber salad, where the cucumbers are in long, thin strips, like noodles. Maybe I will leave out the soba completely.

There are definitely no kids coming and there are also no picky eaters. We'll all be age 21/22 (recent college grads).

Thanks for the advice :)

[wileykat109]

I agree with several statements already made: no food statements need to be made, everything sounds great!

My suggestions: on the hamburger greens, keep it easy and make it lettuce leaves, you are doing a lot to that burger already. Bacon on the side?

Use as much of the fresh foods as you can find. I would be attracted to the fruit salad, the Tuscan bean salad, and a 'fresh' potato salad.

Have fun!

[duckumu]

All the hamburger fixings will be on a side. I figure I'll arrange them in rows on a huge rectangular platter, and people can just add what they want to their burger.

For greens I'm just going over what kind of lettuce I want to use. There is this "Boston lettuce" that's sold in groceries in the area, and while it looks very attractive on a sandwich, it's not particularly flavorful.

mmmmmmmmmmmm.

[basking_lizard]

I'm guessing you're planning on just putting out the toppings so people can choose their own? If so, might I suggest adding peanut butter? I know it sounds really odd, but on a burger with everything it tastes AMAZING. It adds a rich nutty flavour, with a little sweetness, and goes great with the meaty burger flavour.

There's a cafe place in town that serves peanut butter burgers and they have won best gourmet burger several times over for it. It's so so good! They put bacon, lettuce, cheese, tomato, and peanut butter on it.

As for salads, I'd take out the tomato, the tuscan, and the potato - the ratatouille and Moroccan ones sound especially delicious, and the fresh tropical fruit one would be a great foil for the more savoury flavours going on in the meal.