<p>Hi - I’m supposed to take a main course dish to a potluck tomorrow and to one the following day and I need HELP!!! What could I bring that would be easy to make and could be made ahead of time times two??? I’m fresh out of ideas.</p>
<p>Lasagna? Easy to pre-assemble and bake when needed (or bake and then reheat?)</p>
<p>On another thread, someone had a recipe for a dish consisting of frozen ravioli layered with marinara sauce and then baked – kind of like lasagne with much less work. I don’t recall the thread, though.</p>
<p>A favorite I often use for potluck events is called Taco Lasagna (although it’s actually tortillas that are used), kind of a Mexican take on lasagna with tortillas instead of lasagna noodles, salsa, and sour cream. It’s yummy, easy to make and always popular. Can be made ahead and heated the day of. If you’d like the recipe, feel free to PM me. :)</p>
<p>Does it have to be a main dish, or could it be a side dish ? Grilled veggies are good and can be made ahead and put in a tin foil disposable casserole. I made some last week for a cookout… I had a lot to cook the following day.
It was a mix of red,yellow and orange peppers, asparagus, vidalia onions , broccoli and tomatoes. tossed in olive oil , salt and pepper . Then I sauteed some fresh oregano, garlic, and chopped kalamata olives and put it on top. Easy, colorful and tasty…and I actually cooked it on my stovetop on my double burner grill pan</p>
<p>check out pioneerwoman.com - great recipes. She won food blogger of the year this year, will be featured in upcoming Southern Living magazine and a cookbook coming out. </p>
<p>I made Asian Noodle Salad otherwise known as Pioneer Woman’s Best ever Salad, for a womans meeting and it was a hit supporting the 200 plus bloggers who endorsed this salad. </p>
<p>It is made with pasta, (soba noodles great if you have them) so it can be made ahead. </p>
<p>If you read the posts about this salad, you will see that this is a gem. </p>
<p>Her TexasSheetCake another hit, for group potluck, if you need dessert.</p>
<p>I have two dishes that I take to potlucks: garlic bread and pasta salad. There is never any left of either. The pasta salad is a little expensive to make, but it is really good and gets lots of positive comments. It is filling enough for a main dish, esp. in the summer.</p>
<p>Here is my recipe–amounts are flexible.</p>
<p>Michwolverine’s Pasta Salad
tortellini pasta (spinach-filled is good; fresh kind of pasta is best)
green onions
red peppers
broccoli (all veggies cut in small pieces, can blanch the broccoli if you wish)
artichoke hearts (marinated in olive oil best)
fresh tomatoes cut in quarters or chunks
(can add other fresh veggies, capers, olives, etc.)
cubes of feta cheese or other cheese
chunks of chicken or smoked salmon or can be vegetarian</p>
<p>Cook pasta, assemble other ingredients, combine, pour on Paul Newman’s original Italian bottled dressing. Use a whole bottle for a large batch of salad. Best if it sits in the frig. for a couple hours before serving. </p>
<p>You can make a very large amount of this and divide in two for the two dinners.</p>
<p>cheating ravioli lasagna:</p>
<p>Get some frozen cheese ravioli, good bottled marinara sauce, shredded mozzarella, and some excellent Parmesan.</p>
<p>Film olive oil on the bottom of a rectangular baking dish and film the bottom with marinara.</p>
<p>Start layering:
ravioli, mozzarella, marinara, parmesan.</p>
<p>End with marinara and parmesan. Make sure that the last layer of ravioli is covered with sauce.</p>
<p>Cover the pan with foil, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 15 minutes more (I am estimating times here).</p>
<p>Hope you like it!</p>
<p>We make a version of mafool’s ravioli lasagna where you add a box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed out, on top of the first layer of ravioli before the marinara sauce. Delicious twist if you like spinach!</p>
<p>Chili con carne.</p>
<h1>9 ^^I do that, too; very good. Actually, you can get a bag of fresh, baby spinach and layer spinach leaves in with the rest. They cook while the thing bakes!</h1>
<p>The Silver Palate linguini with basil, brie and tomato. The sauce must be made ahead, so you can make enough for two batches and cook enough linguini for each potluck at the last minute. Fresh linguini takes no time to cook.</p>
<p>Thanks for the ideas, guys. I’m pondering here… pondering… hmmmmm…</p>
<p>Buy a lasagna from Sam’s.</p>
<p>chicken caesar salad
salad with shredded poached chicken breasts, scallions, almonds sauteed in butter with Girard’s champagne vinigrette</p>
<p>thepioneerwoman.com</p>
<p>I would make enough barbecued chicken drumettes- ( with some sort of spice rub)
served warm the first day and cold the next.
pasta just sounds too heavy for summer to me-
I have made my share of pasta salads though.
pasta- steamed broccoli/cherry tomatoes/dry salami/olives/artichoke hearts , some times some sort of soft cheese- with newmans’ italian dressing</p>
<p>ellemenope - thanks for correction thepioneerwoman.com
Love her writing, sense of humor and have made many of her recipes, if anyone is interested. </p>
<p>The Asian Noodle Pasta Salad, great make ahead, but cutting ingredients, assembling at event, and drench with that dressing. Everyone at Womans Club dinner wanted the recipe!</p>
<p>Here is link for those who may need a yummy summer recipe
[The</a> Pioneer Woman Cooks - Ree Drummond](<a href=“http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/03/my_most_favorite_salad_ever_ever_ever_ever/]The”>Summer Noodle Salad with Soy-Ginger Dressing)</p>
<p>An easy potluck main dish to do is kielbasa and sauerkraut. Mix a small can of sauerkraut with a bit of extra water, a small onion chopped thinly, a round of kielbasa (I cut it into slices or chunks before cooking), and coarsely ground pepper in a crock pot. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or low 6-8 hours, making sure the edges don’t burn badly. This recipe can be doubled, tripled, or whatever, and is one of those that gets better with each reheating.</p>