Feeding a Crowd

I have been on vacation. I stayed in a dear friend’s very comfortable guest room for the better part of a week. On the nights I was not in her guest room we were sharing a room at Beaver Creek where we went skiing for two days and did no cooking. By the way, if you ever find yourself at the Grouse Mountain Grill in the Pine Lodge, order the bone-in Ribeye.

This particular friend has like 17 kids (its really just 6 but to me its the same thing) and her oldest daughter is pregnant with her first child–the First Grandchild–Ta Da–the Anointed One! I think I am as excited as my friend, seriously. Anyway, I thought it would be nice to cook Sunday dinner for my friend, some of her family, a few friends and some of their kids.

(WARNING: this post contains references to socializing that may not meet local COVID-19 best practices guidelines so if you are offended at the notion of a big Sunday dinner than you may want to skip on over to The Pioneer Woman, or whatever, not comparing myself to her, she is a Queen. She is probably following all of the local guidelines. I digress.)

When you are cooking for a crowd I always think of pasta. Actually I usually think of grilling but it was February in Colorado so, pasta. Roasted Vegetable & Chicken Pasta is a go-to in my house. A great way to use up vegetables–you can even use the ones that are on the edge of disposal since we are going to roast them.

First, gather up your veggies–we used coarse chopped onions, baby carrots, plum tomatoes, and broccoli. Chop up what you got, spread in an oven safe roasting pan (Le Creuset is my personal choice), sprinkle liberally with good quality EVOO, kosher salt and pepper and place on the middle rack of an oven preheated to 400. Roast for at least 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, stir fry some boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins prepped with garlic salt and pepper and boil a large pot of salted water for the angel hair pasta.

I love pasta because you can just add a simple salad and a loaf of bread and you have a complete meal. We used some bag salad that we fluffed up with extras–and by extras I mean house made vinaigrette! Its the dressing that makes the salad and ours was the very traditional and very French classic made from 3 parts EVOO, 1 part red wine vinegar, a squirt of spicy mustard and a lot of salt and pepper. Whisk vigorously or shake in a jar. You will never buy bottled dressing again.

We had a loaf of rosemary bread that we doctored as follows– slice the bread with a serrated knife not cutting all the way through. Use a paint brush and spread melted butter in all of the slices and on top of the bread and sprinkle liberally with garlic salt. Wrap in foil and bake in 400 oven for 10 minutes. Any bread will do but rosemary really pairs well with this pasta.

We set up a buffet line on the kitchen island–a big bowl of cooked pasta finished with a little EVOO, a platter of chicken tenderloins, a large pan of roasted vegetables and fresh grated parmesan on the side. This way, the one that didn’t eat vegetables could grab chicken and pasta and the one that didn’t eat cheese had something to eat. Typically I would mix the pasta with the vegetables, and chicken, add more EVOO and grated parmesan and serve it as a “composed” dish if you will.

For this crowd I used 4 pounds of chicken tenderloins, 5 cups of vegetables, 2 boxes of angel hair pasta, 2 bags of salad and 2 loaves of bread. There were NO leftovers. Whew! I am glad I am not feeding these people every week! I have a feeling this crowd is going to just get bigger and bigger over the next few years. I love the energy of a big family dinner but pulling that off every week would be a challenge for me. Not the number of people, the picky eaters!