Vegetarian/ Flexitarian Small Group Meal Ideas

Friends, I am finding that it's important to have a few small group meal ideas that work for both vegetarians and meat eaters.  Here are a few tried and true recipes that make your meal together hospitable to both.  Also, some small groups are trying intentionally eat vegetarian once a month or so to be more mindful of the call to simplicity.  

Cilantro Corn Chowder ~ SERVES 8  (Feel free to double or triple)

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 1/2 cups red onion, chopped
1 cup diced carrot
1 1/2 cups diced yellow bell pepper
1 1/2 cups diced red bell pepper
4 Cups potatoes, peeled and cubed (or
leave peels on, but scrub well!)
2 Tablespoons vegetable soup concentrate 

3 Cups frozen or fresh corn kernels
3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro
2 Tablespoons chopped chives
salt & pepper to taste

Put olive oil in a large soup pot. Add onion, carrot and bell peppers and sauté until the veggies soften, 4-6 minutes. Add potatoes and mix well into the veggie mixture. Saute’ an additional 7 to 8 minutes. Add 7 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Remove 1/2 cup of broth and dissolve soup concentrate into it. Add this to soup and mix well. Cook soup and additional 3 minutes, stirring continuously. Remove 1/3 of the soup with lots of veggies in it and set aside. Blend remaining 2/3 of the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Stir in reserved soup, corn, cilantro, and chives. (If you want to thicken the soup up a bit more, blend a few more of the whole vegetables from soup with 1 cup of corn). Bring soup to a low boil, stirring frequently, and simmer for 10 minutes on low heat, continuing to stir so that soup doesn't stick to bottom. Season and salt to taste.  You may add some crumbled bacon for small group members who must have meat.

Slow Cooker Lentil Chili

Yield: Serves 8-10

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 4-6 hours

This Slow Cooker Lentil Chili is vegan and gluten-free, but meat lovers will enjoy it too! Top with your favorite chili toppings!

ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, diced, seeds removed
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce
2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 (16 oz) bag brown lentils, rinsed
2 (15 oz) cans small red beans, rinsed and drained
2-3 tablespoons chili powder (we used 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon cumin
Salt and black pepper, to taste

directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. Stir well to combine.

2. Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. Serve warm.

Note-we use a 6 quart slow cooker. This chili freezes well. Top with your favorite chili toppings, if desired.

Vegan Pesto 

Recipe posted February 2008 by Karina Allrich.
  

This vegan pesto is big on taste, zero on dairy.  The nuts you choose influence the taste.  Feel free to make shredded parmesan available for cheese lovers.  You could also add a bowl of shredded rotisserie chicken as well.  

Ingredients:

2 cups, washed, loosely packed stemmed fresh herbs- basil, cilantro, parsley, mint  (I also add some spinach)

1/2 cup shelled pecans or walnuts or pine nuts

1-2 cloves fresh garlic

1/4 to 1/2 cup good tasting extra virgin olive oil, as needed

a few squirts of fresh lemon (optional)

Sea salt, to taste

Instructions:

Combine the fresh herbs, nuts, and garlic in a food processor and process the mixture until it turns into a coarse meal.

Slowly add extra virgin olive oil in a steady drizzle as you pulse the processor on and off. Process until it becomes a smooth, light paste. Add enough olive oil to keep it moist and spreadable.

Season with sea salt, to taste.

Cover and store chilled for at least an hour to saturate the flavors. I like to pour a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil over the top to help keep it bright green.

Makes roughly a rounded cup.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

Read more: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/02/winter-pesto.html#ixzz3SzgBqMnt

Three More Small Group Friendly Recipes

Due to popular demand, I am posting a few more recipes that are great for small groups and quick to prep.  All of these recipes can be done in a crock pot.  I have personally made each of these for small groups and have found them easy and popular.  What are your favorite recipes for small group gatherings?  

Original Taco Soup

--2 cans of kidney beans

--1 cans of pinto beans

--1 can black beans

--1 can of corn or some frozen corn

--1 large can of diced tomatoes

--1 can tomato sauce

--1 and 1/2 cup water

--1 can tomatoes and chilies (or separate can of chilies)

--1 packet taco seasoning

--1 packet ranch dressing mix

--1 lb browned ground turkey or hamburger

--shredded cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream for embellishment

The Directions:

--brown meat

--drain fat and add to crock pot stoneware insert

--sprinkle seasoning packets on top of meat

--drain and rinse the beans and add

--add the ENTIRE contents of the corn and tomato cans

--stir.

cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5. I think the longer you cook soup, the better, so if you have the time, opt for cooking on low. Stir well, and serve with a handful of shredded cheese, tortilla chips and a dollop of sour cream.

Cranberry Chicken

1 bottle french dressing (8oz)

1 can whole cranberries

1 package onion soup mix (Lipton makes this in soup aisle)

6 or so chicken thighs (boneless, skinless)

Stir it all together in crock pot and cook on low for about 3 hours or until chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice.

(I doubled this recipe and cooked it for 5 hours to serve 15)

Soy Sauce and Beer Chicken Drumsticks

1 can of beer

1/2 c of soy sauce

3 tbsp of vinegar

2 tbsp of sugar

A few thick slices of ginger

Half a chopped yellow onion (cubes)

Chicken drumsticks or better yet Chicken wings

Dump into a large pot. Boil for 1-2 hours until the sauce thickens. OR cook on high for 4 hours in a crock pot. 

Beer tenderizes the chicken and helps flavors to sink in. Serve over rice.

A Few Simple Small Group Meal Ideas

This is a guest post from church member Jennifer Rodriguez who has been helping to make small groups happen for many years.  She is especially skilled at feeding large groups of people quickly, happily and simply.  By the way, her chocolate chip cookies are to die for.  

Our small group meets late Sunday afternoon 4 - 6 pm.  Right after the meeting we eat dinner together.  To get a hot meal we have adopted a basic two meal rotation.

Our two basic meals are Spaghetti with Sauce (meat optional) and Potato Bar.  The cost for these meals is easily under $ 40 - estimating 10 adult servings for each meal.  The estimated food cost is divided equally amongst all the families.

In our situation one family always prepares the meal.  This decision was made because we have a person who really likes to cook as well as having several families with small children who enjoy getting a night off from cooking.

Spaghetti Set-up

Before the meeting I cook a large pot of  spaghetti & drain it under tap water.  The spaghetti rests on the counter in a cover bowl during the meeting.  Meanwhile I heat sauce in a crock pot.  When we do not have vegetarians we add meat.  If you have extra sauce it can easily be frozen & used later.

I also prepare a basic salad.  Once again it rest covered on the counter until meal time.  Just as we are eating I toss the salad with dressing.

We also have sliced French bread with butter – not heated or made fancy with garlic.

Potato bar Set-up

One hour before the meeting I cook potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil.   Once kinship starts I turn off the oven – the potatoes tend to stay hot if left in a closed oven.  If you need to transport them or take them out of the oven you can wrap them in a large towel & keep them in a plastic “ice-chest.”

At meal time for toppings I set out sour cream, chopped green onions, grated cheese & butter

In the crock pot I heat canned vegetarian chili.  (For my crock pot I have to fill it 2/3 full to heat something which means I often have left overs & so I freeze it for future use.)

During the potato bake time I also steam a head of broccoli – after cooking it I drain it & let is rest covered on the counter until meal time.

I also prepare a basic salad.  Once again it rest covered on the counter until meal time.  Just as we are eating I toss the salad with dressing.

Kid-snack time

We have several toddlers in our group.  And so as a group we decided that feeding the kids snacks was OK even if that meant they did not eat as much dinner that night.  We set out string cheese, baby carrots and pretzels as well as juice boxes for kids to “graze on” whenever they want to.  The cost for these items is added to the nightly food bill.

As you can see our meal plan involves preparation before the meeting & then letting food rest at room temperate during the meeting.   If someone really wants their food hot they can always use the microwave – otherwise we enjoy room temperature spaghetti with hot sauce or a warm potato with hot chili.