Creativity for holiday potluck.

[pistolabella]

My office has no oven, incredibly limited refridgerator space, and an upcoming Thanksgiving potluck. I'm looking for ideas for cold or room-temp side dishes...preferrably with actual, real vegetables involved. (Everyone has signed up for something involving cheese, or chocolate). Deviled eggs are spoken for. If worse comes to worse I can bring a veggie tray, I guess, but I'd love some creative ideas.

[ambra]

I make this salad every year. I LOVE it.

forgot to say, we make the dressing and just toss all the ingredients together in one big bowl.

Edited November 7, 2011 by ambra (log)

[LizD518]

My brothers do green beans in a mustard vinaigrette which is good at any temperature - blanched green beans, simply tossed in a Dijon vinaigrette. You can add some thinly sliced red onion as well, or some shallots. I would toss them together at the last minute though since the vinaigrette will "cook" the green beans and make them brown after sitting for a while.

Also, instead of a standard crudites tray you can do a nice grilled or roasted vegetable or antipasto display. Asparagus, green beans, carrots, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant - all tossed with olive oil and seasonings, roasted or grilled (separately), then arranged on a nice platter.

And hummus - our Mediterranean station at work is the most popular hors d'oeuvres station, with grilled vegetables, hummus, baba ghanoush, marinated olives, chopped Greek salad, lental & mint salad and stuffed cherry peppers. Served with lavash crackers and grilled pita bread.

[Lisa Shock]

You can always take a salad, ambra's looks delicious, and put it in endive leaves to turn it into more manageable portions for small/paper plates.

There are also some good cold rice salads that incorporate veggies and cooked beans. I like to make pasta salad with more vegetables than pasta. Think steamed (cauliflower, broccoli, green beans) and raw (carrots, cherry tomato, mushrooms, baby spinach, celery, bell pepper, zucchini) vegetables. A smaller sized pasta will make it easier to serve.

[FrogPrincesse]

Impress your colleagues and make a terrine! Most terrines are served cold or at room temperature and are great for potlucks/buffets.

[kayb]

Here's a recipe for my apple-bacon salad that requires no refrigeration after you get it to work...and the balsamic dressing turns the apples brown, anyway, so no discoloration issues! I'd wait and add the feta right before serving, I think.

http://www.food52.com/recipes/8735_applebacon_salad_with_honey_balsamic_viniagrette

[djyee100]

I once brought a salad of roasted beets, oranges, toasted walnuts, and romaine lettuce to a holiday potluck. I kept each ingredient and the dressing in separate containers. Just before service, I arranged the ingredients attractively on a platter, and drizzled on the dressing. I didn't toss the salad because the beets would have bled color over everything else. The salad tossed itself as people took portions and moved things around.

People liked it and ate it up. Now, this was a group that I knew would eat beets. But you can substitute avocado slices in the same salad, although you'll have to prep the avocado right before service and sprinkle the slices with lemon juice so they don't brown.

I started with Joanne Weir's recipe for Beet, Orange, and Walnut Salad in her Tapas to Meze cookbook. Very similar to this one, which appears to be a variation:

http://www.food52.com/recipes/9473_beet_orange_olive_and_walnut_salad

No olives or preserved lemons in my salad, no walnut oil either (I didn't have any around, so I subbed olive oil). I suggest roasting the beets in a metal pan with a little water, covered with foil. Without the water, the beets seemed to take forever to cook. Also, if you roast things in a stoneware baking dish, the dish might crack--I learned this the hard way--so that's why I suggest a metal pan.

The salad is eyecatching on the buffet table, with the crimson beets and the oranges. It looks even better than the pic on the webpage.

[judiu]

Try my Bean Salad for Johnny. Drain and rinse one can each of chick peas, black eyed peas, canallini beans (sp?) and mix together with one can of Petite diced tomatoes, a head of celery (or less if you're not a big raw celery fan, one large or 2 medium red onions, diced, and about a half a small bottle of Newman's Own Original Dressing (a favorite ingredient of mine) dried thyme to taste and dried basil to taste (crush herbs together in a mortar if you have a small one.)Cover and let soak overnight. Best at room temp. Add more dressing as desired, or a big dash of vinegar to pick up the flavors a bit. Named it for a favorite bartender who ate the entire bowl the first time I made it. Even his dog wouldn't sleep with him...