Welcome to Another Edition Of...

[gnomi]

...Tell gnomi What to Do!

Today's topic? Shabbat dinner.

I'm at a complete loss as to what I should make for the main course for dinner for Shabbat. The parameters are:

-- Not a gigantic amount of prep time (given that I don't necessarily have any time to cook until after work on Friday afternoon)

-- Dairy or pareve

-- Few if any nuts

-- Ingredients easily procured at a standard grocery store, kosher grocery store, or Trader Joe's

Other than that, the field's wide open. Suggestions greatly appreciated (and anything that doesn't get made for this meal will be filed away for future reference).

Once I've got the main course figured out, I'll figure out sides (our dinner guest is bringing a salad). I have a handle on dessert already.

ETA: I've decided to go with stuff that can be made on the stovetop instead of requiring the oven. So I'm making the Black Bean Chili suggested by seborn and Spanish Rice. Thanks to one and all for your assistance!

Comments

[ckd]

A quick protein option I've used before is extra-firm tofu cut into small cubes and basically toasted to a light golden brown in a non-stick pan (doesn't need oil). Mix with rice (which we cheat on making, using the rice cooker) and some kind of vegetables that need little or no prep work, add a prepackaged sauce if you like, et voila. That should be fairly easy to make without kashrut issues.

[fernwithy.livejournal.com]

Not to be all stereotypical for a quick but satisfying meal, but it's hard to go wrong with a big pot of spaghetti with chunky vegetarian sauce.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Salmon roasted (425, 20 min or so), topped with salsa, or chutney, or pesto, or mustard-marmalade, or another thick-enough-to-coat sort of thing (spicy eggplant-pepper spread? olive tapenade?) is the quickest thing I can think of.

Also reasonably quick: layer pieces of corn tortilla, shredded cheese, diced hot peppers (I use canned), and other veggies (or beans) if you want. Do this twice, then pour egg and milk over the whole, and bake until the egg is set (an hour?). Sort of a Mexican casserole thingy.

Or a quiche, given pre-made pie crust and pre-shredded cheese, which makes it pretty quick.

[dianora2.livejournal.com]

You can't go wrong with baked ziti.

[gingicat]

Do you have prep time Thursday night? If so, lasagna or noodle kugel. (I'll even send you Mom's noodle kugel recipe.) Otherwise, I agree regarding baked ziti.

If fish is okay, poached fish is fast and pretty damn easy.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

That sounds quite tasty. Thanks for the suggestion!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Indeed. The past week or so, with mabfan still away, I've been doing the spaghetti-and-red-sauce meal frequently.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Oh, those all sound like quite lovely. I shall have to ponder all of them.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

True enough. And I have a good recipe that mabfan likes, as well.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Prep time Thursday is unlikely. But I have a lasagna recipe that does up pretty quickly (1.5 hours total start to finish, including prep time and cook time).

And I'd love your mom's kugel if you're willing to share.

Poached fish...mmmmmmmmm... :-)

Thanks for the suggestions!

Kugel

[gingicat]

Here you go. It's one of those recipes that basically submerges the noodles in the cheese.

Ingredients
1 12-oz. package of egg noodles [1 12 oz. pkg no-yolk egg noodles]
4 eggs [5 egg whites, 2 egg yolks]
1/2 cup sugar
2 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened [low-fat version works, or farmer cheese for more richness]
1 pint sour cream [again, low-fat works]
1 teaspoon cinnamon (more or less, to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
a pinch of ground ginger
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup raisins

Cook noodles as directed on package and drain in a colander. Run some cold water over them to keep them from sticking together. Give the colander a little shake and drain well.

Beat eggs until thick and lemon-colored. Add sugar slowly to beaten eggs. Blend in softened cream cheese and sour cream, a small amount at a time, then cinnamon and lemon juice. Fold cooked noodles and raisins into the mixture.

Pour into buttered 9"x12" baking dish (also works really well in my deep oval souffle pan). Bake 1 hour at 350°F.

Re: Kugel

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Oh, yum. Thanks so much!

[seborn.livejournal.com]

Chili, but that's because since you pointed me at the Moosewood recipe with chocolate it's my default answer for food. Besides, if you make a lot of it, a nice simmering pot of chili gives you Shabbat lunch too.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

It's a wonderful recipe, and it makes quite a lot of food.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

So what are we having? :-)

[zhaneel69.livejournal.com]

Was no dairy?

Something I find quick is a Lemon Pepper Chicken, which is just skinless & boneless white meat (either the frozen tenders or actual fresh breasts) with Lemon Pepper seasoning liberally shaken over them satueed in a little olive oil.

You can serve over rice or pasta and it goes well with a variety of summer veggies. I have a specific Italian version that uses zuchinni & some of the hard summer squashes while making a slight sauce (white wine & applejuice & rosemary & corn starch) to go over spinach linguinge with the chicken.

I can usually put together this dish in 30-45 min, if the chicken is thawed.

Dunno if that really is an option though. Lemme know if you want the recipe for the veggies & sauce.

Zhaneel

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Food. :-)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Dairy is actually one of the things that I want it to be. But I will definitely make a note of the lemon-pepper chicken recipe. Becuase it sounds delicious.

I'd love the veggies and sauce recipe.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! Food is one of my favorite things.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

There's always your Magic Lasagna...? Or maybe macaroni and cheese? Or if you want, I have a good tuna casserole recipe.
(And if you have the living room sufficiently tamed that you're comfortable having company again, let me know if you'd like us to bring dessert sometime.) :-)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Those are all good dinner options, indeed. And I'd love your tuna casserole recipe!

I think I've decided, though, to go with stuff that can be made on the stovetop so that I don't have to turn on the oven in this heat.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

(And if you have the living room sufficiently tamed that you're comfortable having company again, let me know if you'd like us to bring dessert sometime.) :-)

We're currently able to seat 3; we're still working our way up to 4.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

OK, I'll send over the casserole recipe in case you want it another time. Leaving the oven off in this weather makes sense; a couple weeks ago we did crockpot cholent and the rest cold (chicken salad, potato salad, asparagus) for the same reason.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Makes sense. We actually haven't had anyone over since the last time you came b/c the dining room table has been eaten by papers again. I keep wanting to fight off the clutter so we can have company again, but lately it seems to be winning.