I have to cook for 120 ppl tomorrow. i need a meat and veggie option. any ideas?!
I have to cook for 120 ppl tomorrow. i need a meat and veggie option. any ideas?
i live in a co-op with 120 people and i have to cook every monday. i really have no idea what to make tomorrow. i need a vegitarian friendly dish and a meat dish. i would also like to make a fun salad. i only have 4 hours to cook dinner so it needs to be kinda simple. not mac and cheese though.
Answers:
vegetarian -
this serves 24, just multiply it to however many you need. don't worry aboout the poultry seasoning, it doesn't contain poultry.
Big Squash and Pasta Bake
A pleasant variation on the above, makes a good main dish.
1 pound pasta, such as rotini or shells
8 pounds medium sized yellow squash or zucchini
8 quarts boiling water (takes 20-40 minutes)
2 cups cream sauce (your choice- a little white wine is a favorite)
2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt
1/2 cup finely chopped onion OR celery heart
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley OR celery leaf
2 cups shredded carrots (about 6)
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cups bread crumbs, OR Ritz cracker crumbs, OR French fried onion bits, or Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup large flake nutritional yeast
Bring the water to a boil, boil the pasta just barely done, and scoop it out. Rinse pasta with cold water to stop cooking. Use the boiling water to prepare the squash.
Cut tips off squash and cut each into 3-4 pieces. Drop squash into a large saucepan with just enough boiling water to cover. Cover the pot, return to boil, reduce heat and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.
Mix the bread crumbs and nutritional yeast and set aside.
Drain squash well in colander, saving the water for a broth base. Return squash to pan with the carrots, parsley, and onions and mash until mostly smooth.
Mix the cream sauce and yogurt/sour cream, stir in the squash mix and the pasta.
To bake immediately, pour into 2 greased 3 quart casseroles or 9"x13" pans. Sprinkle with the topping of bread crumbs. Bake in the preheated oven at 375-400 degrees about 35 minutes until bubbly.
******************************...
Meatballs for 25 (there is also a vegetarian option. multiple recipe to amount needed.) Use the quantities below and add 6 to 8 quarts of your favorite sauce to complete your meal. Heat the sauce thoroughly (allow 30 minutes), then add the cooked meatballs and simmer until they are hot through.
About 1 hour for the meatball preparation, 30 minutes baking time for the meatballs, then 40 minutes simmering time in the sauce.
Mix together:
7-7 ? lbs. ground chuck
OR 4 lb. hamburger plus other ground meats to make the weight
4 eggs
3 grated onions with juice, you can substitute grated celery
4 cloves crushed garlic (optional)
Soak in water or milk, squeeze dry, shred and add:
6 slices bread
You may substitute 1 C dry bread crumbs or wheat germ, soaked in milk to moisten, or 1 1/2 cup cooked oatmeal.
For Italian seasoning, use:
4 T mixed Italian herbs
1/2-1 T cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons fennel seed
Mix it all together, take out scoops no larger than ? C, and roll each so it is firm but not tight. You might add a little extra soaked bread or wheat germ to get this to workable consistency.
Arrange them on broiler pans and broil, turning every few minutes, until browned on all sides. Or bake at 350o for 30 minutes, draining fat as needed. Set aside to drain.
Use immediately, or freeze flat on cookie sheets and tranfer to ziploc freezer bags. I keep several bags in the freezer for busy group cooking days.
Vegetarian option: This recipe can be prepared using ground wheat meat or unbeef seitan, soyburger in similar amounts, or reconstituted TVP made up as follows:
7 ? C dry TVP burger
9 C boiling water
Cool, add:
12 eggs
You may add extra soaked bread or wheat germ to get this to workable consistency
******************************...
Cooking large amounts of pasta
It takes 20 minutes to heat each gallon of water. Be sure to allow heating time for the water.
1 pound of pasta makes about 8 cups of cooked noodles or spaghetti. One pound of pasta makes 8 moderate servings or about 10 side servings.
Lasagna noodles are a special case, allow 1 per person. Get the noboil kind if you can, they are thinner and more like fresh, then for the best flavor, parboil for 3-5 minutes before making the casserole.
For each pound you will be cooking, bring 1 gallon of water to a full, rolling boil. Add the pasta about ? lb. at a time, or in a slow steady stream if it is pourable. If the water stops boiling when you add the pasta, stir the noodles until it comes back to the boil, then count 8-12 minutes for the first pound, plus about 5 minutes for each additional pound. Drain. Serve at once, or use sauce or butter to prevent it from sticking to itself. Avoid rinsing in cold water unless you are going to use it for pasta salad.
******************************...
The water in which whole-grain pasta has been cooked can be boiled down for use in stocks or sauces.
Meatloaf, Pot Roast, or Lasagna with a cobb salad.
Make Baked Ziti as the "Vegetarian Option"- no meat in there, and then make another few pans, but add ground beef and pork sausage, and there's your meat!
PS- why on EARTH would you agree to this EVERY Monday?????? I think I would lose my mind!!!
Vegetable stir fry.
Vegetarian soup which includes cabbage, carrots, celery and noodles.
Chicken soup with vegetables. (Same ingredients as veg soup just add boneless chicken) can add wontons instead of chicken if you got some.
Roast lamb with gravy served with mashed potatoes and beans.
Four hours? You'll need to prep the day before.
Meatless Lasagna (&and cheese if permitted) lined with baked slices of egg plant and a good store bought tomato sauce (seeing time is short).
Large mixed green salad for everyone.
Meat dish: Hungarian Goulash & white (pre-cooked) white rice.
You could have a pasta bar. Make differnent kinds of noodles, sauces, veggies and some meats like shrimp, cut-up chicken and meatballs all in seperate bowls. That way everyone can mix together what they like. It's also easy and cheap and the leftovers will save well. Don't forget the salad and bread too!
Spaghetti!!!
Make the garlic bread, salad, veggies
COok plenty of pasta, put it all together in however many containers you need to hold it
make plenty of meatballs, and put them in a little sauce in one container.
Make a HUGE container of sauce without any meat.
That should make both carnivores and vegetarians happy.
Should be pretty easy... especially if you buy ready-made garlic bread (should be okay if your vegetarian friends aren't strict vegans. If so.. you may need to make them some garlic bread with a totally vegetable oil based margerine and garlic powder)
The salad? Garden salad. (lettuce, Tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, carrot shreds)
Have crutons, vegetarian bacon bits, and a cheese-less italian dressing or vinagarette handy for people to help themselves to.