Friday Night Dinner from the Slow Cooker - Easy, Tasty AND Impressive?
March 9, 2018 11:31 AM Subscribe
We are having ten people for Shabbat dinner next Friday. I want it to feel a little fancy, make them think that I am a good cook and yet minimize the effort. It also needs to be fish or vegetarian. I'm thinking slow cooker - I have about 30 minutes in the morning to prep. I will be home an hour before dinner but don't want to spend much of that time time cooking. Ideas?
Not slow cooker, but what I always do for this type of thing is make shrimp tacos. Hear me out.
You get flour tortillas. You get SeaPak Popcorn shrimp. Both go into the over for 15 minutes.
You set up a taco bar with the following things:
- homemade pineapple salsa (get a cored pineapple; dice. Add red onion diced; red pepper diced; lime juice, salt and pepper)
- homemade "special sauce" (mayo, lime juice, and a shit ton of cumin)
- homemade coleslaw (finely sliced cabbage. dressing is mayo, sugar, and lime juice in your favorite ratios)
That's all we use but you can throw some other taco toppings on there if you like - cheese and regular salsa and cilantro and the like. Serve with rice and beans, or a spinach salad with warm bacon dressing (alton brown has a great receipe). Super easy and eveyrone thinks its super fancy.
posted by dpx.mfx at 11:45 AM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
You get flour tortillas. You get SeaPak Popcorn shrimp. Both go into the over for 15 minutes.
You set up a taco bar with the following things:
- homemade pineapple salsa (get a cored pineapple; dice. Add red onion diced; red pepper diced; lime juice, salt and pepper)
- homemade "special sauce" (mayo, lime juice, and a shit ton of cumin)
- homemade coleslaw (finely sliced cabbage. dressing is mayo, sugar, and lime juice in your favorite ratios)
That's all we use but you can throw some other taco toppings on there if you like - cheese and regular salsa and cilantro and the like. Serve with rice and beans, or a spinach salad with warm bacon dressing (alton brown has a great receipe). Super easy and eveyrone thinks its super fancy.
posted by dpx.mfx at 11:45 AM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
Hmmm meatless slow cooker is definitely a challenge - any chance you have the ever popular Instant Pot or a non-brand alternative? faced with a very similar situation this evening ill be making a veggie/paneer biryani in the pressure cooker - I did some of my prep last night like the chopping and washing, and will throw it all together between getting home tonightt and guests arriving.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:46 AM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:46 AM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Can you clarify if the veggie/fish preference (combined with the Shabbat reference) indicates that you prefer kosher-friendly recipes/ideas?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:46 AM on March 9, 2018
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:46 AM on March 9, 2018
Oh, good point about the kosher. Um, I guess you could use fish sticks? I make this with fish but its a lot more work.
posted by dpx.mfx at 11:48 AM on March 9, 2018
posted by dpx.mfx at 11:48 AM on March 9, 2018
Best answer: I haven't tried any of these as I'm mostly Instant Potting these days, but from bookmarks I've been meaning to convert to pressure cooker: Lentil Bolognese, vegan jambalaya (in your case I would probably par-cook the rice the night before so you can put it in when you get home and have it be done in less than 90 minutes).
There's also this slow cooker veggie pot pie, which I have made a similar version, and the way you make it very impressive is just before serving you cut rounds or rectangles of puff pastry (check the label, but most brands use margarine so it's dairy-free and kosher and vegan) to bake fresh and piping hot on top. Put the puff in the refrigerator before you go to work and it'll be ready to roll and cut when you get home.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:50 AM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
There's also this slow cooker veggie pot pie, which I have made a similar version, and the way you make it very impressive is just before serving you cut rounds or rectangles of puff pastry (check the label, but most brands use margarine so it's dairy-free and kosher and vegan) to bake fresh and piping hot on top. Put the puff in the refrigerator before you go to work and it'll be ready to roll and cut when you get home.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:50 AM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Fish doesn't usually do well with long cooking. Lemon sole (any white fish) is fast and tasty. Basically, dredge fish in flour, egg, flour, saute in butter, then add lemon juice. Spinach or any green salad, maybe add red peppers and almonds, vinaigrette. Baked potatoes w/ sour cream.
You could maybe do a stuffed squash in a slow cooker. Acorn squash cut in half, filled with stuffing. (saute onions and celery in butter with salt, pepper, sage, add broth, add stale bread cubes, saute mushrooms separately, add to stuffing) Then get home and make salmon or other fish.
posted by theora55 at 11:58 AM on March 9, 2018
You could maybe do a stuffed squash in a slow cooker. Acorn squash cut in half, filled with stuffing. (saute onions and celery in butter with salt, pepper, sage, add broth, add stale bread cubes, saute mushrooms separately, add to stuffing) Then get home and make salmon or other fish.
posted by theora55 at 11:58 AM on March 9, 2018
I feel like you could make an excellent curry of some kind in the slow cooker and then gently poach fish and serve together?
posted by vunder at 12:10 PM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by vunder at 12:10 PM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Lots of good recipes for vegetarian cholent, and I like vunder's idea of fish to accompany.
posted by BibiRose at 12:21 PM on March 9, 2018
posted by BibiRose at 12:21 PM on March 9, 2018
I would also find meatless-slow-cooker to be challenging*. If it were me I might be tempted to go almost tapas style, and prep a bunch of stuff the night before that I can just throw into an oven right after I get home.
Mushrooms tossed in white wine, butter, garlic, parsley, and capers; soup to reheat on the stove; pre-stuffed peppers maybe topped with cheese to brown in the oven. I do also like meatballs (veggie or not) in the slow cooker, covered with a sweet/sticky sauce.
*That may well just be my own lack of experience / creativity though. I certainly don't mean to imply your inclination toward using the slow cooker is incorrect, just trying to throw out some ideas. :)
posted by miss_kitty_fantastico at 12:28 PM on March 9, 2018
Mushrooms tossed in white wine, butter, garlic, parsley, and capers; soup to reheat on the stove; pre-stuffed peppers maybe topped with cheese to brown in the oven. I do also like meatballs (veggie or not) in the slow cooker, covered with a sweet/sticky sauce.
*That may well just be my own lack of experience / creativity though. I certainly don't mean to imply your inclination toward using the slow cooker is incorrect, just trying to throw out some ideas. :)
posted by miss_kitty_fantastico at 12:28 PM on March 9, 2018
(I love all the non-kosher suggestions in this thread)
The problem is that vegetables breakdown too much in a slow cooker. A quick google for "shabbat slow cooker vegetarian" brought up this list of 26 vegetarian slow cooker recipes.
Personally, I would make something ahead that reheats well in the oven like a vegetable lasagna and Italian bread smeared with garlic butter. I think Quiche (no meat) is kosher? A quick salad you can serve with the bread and lasagna?
Drained cans of jackfruit slow cooked in bbq sauce, toasted buns, + bbq sides like beans, corn bread, collard greens, coleslaw?
I'm trying to think of something make ahead and elegant...
There's an Italian soup I do w/ Garbanzo beans, orzo pasta, crushed tomatoes, and spinach or kale that's super filling. Not entirely elegant unless you drizzle with good olive oil and serve really fancy bread from a bakery?
Chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour made like polenta and cut into french fries was a A Thing for a hot minute back there, dusted with a fancy spice mixture once reheated for service might be dramatic and delicious on a table.
I love biryani, dal, and pretty much all Indian food. You could just order in from your favorite Indian restaurant, replate everything fancy for the table and call it done. I would be SO excited for good restaurant Indian food!
posted by jbenben at 12:40 PM on March 9, 2018
The problem is that vegetables breakdown too much in a slow cooker. A quick google for "shabbat slow cooker vegetarian" brought up this list of 26 vegetarian slow cooker recipes.
Personally, I would make something ahead that reheats well in the oven like a vegetable lasagna and Italian bread smeared with garlic butter. I think Quiche (no meat) is kosher? A quick salad you can serve with the bread and lasagna?
Drained cans of jackfruit slow cooked in bbq sauce, toasted buns, + bbq sides like beans, corn bread, collard greens, coleslaw?
I'm trying to think of something make ahead and elegant...
There's an Italian soup I do w/ Garbanzo beans, orzo pasta, crushed tomatoes, and spinach or kale that's super filling. Not entirely elegant unless you drizzle with good olive oil and serve really fancy bread from a bakery?
Chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour made like polenta and cut into french fries was a A Thing for a hot minute back there, dusted with a fancy spice mixture once reheated for service might be dramatic and delicious on a table.
I love biryani, dal, and pretty much all Indian food. You could just order in from your favorite Indian restaurant, replate everything fancy for the table and call it done. I would be SO excited for good restaurant Indian food!
posted by jbenben at 12:40 PM on March 9, 2018
Whoops! Only a few of those shabbat recipes I linked were kosher. I hope those few that match your criteria will inspire you with good ideas!
posted by jbenben at 12:45 PM on March 9, 2018
posted by jbenben at 12:45 PM on March 9, 2018
I have never managed to cook fish well in a slow cooker. So here are some vegetarian options:
Parve Vegetarian Cholent. Uses the slow cooker. Takes 4 hours to cook and about 30 minutes to prepare. It is delicious.
Aish has kosher slow cooker recipes. We make the first chili recipe pretty often. Really good.
26 Kosher Slow Cooker or Crock-Pot Dishes includes Crockpot Quinoa Red Lentil Stew which is really good. My neighbor makes Chili in a Crockpot using morningstar farms vegetarian beef crumbles and a different kind of pizza sauce. It's very good.
35 Vegetarian Kosher Recipes for Shabbat dinner.
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Curry and Slow Cooker Veggie Seitan Stew I made the stew without the wine a few months ago and it turned out well.
posted by zarq at 12:59 PM on March 9, 2018
Parve Vegetarian Cholent. Uses the slow cooker. Takes 4 hours to cook and about 30 minutes to prepare. It is delicious.
Aish has kosher slow cooker recipes. We make the first chili recipe pretty often. Really good.
26 Kosher Slow Cooker or Crock-Pot Dishes includes Crockpot Quinoa Red Lentil Stew which is really good. My neighbor makes Chili in a Crockpot using morningstar farms vegetarian beef crumbles and a different kind of pizza sauce. It's very good.
35 Vegetarian Kosher Recipes for Shabbat dinner.
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Curry and Slow Cooker Veggie Seitan Stew I made the stew without the wine a few months ago and it turned out well.
posted by zarq at 12:59 PM on March 9, 2018
A different approach: I just made a vegetarian lasagna. The red sauce was first a sauté of 1 chopped carrot, 1 onion and 1 stalk of celery, then when the onions are soft add chili, garlic and an eggplant chopped into 1/2 inch squares, stir well for five to ten minutes. Then add a glass of wine and oregano, pepper to taste. When all smell of alcohol has disappeared add tomato and a bit of water, let simmer about 30 minutes. Now taste and add salt and maybe extra pepper.
Make a béchamel according to your taste.
Layer the lasagna: first red sauce, then pasta, then red sauce, béchamel, parmesan cheese, then pasta etc. until the final layer where you just pour béchamel over the pasta and sprinkle cheese on top.
Even though I have a half pan left over, for a family dinner you may want to double up.
The thing is that all of this except the bake can be done ahead, like the night before, and the final bake is just a short time in a very hot oven. I can't say the exact time, because it depends on how long your lasagna has been waiting and the heat of your oven. But maybe ten minutes baking and ten minutes resting afterwards. The red sauce can be made in less than ten minutes in the instant pot, and the béchamel can be store-bought. It's still delicious.
posted by mumimor at 1:25 PM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
Make a béchamel according to your taste.
Layer the lasagna: first red sauce, then pasta, then red sauce, béchamel, parmesan cheese, then pasta etc. until the final layer where you just pour béchamel over the pasta and sprinkle cheese on top.
Even though I have a half pan left over, for a family dinner you may want to double up.
The thing is that all of this except the bake can be done ahead, like the night before, and the final bake is just a short time in a very hot oven. I can't say the exact time, because it depends on how long your lasagna has been waiting and the heat of your oven. But maybe ten minutes baking and ten minutes resting afterwards. The red sauce can be made in less than ten minutes in the instant pot, and the béchamel can be store-bought. It's still delicious.
posted by mumimor at 1:25 PM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I don't know if it counts as impressive, but I make springtime crockpot minestrone all the time, and it's FRIGGIN DELICIOUS.
Springtime Crockpot Minestrone
Put in crockpot on low (for at least 4 hours but 8 is fine):
-1 sweet onion, diced
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-3 carrots, sliced
-1 28-oz can of diced tomatoes
-2 15-oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
-4 cups low-sodium veggie stock (i.e., one carton)
-2 cups water
Cook on low for 4-8 hours.
About 10-15 minutes before serving, add:
-8 oz. ditalini pasta
-12 thin asparagus spears, woody ends snapped off and tops sliced into bite-sized pieces
-1 cup frozen sweet peas
-6 oz. fresh spinach (optional -- I like it this way but a lot of people object to wilted greens in soup so I don't add it when we're having guests)
Cook on low for another 10-15 minutes. Just before serving, stir in
-1/3 cup grated romano cheese
and season with salt and pepper as desired.
Serve with more grated romano to top it. I usually serve it with a springy salad and some good fresh bread.
Side note: I find that cooking on low doesn't soften the carrots and onions as much as I'd like, and they taste a bit raw. So I generally dice them up, put them in a small pot, and add the 2 cups of water (and as much stock as needed to cover), and put them on the stove. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Then dump it all in the crockpot and cook for 4-8 hours. Solves the problem and works with any crockpot recipe you have where the carrots/onions are tasting underdone.
This does need a 6-quart crockpot; it's a lot of soup! It's also not a very soupy soup when it's done; the ditalini sucks up a lot of the "soup juice" (as my kids call it). So if you've got a lot of veggies in not a ton of liquid at the end, THAT IS CORRECT.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:31 PM on March 9, 2018
Springtime Crockpot Minestrone
Put in crockpot on low (for at least 4 hours but 8 is fine):
-1 sweet onion, diced
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-3 carrots, sliced
-1 28-oz can of diced tomatoes
-2 15-oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
-4 cups low-sodium veggie stock (i.e., one carton)
-2 cups water
Cook on low for 4-8 hours.
About 10-15 minutes before serving, add:
-8 oz. ditalini pasta
-12 thin asparagus spears, woody ends snapped off and tops sliced into bite-sized pieces
-1 cup frozen sweet peas
-6 oz. fresh spinach (optional -- I like it this way but a lot of people object to wilted greens in soup so I don't add it when we're having guests)
Cook on low for another 10-15 minutes. Just before serving, stir in
-1/3 cup grated romano cheese
and season with salt and pepper as desired.
Serve with more grated romano to top it. I usually serve it with a springy salad and some good fresh bread.
Side note: I find that cooking on low doesn't soften the carrots and onions as much as I'd like, and they taste a bit raw. So I generally dice them up, put them in a small pot, and add the 2 cups of water (and as much stock as needed to cover), and put them on the stove. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Then dump it all in the crockpot and cook for 4-8 hours. Solves the problem and works with any crockpot recipe you have where the carrots/onions are tasting underdone.
This does need a 6-quart crockpot; it's a lot of soup! It's also not a very soupy soup when it's done; the ditalini sucks up a lot of the "soup juice" (as my kids call it). So if you've got a lot of veggies in not a ton of liquid at the end, THAT IS CORRECT.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:31 PM on March 9, 2018
Non-crock-pot answer: I've also made this salmon en papillote recipe for 10. If you set up a little assembly line you can assemble the packets fairly quickly, and you could pre-prep the chopped ingredients in the morning. I think it'd probably take you about half an hour to get all of the packets assembled if you had everything laid out (I tape the recipe up to my cabinet with the list of ingredients for each one packet), and then it's very foolproof to cook -- and extremely delicious and impressive. This is my go-to for "dead easy but it makes everyone think you are a super-schmancy cook." It might not meet your time restriction, though.
I usually serve with fruit salad and couscous. It also helps to put a big empty serving bowl on the table that people can discard their wrappers into, since people are 50/50 on whether they want to remove and throw away the paper and eat on the plate, or eat out of the paper until they get some of the food eaten and then remove it.
(Also, if you've never cooked en papillote before, practice the night before with, like, your phone or your TV remote pretending to be the food, so you understand how to make the packet. There are youtube tutorials. I do the full sheet of parchment paper; don't faff around with cutting up heart shapes, they're much harder to crimp closed and it takes a ton more time.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:49 PM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
I usually serve with fruit salad and couscous. It also helps to put a big empty serving bowl on the table that people can discard their wrappers into, since people are 50/50 on whether they want to remove and throw away the paper and eat on the plate, or eat out of the paper until they get some of the food eaten and then remove it.
(Also, if you've never cooked en papillote before, practice the night before with, like, your phone or your TV remote pretending to be the food, so you understand how to make the packet. There are youtube tutorials. I do the full sheet of parchment paper; don't faff around with cutting up heart shapes, they're much harder to crimp closed and it takes a ton more time.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:49 PM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
The slow cooker is almost never the right answer for fish or veg. It's a tool for long cooked meats. Even the exceptions, like crock pot mac n cheese (which, YES) aren't 8 hour cooks.
Easiest/tastiest thing to do here is buy a nice big filet of salmon the evening before. Prep it with your butter/lemon/herbs or whatever you want on it; have it 100% ready to go into the oven. Cover and refrigerate. When you get home, take it out of the fridge, let it come to temp 30 minutes, then bake it; it comes out of the oven right as you sit down to eat.
Hell if you really REALLY want to use that slow cooker, use it to cook a nice caponata which you serve alongside the fish.
You can make a chopped salad the night before.
You can easily make a veg based soup the night before. Whatever veg you want. Broccoli, cauliflower, don't matter. Cook it in water, puree it with its cooking water and plenty of seasonings and lemon juice and some cream.
Ice cream or purchased cake for dessert.
Shabbat shalom!
posted by fingersandtoes at 1:51 PM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
Easiest/tastiest thing to do here is buy a nice big filet of salmon the evening before. Prep it with your butter/lemon/herbs or whatever you want on it; have it 100% ready to go into the oven. Cover and refrigerate. When you get home, take it out of the fridge, let it come to temp 30 minutes, then bake it; it comes out of the oven right as you sit down to eat.
Hell if you really REALLY want to use that slow cooker, use it to cook a nice caponata which you serve alongside the fish.
You can make a chopped salad the night before.
You can easily make a veg based soup the night before. Whatever veg you want. Broccoli, cauliflower, don't matter. Cook it in water, puree it with its cooking water and plenty of seasonings and lemon juice and some cream.
Ice cream or purchased cake for dessert.
Shabbat shalom!
posted by fingersandtoes at 1:51 PM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
Try searching for "whole food plant based slow cooker" or "wfpb slow cooker".
posted by angiep at 2:59 PM on March 9, 2018
posted by angiep at 2:59 PM on March 9, 2018
We just made this vegan lentil chili a couple days ago in the slow cooker and were very impressed by how good it was, and I’m an anti-bean chili person typically. We served it over cornbread (which you could easily make from a mix and pop in the oven) and then served it with avocado, sour cream and cheese. It is so colorful, which is part of what makes it so appealing, and I think that makes it look somewhat “impressive.” I did sauté the onion and garlic before dumping everything else in the slow cooker, which she recommends. I’m thinking you could precut the veggies the night before and you’d be done in well under your 30 minute requirement.
posted by jaksemas at 3:34 PM on March 9, 2018
posted by jaksemas at 3:34 PM on March 9, 2018
Plenty of chicken slow cooker recipes, but the seafood is basically all trayf.
How do your guests do with spice and heat? Maybe a veggie curry over rice?
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:27 PM on March 9, 2018
How do your guests do with spice and heat? Maybe a veggie curry over rice?
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:27 PM on March 9, 2018
Make your main dish one of the above great suggestions and use your slow cooker to make decadent onion jam and put it on crostinis w goat cheese as a starter. Your house will smell amazing and crostinis are fancy!
posted by sestaaak at 4:53 PM on March 9, 2018
posted by sestaaak at 4:53 PM on March 9, 2018
I might use the slow cooker to make some sort of veggie based stew or some delicious braised lentils to serve with Tilapia I would bake with lemon and wine when I got home. I'd serve that over rice or cous cous. Tilapia baked in parchment is a regular "I'm too tired to cook but I want to make something kinda fancy" meal. It's fast and pretty easy and always delicous.
posted by pazazygeek at 7:07 PM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by pazazygeek at 7:07 PM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Just made basically this for Friday night guests. You could put it together the night before and leave in fridge until time to cook. Everyone loved it.
posted by atomicstone at 8:54 PM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by atomicstone at 8:54 PM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you so much! I marked as best answer the three that I'm seriously considering for this week but I will be coming back to this post again and again as this is a recurring challenge for me.
posted by metahawk at 10:38 AM on March 21, 2018
posted by metahawk at 10:38 AM on March 21, 2018
Response by poster: Ratatouille over polenta for the win! I had never made polenta before and neither had any of my guests which gave it an air of specialness while turning out to be very easy.
posted by metahawk at 1:01 PM on March 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by metahawk at 1:01 PM on March 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by catspajammies at 11:44 AM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]