Halp! What should I make for dinner tomorrow?

[rivenwanderer]

I cook dinner once a week for my housemates--6 people total counting myself. Usually another housemate and I work together, but she'll be out of town and I'm having a hard time coming up with a plan for making dinner on my own. What's a good one or two-dish (ETA: vegetarian!) meal for 6 that doesn't take more than a couple of hours to put together?

Comments

[yvi]

I love Chili con carne. You prepare the vegetables, cook the meat (or not, for vegetarians), throw everything in and let it simmer for a while.

[rivenwanderer]

Oh, right, forgot to note that the house is vegetarian! Hmm, I'll have to go look up a recipe for that :)

[aedifica]

Stew and salad? In particular, jenett's chickpea-tomato-spinach dish is stewlike and warm and tasty and easy to make. Recipe here. (The recipe includes peanut butter or tahini, and once it's there you wouldn't guess because it doesn't taste like it, it just makes the dish creamy and yummy. I bring it up to mention that if you leave that out, the dish looks very Christmasy with the green spinach and the red tomatoes and the off-white chickpeas. This may be a plus or a minus for you.)

[aedifica]

And hey! I posted my comment before I saw your note about it being a vegetarian house, but this fits!

[libitina]

Tell me five ingredients you have on hand.

[rivenwanderer]

I'll take a look when I get home!

[zarhooie]

Eggplant parm is super easy to make.

Slice a decent sized eggplant in half and then slice each half into 1 inch thick slices. Put two eggs and a splash of milk into one shallow dish, and a bunch of parmesean flavored bread crumbs into another. Coat each slice in egg, then coat in breadcrumbs and pan fry on each side on medium heat until golden brown. You'll need to keep adding oil as the breadcrumbs absorb it.

Put each piece into a baking dish. Cover in one jar of spaghetti sauce, then a couple handfuls of grated cheese. Cover the pan with tinfoil and bake for an hour at 325. In the last 5-10 minutes, take the tinfoil off, add more cheese and bake uncovered.

[rivenwanderer]

Oo, that recipe looks very promising, thanks!

[rivenwanderer]

In addition to the staples like flour, beans, cheese, pasta, here are some highlights from the recent farmshare:
-tomatoes
-leafy things
-sweet potatoes
-delicata squash
-bell peppers

[wolfie74]

Slice the squash in half, carve out the seeds and spray the cut side with baking spray. Place them cut side down on a baking sheet and bake till soft (30-40 minutes) in a pre-heated 450 deg oven.

While they are baking, chop tomatoes, leafy things (collards?), and bell peppers. Sautee those with a little oil, season with salt and pepper. White beans would be great if you have them, if not it's all good. Mix the beans with the sauteed veggies.

When squash are done flip them over and divide out your bean/veg mixture into each one. You could add cheese at this point to give yourself a little more protein. If you do, return it to the oven to melt it for a little bit. Serve.

[libitina]

What wolfie74 said.

for the greens, instead of salt and pepper I would use some vegetable bouillon and some 5 spice powder. And I'd only add the beans, if I had them hanging around canned so they'd be soft enough.

here is a similar recipe for greens and beans stuffed into delicata

[norabombay]

I like this one:

Black beans and rice, pickled onions, cuban toast, grilled peppers.

How to:

Rice: Make rice. I use white, but really, any non-super sticky rice will do.
Beans: Option 1: Buy a can of Goya Black Bean Soup. It's got the red label. Not the blue label black beans, the red label soup. I'm 99% certain this is vegetarian.

Option 2: Other black beans. Add fresh garlic, lime juice, scallions and some olive oil.

Condiments: Wedges of fresh cut limes. pickled onion (chopped onion, a little paprika, a little salt, some vinegar. Mix and let sit for an hour) or just chopped onion. Scallions also wonderful here.

Toast: Take good french bread, cut in half length wise. Spread with butter/oil/margerine. Toast.

Peppers: Grill if possible, sautee or otherwise cook if not, a bunch of sweet red/yellow peppers.
-

And!Plantains! How did I forget these. Buy the package of frozen ones, or get fresh, and sautee in butter. Yum.

Technically this is a multi pot meal. However, the whole thing can be done in the time the rice cooks- put rice on, set beans to heat... Has the advantage of being cheap.