What would be the best and easiest dish for a luncheon?!
What would be the best and easiest dish for a luncheon?
i can barely cook and I need help for Monday. I have to have it sit overnight and it has to be easy to warm up too.
Answers:
Why not do a cold dish? If there is a refrigerator, or you could even bring it in with you the day of. An easy one, and always a fan favourite, is macaroni salad. The only cooking by you is making the noodles. Let the noodles cool off in the fridge, and then add mayo, relish and if you feel like it, (and have it on hand) chopped celery and green peppers. Voila! Instant hit!
Source(s):
Been there, done that.
make this the night before and slide it into the oven about 45 minutes before you need to serve
Eggplant Parmigiana Pasta Bake
Ingredients
2 pounds ziti or rigatoni pasta
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium stalks celery, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed with press
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain dried bread crumbs
1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 package (1 pound) part-skim mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Directions
1. Heat 8-quart saucepot of salted water to boiling over high heat. Add pasta and cook as label directs.
2. While pasta is cooking, prepare eggplant sauce: In deep 12-inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add celery, garlic, and onion, and cook 10 to 12 minutes or until vegetables are tender and golden. Add eggplant; cover skillet and cook 10 to 12 minutes or until eggplant softens slightly, stirring frequently. Stir in crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes with their juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375° F. In medium bowl, with fork, mix bread crumbs, parsley, grated Parmesan, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
4. Drain pasta. Return pasta to saucepot or place in large bowl; stir in eggplant sauce to coat. Add mozzarella and toss to combine. Divide pasta mixture between 2 ungreased 13" by 9" baking dishes and spread evenly; top each with half of bread-crumb mixture. Bake 1 casserole, uncovered, 30 minutes or until top browns and sauce bubbles. Let stand 10 minutes for easier serving. Meanwhile, prepare second casserole for freezing by cooling, uncovered, at least 30 minutes in refrigerator. Cover container tightly and freeze.
Make a taco salad, the most difficult part is the meat.
Brown a pound of ground beef in a not non-stick pan, on medium heat. Basically just break it into little chunks. Follow your seasoning packet's direction for how much water to add, then just heat it over low heat til it becomes thick.
Throw in lettuce, italian dressing, mexican cheese (cheddar is fine), some crumbled tortilla chips, and the beef. Mix and refridgerate.
Doesn't even need to be heated, but you might want to warm it to room temperature. Just go by look and taste, don't need to measure anything. A good handful of lettuce, good handful of chips, good handful of cheese. If there's too little of one ingredient, you can always add a little more of it, and if there's too much of one ingredient, add a little more of everything else. Go off what looks and tastes best.
If cooking is difficult for you, you may want to consider making a salad. Start with romaine hearts, which will stay nice and crisp. Chop or tear them up. Add sliced veggies of your choice (cucumber, tomato, onion, etc). You can buy a rotisserie chicken from your grocery store's deli, remove the skin and bones, then dice the meat and put that on top of the salad. You can also add blue cheese crumbles, nuts, and croutons, but do not add those until you're ready to serve your salad. Just before lunch, toss the salad with dressing of your choice.
Stratas are very easy, and actually have to sit overnight for the bread to absorb the moisture. (Kind of like a main dish bread pudding), However, it does have to be baked right before serving, so if you don't have the time to stick it in the oven that long for Monday, that won't work.
Quiches are also VERY easy, and you can use a premade frozen crust. It can be prepared and baked the night before, and just heated before the luncheon. If you really can't cook, premade quiches from your local grocery are actually quite fine. (Yes, real men do eat quiche).
Hot chicken salad is kind of a casserole, and can also be prepared in advance and reheated.
I'd serve any of them with some nice fruit or a green salad (or both). A nice, more "special" salad would be field greens, with dried cranberries, toasted walnuts or pecans, and feta cheese. Just dress with a simple oil and vinegar.
Or since it's spring, a nice cold chicken salad, with good rolls and the green salad and fruit. (No heating or work required on Monday!)
Here are some recipes for you:
Strata:
http://www.lanierbb.com/recipes/data/bk/...
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes_views/...
Quiche:
http://recipes.bhg.com/recipes/recipedet...
Hot Chicken Salad:
http://www.recipestoday.com/recipes/past...
Pulled Pork BBQ is always a hit, and super easy. Do almost everything the day before:
Get a Pork Butt from the grocery store or butcher shop. On Sunday, put it in a crock pot (fat side up), fill halfway with water, and pour on about 1/8 of a cup cajun seasoning. Cook on low heat for 8 hours. When it's done, drain it, chop it up (discarding as much fat as possible), and put the meat in a freezer bag in the fridge until the next morning. Then just put the meat back in the crock pot and add a bottle of bbq sauce (or enough to suit the amount of meat) Stir, and turn on low until time to eat. Serve with rolls or buns.
[If you don't have a crock pot, you can get one of those disposable aluminum roasting pans from the store and put it in your oven on low heat for 6-8 hours]