If the job of planning lunch catering menu has landed on your shoulders, do not panic. While this task is not as easy as you might wish it to be, it is not an extremely difficult task either. All that is needed is proper planning, and you will find that the lunch catering will go quite smoothly once you plan well.
To begin with, make your decisions. Decide the theme of the lunch, the kind of food that will please the palates of those invited, the number of people invited, as well as the budget of the lunch. This would depend, to a large extent, on whether the lunch is an official one or an informal party.
If it is a corporate lunch or an office party, the lunch catering menu could include items such as a vegetarian platter, a Deli sandwich platter, wrap sandwich platter, upscale platter, fresh salad platter or a vegetarian meze platter.
Get a sandwich bar created by discussing this with your local deli. Include different types of meats such as sliced turkey, ham and chicken. Pickles, chips, finger food sides and olives could be served with the meat in order to give it a subtle touch of class. Do not try anything innovative in a formal lunch.
In the case of an informal lunch such as a family gathering or a lunch among friends, you can plan a cookout such as grilling. Your lunch catering menu if you choose grilled food, could include hamburgers, hotdogs and sausages, served with pickles, tomatoes and onions. Also be sure to include cabbages and potato made into cold salads.
If you would like to have an informal lunch, minus the long cooking time, you can opt for fish. Tuna steaks or white fish that has been steamed with vegetables in tinfoil on the grill will be perfect for a quick and tasty lunch among friends. Here’s a word of caution, though. Before planning a fish meal, check whether any of your guests suffer from allergies to seafood.
If the lunch is a celebration, the menu will need to include heartier dishes. You can go in for chops or grilled steaks, with grilled vegetables or a tossed salad as a side dish.
If the day is especially hot, you might want to go in for a cold lunch. The menu could include chilled shrimp that has been boiled and peeled, along with different types of sushi and cold green salad. A salad bar is optional. You can, however, include on the menu cooked and chilled steak, turkey, chicken or ham along with grated cheese and boiled eggs with different types of dressings.
As you get involved in deciding a proper lunch catering menu, you will find that the job is no longer a task. It becomes exciting and engaging, as you can be as innovative as you please based on the occasion. In the rare event of your being unable to decide on anything good, there are professionals who handle lunch catering, and who can fix the most perfect menus, who will be happy to offer you their services.