Make tailgating great again
April 18, 2016 3:54 PM Subscribe
Seeking recipes (vegetarian friendly) to bring to futbol matches and eat before the game.
My family (3-5 adults and 2-5 kids) go to Minneasota United FC games every other week or so from April through October. We are blessed with some awesome food truck choices, but less than blessed with disposable incomes. We'd like to start packing food to bring to the games. We're willing to put some effort into prep to try and chase the greatness of food truck novelty. We will have access to a communal grill (DARK CLOUDS!) and can invest in a few tools if needed. Ready to eat options are also welcome.
We're adventuresome eaters, but at least 1 of us is a vegetarian, so veg friendly or customizable suggestions are encouraged. I'd love to compile a list of 10-20 options so that we can try something new each match. Got a beer pairing to suggest? Kick that to me as well.
My family (3-5 adults and 2-5 kids) go to Minneasota United FC games every other week or so from April through October. We are blessed with some awesome food truck choices, but less than blessed with disposable incomes. We'd like to start packing food to bring to the games. We're willing to put some effort into prep to try and chase the greatness of food truck novelty. We will have access to a communal grill (DARK CLOUDS!) and can invest in a few tools if needed. Ready to eat options are also welcome.
We're adventuresome eaters, but at least 1 of us is a vegetarian, so veg friendly or customizable suggestions are encouraged. I'd love to compile a list of 10-20 options so that we can try something new each match. Got a beer pairing to suggest? Kick that to me as well.
For camping and park cookouts and similar, I like to do cream cheese-n-stuff rollups (in a tortilla, or on Flatout or similar bread) that can be eaten cold or popped onto the grill for a couple of minutes to warm through and make the bread a little grilly. You can do some with deli meat and others without, also PB&J ones or PB& chocolate chips or banana, for dessert.
You can make skewers of ready-to-eat stuff to polish off on the grill or not, like roasted baby potatoes, marinated mushrooms, chunks of cucumber and tomato, plus some with already-cooked chicken chunks. Serve with pita and tahini dressing (pack it in a squeeze bottle or recycled salad dressing bottle) and feta.
If you have a big thermos or 12v converter to plug in a crock pot (or just live close), make vegetarian chili (I riff on this version most of the time) and bring frito pie fixins. (But please, whoever has sold the world this idea that you should eat it inside the frito bag is wrong, eat it in bowls or cups like civilized people and add fritos as you go.) You can swap the fritos for tortilla chips and make nachos-on-the-fly.
Mac and cheese - often stunt mac and cheese - is the food truck gold standard, though what you might do with that is dependent on how far your food is traveling and how creative your children will stand for. I personally believe cold homemade mac and cheese, cut into bites, is one of life's great treats, but with the 12v converter or a portable stove (if that's allowed? single-burner butane ones are quite cheap and probably worth it for how often you're going to be at the field) you could bring it in a crock or sear your bites a la minute.
You could pre-make pancakes and do breakfast-for-dinner with vegetarian sausage links and egg muffins.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:42 PM on April 18, 2016
You can make skewers of ready-to-eat stuff to polish off on the grill or not, like roasted baby potatoes, marinated mushrooms, chunks of cucumber and tomato, plus some with already-cooked chicken chunks. Serve with pita and tahini dressing (pack it in a squeeze bottle or recycled salad dressing bottle) and feta.
If you have a big thermos or 12v converter to plug in a crock pot (or just live close), make vegetarian chili (I riff on this version most of the time) and bring frito pie fixins. (But please, whoever has sold the world this idea that you should eat it inside the frito bag is wrong, eat it in bowls or cups like civilized people and add fritos as you go.) You can swap the fritos for tortilla chips and make nachos-on-the-fly.
Mac and cheese - often stunt mac and cheese - is the food truck gold standard, though what you might do with that is dependent on how far your food is traveling and how creative your children will stand for. I personally believe cold homemade mac and cheese, cut into bites, is one of life's great treats, but with the 12v converter or a portable stove (if that's allowed? single-burner butane ones are quite cheap and probably worth it for how often you're going to be at the field) you could bring it in a crock or sear your bites a la minute.
You could pre-make pancakes and do breakfast-for-dinner with vegetarian sausage links and egg muffins.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:42 PM on April 18, 2016
Oh man, I have a recipe I use for this kind of thing: Cheese crusted fried parsnips/daikon.
Basically, cut your parsnips as you would french fries, roll in a whisked egg and then into a mix of 1 part breadcrumbs 1 part parmesan(spiced with red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste). Then fry for a few minutes(anywhere from 1-4 minutes depending on thickness of fries) in vegetable oil, or put in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes if you want to avoid oil frying.
I usually pair the fries with either an herb dip or a tangy catsup. Because I can just buy those and don't have to fuss with making my own.
posted by InkDrinker at 8:46 PM on April 18, 2016
Basically, cut your parsnips as you would french fries, roll in a whisked egg and then into a mix of 1 part breadcrumbs 1 part parmesan(spiced with red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste). Then fry for a few minutes(anywhere from 1-4 minutes depending on thickness of fries) in vegetable oil, or put in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes if you want to avoid oil frying.
I usually pair the fries with either an herb dip or a tangy catsup. Because I can just buy those and don't have to fuss with making my own.
posted by InkDrinker at 8:46 PM on April 18, 2016
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"Fancy" tea sandwiches, e.g. egg salad sandwiches and cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off.
Corn and black bean salad. (I use frozen corn.)
Elotes!
posted by capricorn at 5:09 PM on April 18, 2016