Get tips for a great potluck offering and a recipe for tasty (and portable!) broccoli salad.
Photo: Renee Hirschberg
It's one of the best times of year. The weather is still warm, but since fall's upon us, you can throw on your favorite sweatshirt in the evening. The days are longer than the nights. Summer entertaining is transitioning into fall and holiday entertaining, which means you'll need to dust off your best potluck recipe.
Potluck parties give you a chance to showcase the dishes you've been seeing on Pinterest, practicing in your kitchen, or concocting in your head. The excitement of picking out the perfect dish and executing it the best that you can builds as the event draws closer. But how do you pick out that perfect dish?
I have compiled a list of my top five rules when putting together a crowd-pleasing dish. If you follow these rules, you'll be fielding requests for your recipes left and right!
- Know the dietary restrictions of your crowd. This is the first rule for a reason. Not many people (unless they themselves have restrictions) think about the dietary restrictions of the guests attending the party. Vegetarians everywhere can probably relate to being limited to the green salad and dessert at potlucks as their co-partiers relish their bacon-laden offerings. Consider this when you're creating your dish and your food-restricted friends will be grateful! Think about the substitutions you can make in a favorite recipe to accommodate your vegan, gluten free, dairy intolerant friend, and they'll be a friend for life!
- Presentation is key. No matter how delicious your buffalo chicken dip is, if it looks like something that has already been digested once, it will be the last kid picked for kickball at this potluck! Take some time to make your dish pretty, add a garnish, use some color. Think about the container you're using and how it will travel and keep. All of this thoughtfulness will pay off when your dish is the first one picked clean!
- Consider how you will transport your dish. Once you've spent time making your dish beautiful, it would be a shame to destroy it on your way to the party. Planning ahead and making sure you have the right dish transport system, like this insulated casserole carrier, will keep you from an underwhelming presentation.
- Get all the info. Talk to your host before the party to find out what other guests are bringing before you make your dish choice. There's nothing worse than showing up at a potluck party with 13 caprese salads and not one dessert.
- Like what you make. If all else fails, make a dish you know you'll love. You can't guarantee you'll love every other dish at the party, so make something you wouldn't mind making a meal of. Chances are, others will feel the same way about the dish that you do.
I couldn't write an entire post on potlucks without giving you a recipe that follows the rules. I brought this broccoli salad to our family Memorial Day potluck, and it was a big success! I made the choice to use "bacon bits" instead of real bacon in order to keep the dish vegetarian. The salad was delicious and only got better the longer it marinated...a potluck success!
Potluck Broccoli Salad
1/2 small vidallia onion, diced
4 tablespoons white distilled vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar
2 broccoli crowns, chopped small
1/2 pound red seedless grapes, halved
1/3 cup bacon bits (can substitute crispy, cooked, crumbled bacon)
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, shelled (substitute your favorite nut)
1/3 cup shredded cheese (cook's choice, mozzarella and cheddar are recommended)
1 cup mayonnaise (may sub light mayo)
Extra cheese, seeds, and bacon bits for garnish
1) In a mixing bowl, combine onion, vinegar, and sugar.
2) Stir well and set aside while you prep the other ingredients.
Photo: Renee Hirschberg
3) In a large salad bowl, stir together broccoli, grapes, bacon bits, seeds and cheese.
4) Add mayo to the onion mixture and stir well.
5) Slowly pour half of the dressing over the salad and mix well.
6) Taste for the desired amount of dressing and add more until you get to the desired result. (I use about 3/4 of the dressing.)
7) When salad is well dressed and mixed, top with your garnishes, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. This salad should marinate for at least an hour, but is great when made the night before.
8) Sit back and enjoy your potluck with delicious food and great company!
