Cooking for the boys?

Question

Hey! I'm cooking for 5 of my good guy friends and need a suggestion of what to make. Last time I cooked for them I made an asparagus risotto that they loved. None of them are vegetarians, so they probably won't appreciate anything with tofu or anything like that. Looking for something without TOO many ingredients and that won't cost me an arm and a leg to feed them. Thanks!

It does need to be vegetarian though! I refuse to buy and prepare meat.

Answer 1

Vegetable Lasagna,Chili or Pizza would be nice for guys.

Super Yummy Chili

Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 tbsp. chili powder
1 large onion, diced
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
4 tsp. ground cumin
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 tsp. paprika
1 cup celery, sliced
1 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tsp. franks red hot sauce
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 tsp. black ground pepper
1 large tomato, cored and diced
1 large zucchini squash
28 oz. crushed tomatoes
6 oz. tomato paste
30 oz. canned red kidney beans, drained

Directions:

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add all veggies, except tomatoes. Saute until the veggies are tender. Add the tomato cook a few more minutes.Put the crushed and pasted tomatoes, kidney beans, and seasonings into a crock pot, add the veggies. Simmer about 60 minutes over low heat, stirring occassionaly.

Should feed 6 but you can always double the recipe and freeze the leftovers =)

Serve with Cornbread

Answer 2

If they like tacos, you can get the Yves Meatless Ground Taco Stuffers (in the refrigerator compartment), shred some lettuce, dice some tomatoes, onions--basically, do a taco night and the guys can make their own tacos. You can also buy TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein) and find a recipe for taco-style filling.

Or you can make a veggie chili with tempeh (two packages of tempeh is one pound)--just crumble the tempeh in.

You can make seitan with Arrowhead Mills Vital Wheat Gluten and make a stew with that. You can also use tempeh chunks or other faux meats in a stew.

Answer 3

If you made risotto last time you probably can cook quite well, so why not go for a quiche? No meat but nice and filling and not often served. You could track down some good recipes on foodnetwork.com I think, good luck.

Answer 4

If you are looking for a vegetarian male friend who appreciates tofu, I volunteer my services.

Why not make the risotto again? If they really loved it, they should be happy they're getting it a second time.

Answer 5

Mexican Lasagna

the guys should like this and
its not that exspencive to make

PREP TIME 30 Min
COOK TIME 1 Hr 30 Min
READY IN 2 Hrs

1 pound extra-lean ground beef
1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
12 dry lasagna noodles
2 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups salsa
2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives
1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese

In a large skillet, cook the ground beef over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain off excess fat. In a large bowl, combine the cooked beef, refried beans, oregano, cumin and garlic powder.
Place four of the uncooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread half of the beef mixture over the noodles. Top with 4 more uncooked noodles and the remaining half of the beef mixture. Cover with remaining noodles. Combine the water and the salsa in a medium bowl, and pour over all.
Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 1/2 hours, or until noodles are tender.
In a medium bowl, combine the sour cream, green onions and olives. Spoon over casserole, and top with shredded cheese. Return to the oven, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted

Answer 6

Lol, you could ask them what they like. If they are your major friends though then you should probably already know what to make them. However if that's not an option I would probably make a nice steak for them, you can't get wrong with juicy steak, since none of them are vegetarians. However if you yourself are one and feel offended to do that then try to play around with vegetables and see what you can make. Cooking is all about fun and experementing. Or, atleast that's what I was tought.

Answer 7

how about a nice pasta dish?
add as many veggies as you want, spice it up even!
olive oil or organic tomoto sauces - so many options!

Pasta is one of the few foods my husband and I cook and eat together as a meal so I know it's a hit with the guys, he's a picky eater and doesn't always do my tofu meals.

Answer 8

Mac 'n' Cheese
(makes 4)

1 package pasta, cooked
(you'll probably have leftover pasta depending on what type you use -- this only used about 1/2 of the total amount of fusilli)

2 tbs. soy margarine
2 tbs. AP flour
1 cup of plain soy/rice milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tbs. nutritional yeast

4oz soy cheese, shredded (about half a block)
(we used FYH cheddar)

Melt the soy margarine, add the flour and make a roux. Cook for 2-3 minutes until it bubbles and turns a nice golden color. Add the soy milk slowly, whisking quickly to avoid lumps. Continue to whisk until the mixture thickens. Add salt and nutritional yeast and whisk to incorporate.

Add the shredded soy cheese, stir until melted, add pasta to combine.

Check for seasoning.

Place the pasta into a lightly greased (with soy margarine) Au Gratin dish or 6oz. ramekin. Sprinkle extra nutritional yeast on top (to taste) or bread crumbs (or both).

Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.

I am thinking that this might go nicely with some southern dishes like collard greens, crispy fried real or faux chicken

Fried Chicken

1 broiler/fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces ( and/or temph)
2 cups low fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Flour, for dredging
Vegetable shortening, for frying

Place chicken pieces into a plastic container and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

Melt enough shortening (over low heat) to come just 1/8-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once shortening liquefies raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 325 degrees F.

Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breast and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side. More importantly, the internal temperature should be right around 180 degrees. (Be careful to monitor shortening temperature every few minutes.)

Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan. Don't drain by setting chicken directly on paper towels or brown paper bags. If you need to hold the chicken before serving, cover loosely with foil but avoid holding in a warm oven, especially if it?s a gas oven.

Happy cooking!

Answer 9

you could make them bean burritos like the ones at taco bell. add sour cream and a few veggies like tomatoes, lettuce, and bell peppers, and it is instantly like 100x better!

Answer 10

Nice friend you are. Won't even do something to please your friends. They probably stop off at White Castle or Mickey D's on the way home.