Lol, my vote is tacos and/or tortillas. Make the beef (ground or chunks) and some chicken, plus cheese and salad shreds for inside, and sauce. They can stuff what they want in it. Warm or not. Or just have salad. Or salad with the meat in it.
Yep, @abasket. Two topics that get folks rolling: food and suggestng colleges to visit.
Another thing that’s easy is “burrito lasagne”. Just layer salsa, torn corn or flour tortillas, beans, cheese, sliced olives, jalapenos, etc., whatever you like. Make 3 layers or so and it only takes 30 minutes to bake. My kids probably had too much of that when they were little and we were always scrambling for time.
@Iglooo Are you sorry you asked yet? 
My NEW vote is this:
Put 3 pounds pork tenderloin in your slow cooker. Add 2-3 cups of your favorite bottled BBQ sauce (we like Rays sold at Costco) and set for slow for 7 hours. Pull to make it into pulled pork. Have some rolls, coleslaw, fruit and brownies. Never met a kid that did not love this. Leftovers are great and freeze well too. Also, the coleslaw is delicious right on the sandwich. Have loads of napkins. Milk, Beer, tea.
Holy Moly.
The OP has guests, she is going to feed them. Regretfully, these days you can’t seem to please a group of more than one. Some eat meat, some don’t, some are low carb, some are vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, fruitarian, raw food, juice only. The list is endless.
These are guests and the appropriate response would be -wow THANK YOU.
FWIW, my mid to late 20 year old kids and all of their friends LOVE it when they come to our place and hubby makes a big fat medium rare steak for each of them. And we live in the orthorexia capital of the world.
So…how about this…go ahead and make the beef stew. Make a side of pasta, plain. No nothing on it. Those that want the stew over the pasta can go for it. Those that don’t want the meat can warm the pasta and add butter (the kind from a cow, the kind from a cashew or the kind from soy). Or, they can simply add some of the sauce from the stew.
Have a side salad with two dressing choices.
Hope they say thank you.
Beef stew sounds really good to me. I want to go visit you! Have a bag of salad in the fridge, a loaf of good bread , and TJ golden lentils premise with boil a bag rice if there might be a vegan in the mix. My guys tended to bring home women friends who were vegans.
Pulled pork is awesome, but do you really use tenderloin? Cooking something that lean for 7 hours sounds like you’d end up with shoe leather. When we do pulled pork, we use the shoulder or “butt”, something with some marbling.
Late to this, haven’t read all.
We’ve had a lot of visitors from the UK. I always prepare something fairly mild. I personally think it’s a bad idea to go to bed on a stomach full of chili or lasagne, which can be spicy, tomatoey, and greasy/cheesy. Combine that with jet lag and it’s a recipe for indigestion, reflux, and sleeplessness.
I keep it simple. Baked chicken, baked potatoes, salad. I can prepare almost all of that in advance if I have to pick up from the airport.
When I’ve done pulled pork in a crockpot, I’ve also used pork butt. As I mentioned earlier, that is one of the things I’ve made when my kids are home.
I love a good salad, but not after traveling all day in the winter. Nope, give me something warm. It doesn’t have to have meat in it necessarily, but a hot meal would be very welcome for most.
All this talk about things like stew, chili, and soup made me hungry for something like that. I made chili for dinner tonight! Haven’t had it in awhile.
I love making chili with buttermilk cornbread in the winter
Haha I made chili too! I have not flown today though.
I take you wouldn’t mind if you arrive at your host’s place after a long flight and s/he prepares a favorite delicacy of blood and intestines stew, with an appetizer of balut, a side of stinky tofu, and a dessert of durian, with a bowl of dried edible insects on the table while you wait for the food.
Milee30,
yes tenderloin.
omg I would seriously love that.
@ucbalumnus You must travel to some interesting places or have some very culinarily expressive friends.
But…My manners would cause me to smile and say ‘thank you, I’m not hungry right now’. Or, I’d at least give it a try. AND, If I was traveling to an environ where this was the standard fare I’d have informed myself and had would have packed something to deal with the issue.
You see, my dear SIL is a full blown celiac. Not the sheeesheee kind that likes to emote on the horrors of the glutino while drinking a wheat beer. No, actual celiac - who when exposed will have issues within 20 minutes. I’ve watched him be the most gracious of guests who never draws attention to himself and somehow always makes do. On the other hand, I’ve listened to minutes long rantings by people in social situations on why they would never eat ‘XYZ’ and find it rude to even have it offered.
FWIW - Durian ice cream is pretty edible. And for over 5 decades I’ve managed to avoid my German relatives home made blood sausage.
I make a dish my family has named ‘Dietz-hash’. This might work…
Cut up into cubes
potatoes (main ingredient)
bell peppers
onions
root veggie of choice - carrot, rutabaga, parsnips (secondary ingredient)
whole garlic cloves
sausage of choice (or make the sausage in a separate pan)
Toss all of the above with EVOO, salt, pepper, spices of choice - I like basil, marjoram, thyme and oregano. Splash in some high quality balsamic vinegar.
Roast all of the above in a pan until the veggies and potatoes caramelize.
You can top it with sour cream or hot sauce or even a bit of guacamole. People can pick around stuff they don’t like. Avoid the garlic cloves or the onions if those are not your favs. With the sausage on the side the non-meat eaters are appeased. It is gluten and dairy free. Bread can be served on the side.
Once fully cooked the OP can cover the pan with foil and keep it on very low heat in the oven to stay warm. This stuff is actually better the next day. Well, unless the SIL gets first crack in which case there might not be any leftovers.
We like a side salad of cucumber, tomato, onion and bell peppers (yes, doubling up on the cooked ingredients above) fresh basil. Add a nice Burrata - or serve that on the side. This is also gluten, dairy, soy, corn, legume, meat free (did I miss any dietary hot buttons?). People can pick around what they don’t like.
Hi–20-something veteran of multiple trans-Pacific flights every year until recently, chiming in. No specific dietary restrictions and a broad range of experience with food. Beef stew sounds like a fantastic idea, especially if you have a tried-and-true recipe and nobody is vegetarian; I’d also offer something lighter or have it available, like hummus and crackers, fresh veggies and fruit, cold cuts and bread.
International travel can be really unpredictable. Some airlines have really tasty food, others have food that makes me want to vomit. Sometimes I get a stomachache from turbulence, other times I sleep the whole time. But usually when I get to where I’m going, I’m famished and will eat and appreciate whatever is available.
When returning to where my parents live, they always pick us up at the airport with a cooler full of snacks from a convenience store near their house. My favorite post-airline food is a rice ball with tuna and mayonnaise filling. One time they took us out to our favorite local restaurant and we had fried chicken at 1AM. I promise that whatever you do will be appreciated if it is in the realm of sanity for your guests’ dietary situation and customs.
TL;DR: Having done such things many times, I’d love to arrive after a 14 hour flight to beef stew with mashed potatoes and a salad.
Across our family we have vegans, vegetarians, lactose intolerants, celiacs, people who keep kosher, diabetics, etc. I don’t think there is one dish that I could make that would work for everyone we know. It would be so individualized that it would be based on the specific people. As for beef stew, some love it, some hate it…