<p>^^^Kielbasa and sauerkraut is my standard potluck recipe. So easy and always well received.</p>
<p>Hot dogs in consumme. Put them in your crock pot, and put a few cans of consumme (and the rest hot water). Start them about an hour before you want to eat, and put the crock pot on high. Use low sodium hot dogs and don’t start them too early, or the hot dogs get too salty.</p>
<p>You might make chilaquiles (Mexican lasagna). There are a zillion recipes on line. I’ve usually made the vegetarian one from Mollie Katzen’s Still Life with Menu Cookbook, but most of the online ones have meat. It’s easier than lasagna and more interesting.</p>
<p>nice link btw ellen & jersey- thanks</p>
<p>^^^ I have made MANY of pioneer woman’s recipes, PM if you would like some suggestions.</p>
<p>quiche easy to make if you use frozen crust.</p>
<p>marinara & pasta
chili & rice
chicken ceasar salad with LOTS of chicken
stew</p>
<p>This is a good one … we make it up and freeze them - for quick dinners</p>
<p>TATER TOT CASSEROLE
2 lb ground turkey cooked, seasoned, drained
3 2lb bags tater tots
2 cans cream of mushroom
2 cans evaporated milk
2 cans cream of chicken
Brown meat & place in large cass. dish.
Cover with tater tots. Mix soup & milk together.
Pour over top. Bake at 350 for 1 Hour.
Makes 2- 9”X13” pans</p>
<p>Crock Pot Baked Beans</p>
<p>Any mix of favorite hearty beans (canned unless you have time to prepare from dried)
Brown sugar
Catsup
Chopped onions
Worcester Sauce or some cider vinegar
Garlic if you like or other seasonings to fit your crowd</p>
<p>Cook overnight or daytime until the party on low</p>
<p>When I’m really desperate for time I bring a cut up watermelon and some other easy to eat in season fruit.</p>
<p>One of my all-time favorite potluck dishes requires an electric frying pan (which I have), a bottle of red wine, and chorizo sausage. You slice the chorizo into bite sized chunks, put them in the frying pan, and add the red wine, then simmer as long as you want. Serve with toothpicks. (This is not as good prepared in advance, everything gets kind of soggy.)</p>
<p>Another prepared-on-the-spot electric frying pan dish uses frozen peeled shrimp, olive oil, and spicy ginger marinade. Saute the shrimp for a moment, then pour in the marinade. Again, serve with toothpicks. </p>
<p>If I had to prepare something in advance, I’d make mozzarella and tomato and basil salad. I’d cut the tomatoes and the mozzarella in advance, then toss with olive oil, fresh basil leaves, and a bit of balsamic vinegar (not the super pricy stuff, just the everyday stuff) right when I got to the potluck.</p>
<p>If, however, you’re in competitive pot luck circles and you want to win (you know, the kind of area where everyone wants to be known as “she has the best ___”), I’d suggest a cold beef tenderloin, sliced VERY thin, and a few cold dipping sauces.</p>
<p>Chicken salad with grapes and pecans always goes over well. Son likes me to use mandarin oranges instead of the grapes. A bit of curry powder and/or chutney in the dressing is a nice touch.</p>
<p>pesto–make enough for two nights, then cook the pasta each night and mix in half the sauce.</p>
<p>(can you tell our forty-something basil plants are thriving?:))</p>
<p>I make a shepherds pie. very quick and easy. Just beef and potatoes.</p>
<p>Forty-something basil plants, garland? Yikes! Do you have a basil hedge? And when shall I arrive for dinner? (My bad typing made dinner=sinner until I corrected it. I think both are correct)</p>
<p>OP: Pesto works great with orzo for a salad!</p>
<p>The only thing I make when I need to contribute a main dish to a pot luck is a trip to the grocery store for a family-sized Stouffer’s lasagne. Easy, yummy, and no dishes to bring home.</p>
<p>As I’m sure you are all waiting with baited breath… (not ;)) - I ended up taking the advice a friend gave me over the phone, (sorry guys :eek:) and made roll-ups. Bought a cooked chicken, pesto, cilantro, tomatoes, hummus, cukes, lettuce, carrot strips, red pepper, and this very yummy flat bread that’s all extra healthy with flax seed etc (made by Cedars and sold in the refrigerator case). Then I “assembled”. Didn’t cook, but I did put together, rolled up then sliced in 2" slices. Made them fresh each day, and they were REALLY yummy and everyone seemed to like them. (So why do I just take PBJ or a frozen dinner to work for lunch each day, when I could make these??? I don’t know…) Thanks for all your advice, though - I’ll save it for the next potluck! :)</p>
<p>^what a great idea- thanks for letting us know. Am sure many of the recipes posted in this thread will be made this summer, so thanks for starting it, even if you didn’t use any of them !!!</p>
<p>anxiousmom, that is a great idea! Thanks for posting it!</p>