Ft 14075

[oldham1]

Dishes which form the basis of light meals (8) -e-a-i-e

[baitress]

could be melamine.
a plastic used for making plates etc.

[bibblebub]

have just looked for all possible answers with those letters and melamine (given by baitress above) and gelatine are the only 2 which seem to have any connection with the clue whatsoever

[oldham1]

Thanks to you both

[Sparafucile]

It can't be 'gelatine',it has to start with'm' - because of the NINA around the perimeter.Which leaves 'melamine' but I am unable to parse it!

[RocW]

I still can't work out whether it is melamine or gelatine. Sorry, Sparafucile, I may be being extremely dim but what has "NINA" got to do with anything?

[Sparafucile]

Sorry about the delay in answering RocW!
A NINA is a 'message',usually around the perimeter of a puzzle.In this case it reads'Happy birthday Mister President' For more on Ninas see -
http://www.crosswordu.../10/what-is-nina.html

[dannyk13]

Melamine