<p>DD is in an informal dinner coop on her hall. They cook Sun-Wed. in teams of 2 (occasionally 3). The coop started at 14 but now has grown to 19, including 1 vegetarian and 1 person who keeps kosher. DD complains that all anyone ever cooks are sausages, noodles, and chicken. Anyone have any reasonably quick and easy recipes that can be expanded to feed 19 and are a little different from the usual fare? I sent her a lentil soup recipe and an Indian chicken and dal recipe, but I’m running out of ideas. Thanks.</p>
<p>Chicken enchiladas - Heat good-quality canned green enchilada sauce in a deep skillet; dip flour tortillas in sauce one at a time to soften them; lay across the center of each tortilla some small pieces of store-bought rotisserie or home-roasted chicken (pulled off the bone), grated white cheddar, minced onion, and cilantro; roll up each tortilla and put seam down in 9x13 pans; pour plenty of green sauce on top and bake for 25 minutes until hot.</p>
<p>Black bean chili. Fusilli pasta tossed with sauteed fresh tomatoes, garlic, toasted pine nuts, fresh basil, and cheese (can be multiplied to feed many). Baked polenta casserole layered with cheese and tomato sauce. Teriyaki chicken (marinate boneless chicken leg/thigh meat for 30 min. then broil). Chicken chicken salad. Spinach lasagne with veggies.</p>
<p>We like mexican. Enciladas if she wants to take the time. Burritos or tacos if she is in a rush. I would also be tempted to try veggie chili with rice and cheese, or a gumbo or jambalya. </p>
<p>My brother swears by baked potatos with all kinds of toppings- chili, broccoli cheese, bacon bits, sour cream, chives, etc, etc. With a green salad and dessert, that would probably work nicely.</p>
<p>Assemble-your-own burritos/tacos/tostadas: warm tortilla/shell, vegetarian refried beans, quacamole, salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, black olives, onions; plus Mexican rice if ambitious.</p>
<p>Oops, too slow to post! Cross-posted with Karen Colleges. And I was going to suggest baked potatoes, too!</p>
<p>Stir-fry is a fast and easy way to incorporate more vegetables into diet.</p>
<p>You use the same basic stuff as pasta fagioli…</p>
<p>2 cups chick stock
2 cps whole wheat pasta of choice
4 cloves garlic
1 16 oz of minced tomatos…(any type will work)
4 tbls olive oil
1/4 c. onions
1/2 c celery
1 can canelli beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1/4 c parm cheese sprinkled in while cooking to taste…use leftover on individual bowls…(cause I hate Parm cheese flavor, lol)</p>
<p>simmer all ingredients in larger pot
add additional parm if necessary</p>
<p>Meatless lasagna will meet everyones dietary restrictions, unless the vegetarian is really vegan, and is easy to make in large quantities. In fact, I taught my self to make lasagna in college as part of the once a month pasta pig-outs my dorm floor had. Everyone would pick a course and a dish and make enough quantity for 15-20. The key to great lasagna is to use a variety of cheeses (I use part skim ricotta, part skim mozzarella and parmesan) and the gravy ( I make it from scratch using tomato puree and paste, various seasonings like garlic and basil and a secret ingredient 
for sweetness and to offset the natural acidity of the tomatoes). Also, I assemble the lasagnas with the pasta uncooked and let it cook during the baking process so that it is not over-cooked and mushy.</p>
<p>Chinese food lends itself to accommodating different tastes. You can save portions of people’s food before throwing in the meat for those who are vegetarians. For folks who are kosher, you have to know precisely what their restrictions are, as these can vary.</p>
<p>Tofu and eggs are a good form of inexpensive protien that stretch well and do well in stir frys. Quiche, omlets, custards are delicious and nutritous! Indian and thai curries (that aren’t too spicy) can have lots of vegetables and the protien of choice for each individual.</p>
<p>I was part of an eating group for several years when dh was at Caltech. It was great fun though ours wasn’t quite as big as your daughters. (10-15 max.) Having one vegetarian and one kosher person strikes me as somewhat inconvenient. How kosher? They don’t have to keep milk and meat on separate plates do they? </p>
<p>Anyway we prided ourselves in being pretty good cooks, with different people having different specialties. I still have the cookbook we put together of our favorite recipes. Some of the things in it that might work for your daughter:</p>
<p>Spaghetti with a choice of meat and meatless sauce
Beef stew
Soup, salad and homemade bread
(good soups included lentil, squash, carrot, greek egg lemon)
hearty salads like three bean, mexican black bean and corn, potato salad
Curries - you could make a vegetable and a meat curry
Chile relenos casserole or chilaquile casserole (basically mexican style quiche with tortillas instead of crust.)
Quiche
Eggplant parmagian
Ratatouille (my office in Germany used to cook it in the oven with some eggs that poached on top)
Jambalaya
Somali Rice (basically a jambalya/briyani style dish with tomatoes, lamb and curry
powder)
We made lots of chicken dishes - mostly oven fried or stir fried
Crockpot cassoulet
Marinated Flank Steak
Burritos (one particularly tasty recipe with tomatillo and pork)
Bluefish on the grill</p>
<p>Mathmom included my favorites.
I keep thinking how hard it is to cook for vegetarian (a vegan would absolutely made it difficult for the 18 others!!) as well as someone Kosher. I’ve juggled the 2 my whole life.</p>
<p>I’d start with vegetable dishes–stir fried, in quiche–or pasta dishes with veggies. Meat or chicken cooked on side. If someone really Kosher, they would need special meats/ckn, and separate pots for cooking. Are they Kosher-style? Enchiladas and omelets cooked to taste are great. Salads of all kinds, where one adds-on</p>
<p>Mathmom–wish you were around to offer cooking class for the novice.
[Caltech:</a> PA 16: Cooking Basics](<a href=“http://caltech.typepad.com/caltech_as_it_happens/pa-16-cooking-basics/]Caltech:”>http://caltech.typepad.com/caltech_as_it_happens/pa-16-cooking-basics/)</p>
<p>I love a crockpot when cooking for a crowd. This group might consider buying a couple of large crockpots for the coop. They aren’t costly and can be used for many things. </p>
<p>I suggest hearty soups, accompanied by salad and bread. Vegetable soup, white chile, potato soup, chicken/rice…lots of good ideas online. How 'bout an old fashioned tuna casserole? This is a challenge, but great prep for real life. Sounds like they are very organized! Good for them!</p>
<p>This recipe (courtesy the Homesick Texan website, but very much like mine) is similar to an enchilada casserole and would need to be doubled for a crowd this large. Although not as good as the ‘real’ thing, Ro-Tel tomatoes can be substituted for any of the canned tomatoes with green chiles, ie: Del Monte. Or just add a can of green chiles when using plain canned toms.</p>
<p>Old-School King Ranch Chicken Casserole</p>
<p>Ingredients:
1 cooked 2 1/2 pound fryer (cooked with cumin, onion, celery and garlic) shredded
10 corn tortillas, torn into 3" pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, seeds and stem removed, diced
2 cups of grated cheddar cheese
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup of chicken broth
1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 tsp. of chile powder</p>
<p>Method:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine soups, broth, Ro-Tel tomatoes and chile powder; blend until smooth.
- Place a layer of chicken in a greased casserole dish.
- Add layers of tortillas, onion, bell peppers, cheese and sauce.
- Repeat layers, ending with cheese.
- Bake uncovered for half an hour or until brown and bubbling.</p>
<p>bookworm, that cooking class at Caltech sounds like fun. Our eating group at Prufrock House is still going strong 25 years later!</p>
<p>Thanks all. I’ll forward the link to this thread to her. </p>
<p>The vegetarian only became one at the beginning of the year, but the kosher guy is very kosher - to the extend of keeping meat and dairy on separate plates. If they cooked the pasta fagioli, would it be unkosher to combine the parmesan cheese with the chicken stock? If so they could probably use vegetable stock instead (but chicken stock tastes better).</p>
<p>If she has access to Costco – pick up hummous, falafel (refrigerated case), pitas. Warm the pitas, split and stuff with hummous, heated halved falafel balls, shredded lettuce, diced onion, fresh tomato, diced cucumber. My husband adds a few shakes of hot sauce to the hummous and mixes in a little (vegan) mayo to make a dressing-like consistency, then tosses all the veggies in it before stuffing the pitas. This has become one of my favorite quick dinners.</p>
<p>Add dolmas and tabuli as side dishes to zipyourlips’ menu.</p>
<p>MarinMom
Cheese(dairy) is never combined with meat products. Pots & pans, dishes, utensils for cooking and eating are kept separate. This is true for Kosher-style people. Kosher products would be used if the young man is Kosher, and price of K meats is quite high. (That’s why briscuit is a treat). When you talk of Glut Kosher, that’s as strict as difference between vegan and vegetarian.</p>
<p>A baked potato bar might be something different. Bake lots of spuds and have a variety of toppings—meat, veggie–whatever.</p>
<p>I think the trick is to teach kids to cook with almost no canned goods except tomatoes and legumes. Eliminates lots of sodium and in many cases fat. Healthy habits for life.</p>
<p>^I’m for that. And when I was younger I didn’t do canned beans either. :)</p>