I'll stick my neck way out and suggest the foolishly easy boiled potatoes, sliced and dressed while warm with olive oil, salt, and perhaps a little fresh chopped parsley. Good potatoes and good oil, of course. It seems to me that your lunch needs a little weight to it, low carb or not, and some earthy friendly non-acid flavors.

Or, is cabbage an option? are Indian seasonings too daring? Recently I made Savoy cabbage, sauteing a chopped onion in oil, adding fresh-ground cumin, then the thinly sliced cabbage, with salt, pepper, and turmeric. This is good hot or cold.

I'm not too optimistic about these suggestions, but present them for your consideration.

I think a neutral side is in order, everything you list is something with a twist. So, maybe plain old applesauce without cinnamon, or, sliced pears or a canned peach half, or mashed potatoes no gravy with chives, or warm buttered corn kernels. Something simple and familiar, homey, recognizable.

For your tapioca pudding in a parfait cup perhaps a simple 'Nilla wafer cookie on top, optional squirt of Reddiwip.

I can't get my head around ham and swiss on raisin bread...? doesn't sound good at all to me.
Not sure what you want...you have a green salad for the salad plate and a 3 compartment plate which will have a sandwich, a marinated pinto bean salad, and some steamed veggies and tapioca pudding in a parfait glass. Where will you put another side?

If I were making your luncheon, I would suggest buying a whole "loaf" of one of those deli hams, like Farmland, baking it with a glaze slicing it and serving a couple 1/4 inch slices half the ham's width with a little spoonful of a sugar, mustard, pineapple glaze, perhaps with raisins in it spooned over the top. A slice of the raisin bread, your steamed veggies which likely will be green beans and then a spoonful of that baked pineapple, cheesy thing...much loved by all the little fussy women I have served it to. I can picture a pretty plate with that pink ham, shiny with the glaze, green of the veggies, and golden yellow of the pineapple cheesy thing. I think you will get a lot more bang with the pineapple than pinto beans.
You want to take it over the top, make some honey/lemon butter and put a little dish on each table for the bread

Your budget allows you $66 for the luncheon. Figure 10 for the ham about 10 for the raisin bread unless you make it yourself, not hard, about 10 for the salad, about 6 for the green beans unless you buy frozen, about 12 for the pineapple of you use food service sized cans of pineapple....leaving you with about 14 for coffee, tea and an appetizer if you wish.

I'd leave out the nuts. Semi-toothless means dental work and partials and those things are NOT nut-friendly.

ham & Swiss on raisin bread,

That sounds awful, and wouldn't look very appetizing, either.

Sandwiches are hard for the "toothless" to bite. Sandwiches are hard for a seven year old with braces to bite.

Why not a quiche. Eggs are cheap, and nutritious. You don't even need to make crusts, since it's a custard, just bake it in a big sheet cake pan. And you can add stuff - spinach, ham, a mix of cheeses, tomatoes, etc.

With a (chopped green) salad, and/or fruit, and bread or rolls. Cake for dessert. The cinnamon applesauce sounds good, too.

Good luck

I don't understand the raisin bread with ham andswiss either. Seems to me another healthy bread would do the trick. Maybe a broccoli salad, without the nuts for a side. I do like the applesauce. How old are these people you will be feeding? I know that when my mother was in a nursing home environment she had a hard time feeding herself and either my sister was there to help when she could or a nurse. Maybe cut the sandwich in 4 pieces on the plate would also help. Maybe some jello of various flavors would also be nice. I hope the folks enjoy the food.

Inexpensive and usually loved: deviled eggs, one half per person. No carbs.

Thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions!

Many of the ladies are in their 70s, 80s, and some in their 90s. The group leader for the luncheon is focused on ham and Swiss on (cinnamon!) raisin bread. In my brain, it doesn't quite work, but she swears by it and has traditionally offered it for January luncheons in the past. She is also a fan of the marinated bean salad.

I'll make some suggestions based on your suggestions above! :O)

What is the baked pineapple cheesy thing?

Salty ham with sweet raisins is brilliant. Fruit and cheese is another great pairing. I can see why this has traditionally worked.

For a side salad, how about a high-protein grain such as quinoa, millet or kamut, with roasted butternut squash and kale?

I think this is a great combo with a lot of nutrients, color and texture, and there are many recipes out there to get inspiration from.

An easy appetizer might be cream cheese on cut-out white bread with a thin slice of cucumber on top with a sprinkle of finely chopped dill. It's an "old" favorite.

I agree with everyone else... the ham/cheese/raisin bread sounds like something I'd set aside. BUT, we have a favorite restaurant here that serves Chicken Salad on a Cranberry Nut Bread that is really good.

I do like the idea of a really good Quiche with a nice side salad. Or, as Lindac suggested - chicken salad served plain on top of something: avocado, tomato, or just a cup-ish lettuce leaf.

Thank you, LindaC, before your post I almost typed, "it's hell getting old".

I like the idea of a chunky applesauce and deviled egg. A cup of soup would be nice.

The raisin bread thing sounds gross.

Yeah....cream cheese, mixed with a little mayo spread on that light party rye, with cucumber and dill....yummy!
Another thing I have done is those frilled picks with a strawberry, a grape and a pineapple chunk...or a grape cube of cheese and pineapple. labor intensive but for only 35 not a big deal.

I don't understand the suggestions of serving another piece of bread (with whatever on it) when the main dish is a sandwich. Seems VERY carb heavy and not a healthy choice.

Lindac, I *know* you have far more experience than my group leader, no matter that she is older than you! <g>

I'm treading carefully, since I'm not the group leader for this lunch, and I do appreciate the Hostess listening to my suggestions--whether or not anything happens along those lines, well, I'm just a helper after all.

Thank you all for your continuing suggestions!

Ditto on the gross-sounding sandwich. I can't imagine it as something a majority of any large group would care for - too weird! Not to mention that ham is a high sodium food & that many older people may be on sodium-restricted diets. What's wrong with chicken or turkey salads (or simply slices) on a variety of breads?

Sorry - I just couldn't help but add my 2 cents...

I'm glad I'm not the only one repulsed by cinnamon-raisin bread and ham & cheese. Deviled eggs sound perfect. Speaking of eggs, a quiche with ham and swiss or spinach and swiss sounds a whole lot tastier. It can be made in jelly roll pans, successfully, for a group. There is also a lot of dairy in that menu, which can be problematic. How about a modified (no nut) waldorf salad?

I won't judge the ham/swiss/cinnamon-raisin bread until I try it... but I want mustard on mine. :)

How about an orange jello, loaded with crushed pineapple, mandarin oranges, and some coarsely chopped maraschino cherries? Everyone seems to love it!

Add some mini marshmallows and I'm all over that one!

But how to convince the" boss of the luncheon" lady that the sandwich does not have a great number of fans? Some jobs are not easy.

I am not saying you should save the boss from herself or her ideas about the sandwich. I've been there and taken the low road-kept my mouth shut about too many carby pasta salads-thinking people are more important than a 'gourmet' lunch-the old gourmet word. Your call.

This upcoming lunch is going to be interesting, that's for sure!

Sounds like the honcho is set on the sandwich (and I'll add my "pass" to it FWIW!) but how about a compromise? Ham salad with cheese and serve the raisin bread on the side. People would have an easier time chewing, the bread would be better accepted by the (read "us") naysayers and those that want it together can make a sandwich if they want.

Deviled eggs sound good and I will say I've never been a quiche fan but at a luncheon at the nursing home I was in a while back served a few quiches. The bacon, sausage & cheese one - I went back for seconds on that.

I'm also a fan of less fancified especially on fruit. I'd take my applesauce without cinnamon, but then again I prefer mine unsweetened too and I'm sure that would not go over in this group. Mixed fruit cup is extremely refreshing. And the spears of fruit sound great and reasonably budget-friendly.

As for the creamy cucumber salad, wasn't that nixed by the "no cuke salad" clause?

Good luck. It should be interesting!