How about something like burritos, using low-carb tortillas? Couple cans of refried beans, some salsa, some onions, some chili powder, and some cheese (pre-shredded cheddar) is what I use. I mix the beans and salsa together, and then spread on the tortilla. Sprinkle with chili powder, chopped onion, and cheese. Roll up and nuke at about 50% power for about 2 minutes. Messy, so I eat with a knife and fork. You can make as many or as few as you need.

Other ingredients like more salsa, chopped tomatoes, and green peppers are nice too.

How about chicken caesar salad and italian bread/bruschetta? It's fantastic - we get raves whenever we have it, and my son's friends call him up specifically to see when we're serving it. It's really really good. I eat it without the chicken and it's still amazing.

For six:
2 packs of Perdue Short Cuts cooked chicken (it's already cut up) - any flavor except lemon (it doesn't have to be Perdue, obviously)
4 heads romaine
some parm or romano
Ken's creamy caesar dressing
croutons (optional)
anchovies (optional)

Chop up the romaine. I like to chop up the chicken even smaller. Chop up the anchovies. Toss everything together, except you may want to put anchovies and croutons on the side.

We slice crusty bread on the diagonal, and make dipping oil, and everyone sops up oil with their bread. The oil is the dark green olive oil with chopped up garlic, salt, pepper, parm or romano, and some chopped garlic. Or instead of dipping oil you can make bruschetta, which is basically chopped up tomatoes and olive oil and garlic and cheeses and spices. Serve it hot - goes great with the salad. Put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes.

Rosemary chicken and zucchini.

Make a marinade of oil, balsalmic vinegar, rosemary, salt + pepper. The measurements aren't exact - you can do equal parts oil and vinegar. If you think balsamic vinegar is too strong just half the vinegar. Throw that on the chicken (whole chicken or chicken breasts. Whatever.) Bake it or grill it.

For the zucchini - you can use the same marinade if you want and roast it in the oven. Or just steam it in the microwave without the marinade.

Or you can skip the zucchini and have a lovely cucumber and onion salad instead.

I should mention that I love rosemary and use it almost everytime I cook. If it's something you associate with Thanksgiving - then um. Use something else.

Baked Ziti?

Low carb, Teeps, low carb.

I suggest baked chicken breast on a salad mix with good salad veggies and a zingy dressing. Maybe garlic bread for those who can eat it.

Or what iconomy suggests... Yum.

Chicken breasts baked separately in a foil bag with mushrooms, onions, thyme, salt, pepper and a slug of wine if you feel like it, or a bit of olive oil if you don't. Bake for about 40ish minutes at 375ish (I never check).

Serve with couscous.

Roast chicken, - buy either those little poussins or else chicken pieces with the skin on (you need the skin for flavour and moisture). Cut slits in the skin, stuff slits with sprigs of rosemary and pieces of garlic. Roast, 30 minutes or until done (you'll know when it's done, I think, but it's when the juices run clear).

Roasted vegetables - cherry tomatoes, zucchini, red onion, mushrooms, bell peppers, baby carrots and lots of garlic in a large roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and fresh herbs (parsley, basil, oregano, rosemary). Roast in a hot oven for 30 minutes, or until the veggies are well done, with a slightly charred look (I do not mean burned!).

Serve with crusty bread, rice or noodles, for those who will want carbs.

For dessert - seasonal fruit salad served with fromage frais, crème frâiche, cream or ice cream.

Damn, y'all are good.

Egg dishes are cheap, fast protein. I make a skillet sized Florentine omelet that serves 4 to 6, easily.

For 6:

18 eggs
2 12 oz pkgs frozen spinach
8 oz box fresh mushrooms
2 medium sweet onions
2 12 oz packages bacon
1 tbs basil dried flakes
1 tsp marjoram dried flakes
2 8 oz packages cream cheese
Cracked black pepper, salt to taste

In a large skillet, over medium heat, fry bacon (precut and separated into 1 inch pieces) until crisp. While bacon is frying, defrost spinach in microwave. Chop and add onions and mushrooms to bacon when bacon is nearly crisp. Add basil and marjoram, and pepper, Add spinach, and stir until bacon fat is absorbed, and spinach is well separated, and steam has mostly escaped. When mixture is well cooked, add well whisked egg mixture, and continue to stir until eggs are fluffy and lightly cooked. A minute or so before removing from heat, add cream cheese (sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices) and stir well into mixture, to melt.

I have a really big 14" aluminum skillet in which I can do this, but if your skillet is smaller, or you're working on an electric range with limited heat, do it in coupe of batches, using one package of bacon and one package of spinach, cream cheese, and 9 eggs for each 3 person batch. I generally serve this with buttered egg noodles or white rice cooked in chicken broth, for a quick, low cost supper.

my very easy recipe:
salmon steaks (one per person, I guess). Wash them, salt and pepper them, add some mushed garlic, a teaspoon of oil on each of them, a few drops of lemon juice (or as much as you like), maybe some dill or other aromatics available (capers are good too). Fold each in aluminum foil, loose ends at the top and tightly sealed and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Unfold and serve with the juices. Accompany with some brown rice and a tossed salad.

Okay, I'd love to weigh in on this topic, but I'm not so hot in the kitchen meself. (Will not prevent me from getting on allrecipes.com, however. I may be not-so-hot, but I'm not completely retarded either).

Let me just say that I'm DEFINITELY doing all of the driving tomorrow, love. Had no idea you were Designated Chef as well. Let me know what else I can do...

essexjan - have you tried this? Get a bag of frozen fruit (something like fruits of the forest), let it defrost for about 15 minutes, put it in a blender with some half-fat creme fraiche and some icing sugar and pulse it. Instant and very yummy ice cream.

Get a box of Ritz crackers. Pull two pristine ones from the sleeve; spread a thin layer of creamy peanut butter on each one.

Break off a little chunk, not much more than an average bowl's worth, from that crown nug you've been saving for the holidays. Tear it up like you were rolling a doobie with it, then sprinkle it on the peanut-buttery crackers.

Smush the sides together, so the peanut butter and the pot are all combined, and rotate a little to make sure everything's airtight. You might want to be sure there aren't any dry leafy spots near the edges, as they will just burn in the oven.

Wrap the cracker loosely in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes. Serve with a glass of milk.

It won't be the best tasting peanut butter cracker you've ever had, but it will get you high for about five hours. Happy Thanksgiving.

A big pot of chili, grilled cheese sandwiches, and a tossed salad.

Basic chili

Start to simmer:

3 cans of chopped tomatoes (including the juice)
3 cans of kidney beans (including the juice)
chili powder (I have found that you really can't add too much of those commercial chili powders, but do watch if you get a specialty chili powder)

Crumble fry:

2 pounds of ground steak
1 chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper

Add meat to pot and continue with a nice bubbling simmer.
Don't forget the crackers.

This should give you half an hour to make the grilled cheese.

Salad: just pick up a bag with a light, clear dressing (I don't like creamy dressings on salads served with chili. That's just my personal preference.)

Beer, naturally, but an insistent, fruity red wine would be my pick.

Also simple and quick:

Italian Stir Fry

Start the pasta (1/2 cup to a full cup per person, you are shooting for pasta to be about 20% to 25% of the finished dish, less is better). Spagehetti is ok, shells or spirals are better, mini cheese raviolis rock.

Heat the wok.
Add oil to hot wok.

Cook the meat: sausage, chicken, shrimp, beef strips, pork medallions, or some combination thereof (my son likes sausage and shrimp together)

Chop tomatoes, garlic, zuchini, broccoli, onion, bell pepper, and any other vegetable you want. Tomatoes are optional as are any other of the veggies.

Add veggies to cooked meat.

Sprinkle gently with oregano and heavily with basil. If you ask yourself, gee, is that too much basil, you've hit it.

Add the cooked pasta.

Once everything is well mixed and hot, serve. Try not to overcook.

Garlic bread or breadsticks.
Salad.
Virtually any italian wine.

Eton Mess:

450g (1 lb) - Strawberries (or frozen mixed berries)
375ml (12 fl oz) - Heavy or Whipping cream (or a big can of aerosol cream)
Some Meringue (e.g. a box of those little meringue nests you can buy)
75 ml (2½ fl oz) - Kirsch (optional)
A few sprigs Mint (optional)

Chop and hull the strawberries, reserving a few for decoration. Or defrost the berries)
Place in a bowl and add the kirsch (optional).
Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, fold in the berries and juices
Crush the meringues and fold into the mixture
Spoon into small sundae dishes or wine glasses, decorate with the reserved berries and a sprig of mint.
Serve immediately.

Just in case it comes in handy in combination with any of the above, my easy mushroom soup: a pound of mushrooms, one zucchini, one onion, one red pepper; buzz them up fine in a food processor and sautee in olive oil, add water (enough to get the consistency you want) and simmer. Before serving, dump a small container of low fat cottage cheese in there and buzz with a handheld blender (add more water if needed). Yummy! You can sub any chicken or vegetable stock for the water, of course.

Pan Asian Stir Fry with anything but poultry (you're having turkey thursday!)

A red pepper
1/2 a sweet onion
like 4 cloves garlic
tofu or shrimp, your choice
rice noodles (best) OR in a pinch, a couple packages of ramen (you're just using the noodles, don't panic)
bok choy or broccoli (you can sometimes buy bags of "broccoli slaw" which is awesome for stir fry
a couple of carrots
mushrooms
pretty much any veggie in the world, actually
one egg
frying oil - peanut? Canola? Whatever.

Sauce: amounts are totally loose.
1/2 c. tamari
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
juice of 1.5 limes or lemons
3 or 4 cloves chopped garlic
dash or two of sesame oil
dash or two of hot sauce
variable amoutns I have to go now fish sauce & thai red curry paste (both are available at a supermarket near you, I swear.)

If using tofu, cut it into cubes & brown it first. If shrimp, peel it.
Cook & drain your noodles.

Saute veggies in the usual order - hard veg first, like onions, garlic (reserve some garlic for the sauce)& peppers & carrots & broccoli first. Then soft veg like zucchini & mushrooms & any greens. I like to get the onions to limp & beginning to brown, then throw in some tamari, lime juice, a little water & cover for a moment so the broccoli & carrots steam a bit. When that's done, toss in the shrimp or the tofu & stir fry just very quickly. Add the noodles. Stir it all together. Make a whole in the center. Add the egg; break the yolk. Fold the noodles over the top of it & let it be for a moment until it's starting to set. Add the sauce & stir it all together. Fast, good, cheap, easy.

Damn, I knew I would forget the cheese! I like romano.

roast some beets, serve with some arugula and goat cheese drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar as the best salad ever!

and umm for food? can't you just make some nice white bean spread and get some artichoke bread spread and let folks have at it with veggies, crackers, and bread? That way folks who want to abstain can, and either way it's all very casual and nice and not heavy so close to thanksgiving...

Reading through this thread is going to wreck my diet. Everybody's suggestions sound so good.

Too bad a Pot-Luck Meetup is a bit inconvenient.

Ignoring the carb thing: a nice big pan of baked ziti, with meat sauce and LOTS and LOTS of ricotta. A nice loaf of garlic bread and a Ceasar salad.

My first thought was spaghetti w/ whole wheat angelhair, but doesn't necessarily fill the low carb bill... Man this thread is making me STARVE.

Chicken Caesar Lasagne

I know it sounds strange, but I swear it's REALLY good.