Recipes for bulk meals?

Question

I'm a college student with not a ton of time to cook. Where can I find some cheap recipes that make a lot of a meal in one cooking session? Thanks!

Detail 

Hi  High school foods teacher here and wanting to do a fun iron chef lesson with my students. I’m at a private school and it’s a small group of about 12 kids grades 10-12. My co teacher and I are wanting to do a iron chef style lesson but we want to make sure we choose “mystery ingredients” that will a) provide opportunities for versatile dishes as part of the judging criteria is for creative use of the ingredients b) tasty as we are judging and would prefer things are edible and c) pair well enough that it won’t be too wacky. The lesson plan so far looks like: quickly explain the idea and unveil the ingredients. Allow ten minutes for planning (googling is allowed) and then have 40-60 minutes creating and then we will have presentations and judging for the remainder of the 2 hour class. ( plus clean up/ pack down etc.)

We are thinking of a combination of protein + vegetable + flavour and have so far best come up with chicken + tomato + citrus (they can choose lemon, lime, or orange). We’re also thinking halfway through of increasing a fourth mystery ingredient that they have to incorporate which were thinking that honey might be a good idea.

Thoughts? Are those ingredients good choices for essentially lower level (for the most part) ability high school chefs?

Answers

1- I love that idea! As far as protein goes, I think chicken is definitely the easiest/most economical. I also think the tomatoes and citrus would make for some good, round dishes. If you wanted to up the ante just a touch you could incorporate something prepackaged like saltines or cereal or something.

I’m getting more of a chopped vibe with the numerous ingredients. You could check out some of their after hours clips on YouTube for more ideas (granted some of theirs are really hard baskets but for general pairing or prepping the students, that could be fun!)

Good luck!

2- I have done iron chef many times with students here are some ideas if you want to use any of them :). I generally choose a very neutral base like potatoes or pasta for an ingredient. I also let them make a 'battle plan', research a few days before, and one prep day ahead of time. They need to make a grocery list (with a budget), a production plan, and a plating concept. Then there is lots of time for the judging to happen on the day of the battle. My classes are only 80 min, it seems like you may have more time to do this in? I also make certificates for the winners, have other teachers or students judge the dishes. If you are planning to do the on the fly lesson I suggest giving them a few lessons in the days before showing them how to use some of the ingredients in other ways, and how to come up with fast go to ideas. I avoid the on the spot for a few reasons: clean up always becomes a disaster when they are crunched for time, and in order to give them time and get them to think 'further' and create a really good dish and plating. Have fun!!!!

Food to make for a group of guests when you don't want to be trapped in the kitchen for the whole night cooking for them?

Question :

Usually when I have friends over I'll make a big Mexican spread or fry up some chicken with French fries, line up some burgers, etc. But I spend a ton of time in the kitchen while they just hang out in the living room and I miss out whole also feeling (self-imposed of course) like a bit of a maid.

What are some really yummy spreads (particularly comfort food) that you can mostly prepare beforehand and cook kind of passively?

Answers

1- Lasagna!
2- I’m always looking for ideas like this. One of the best ones we do every Christmas Eve. We make a ton of meatballs a few days in advance. We bake them off and refrigerate. On the day of, we make a tomato sauce and then, an hour or so before guests arrive, we drop the meatballs in. Depending on # of guests we use the crockpot or a big soup chafer.

Alongside the meatballs we put out crusty bread, cold salads, antipasto, cheeses, tapenade, etc.

It’s super easy and always a big hit.

3- My biggest crowd pleaser is crockpot pulled pork sandwiches and baked mac & cheese. maybe some coleslaw. Very easy to prep in advance and just let people take whatever they feel like.

4- Whenever I do a Mexican spread I usually make and prep everything in advance. It'll just be a matter of reheating and last minute stuff. It's much easier than making everything fresh.

Vegetarian meal ideas?

Question:

My girlfriend is vegetarian (well, pescatarian) and we always cook vegetarian meals when she is round but, as a meat eater, my vegetarian repertoire is quite small and I'd like to cook something interesting with her.

We have cooked mushroom pastas and risottos, paneer curries, some fish paellas and pasta dishes but I'd appreciate some new ideas from veggies on

Answer :-

1- When I last made Ratatouille, the sauce from fresh tomatos and all, I could have fooled myself that It was a meat dish, but there's no meat to be found.

2- Recommend Tamara’s Ratatouille from Ottolenghi. Hands down one of my favorite winter recipes.

3- There’s a book called Thug Kitchen that can help you with all your problems.

4- That food is amazing! All vegan too, so feel free to add cheese if you think it would be good with it. Strongly recommend the burritos with Spanish rice and peach salsa