Traveling dinners - YouLookFab Forum

I’m putting together meal ideas for a week in an extended stay and an air BnB. So not literally on the road, but in unfamiliar, probably not terribly well outfitted, kitchens. I hope to have a guest for dinner most nights. Meal requirements: vegetarian, gluten free (or at least light on gluten), not a lot of dairy/cheese (so frittatas & quiche are out), high protein.

This is what I’ve got so far:

Gazpacho, cowboy cavier (aka black bean salsa), dirty rice, & corn muffins (might split this into 2 meals with gazpacho at one, relish, guac & chips at the other, rice & muffins at both)

Spring rolls & some kind of soup

Zoodles (spiralized zucchini) & ratatouille

I might make the Quinoa or “feel good” bowls suggested by minaminu and Sal in this recent thread https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....er-speisen but need to remember that I won’t have a stocked pantry or any place to store food I don’t use that week.

Maybe SarahD8’s zucchini sandwiches, if I can figure out a low-fat way to do them before I go. Or I might lightly brush a little oil on slices of eggplant (zucchini’s cousin) and grill them, if I could figure out something to serve with it.

I will be living a lie; my usual way to eat is much more front-loaded with breakfast & morning snacks, then the kind of grazing I posted in Suntiger’s thread. But with someone else, that seems disjointed and weird. I’d much rather be able to say “here is dinner”.

All tweaks & suggestions appreciated!

3 years ago

SarahD8

Veteran

With the grilled eggplant, you could serve mujaddarah (lentils & rice with crispy onions). I like a yogurt sauce with both.

Vegetarian, high protein, and low eggs/dairy is tough! Especially in an air bnb kitchen where you don’t have access to all your usual condiments and spices. Could you bring small amounts of spices with you?

Other ideas: rice and pigeon peas (puerto rican style with tomato and sazon, or Afro-Caribbean style with coconut milk). If you have access to a good grocery store that carries pigeon peas.

Or lentil dal or chickpea curry, served over rice.

Groundnut stew/soup.

A lot of the things I’m suggesting here are things I cooked in a ramshackle kitchen at a biological field station way back when!

Stagiaire Fash

A ramshackle field kitchen sounds about right! Part of why I’m being so anal about preparing the menu in advance (beside nerves) is so I can take along herbs & spices, as you suggest.

Barbara Diane

Gluten-free noodles make a vegetarian lasagne that’s heavy on veggies and light on cheese or use vegan cheese (although I haven’t tried vegan cheese), or any other pasta dish possible. Although zucchini noodles are healthier.

Falafel with everything but the pita works as a salad or on gluten free bread.

Lots of zucchini recipes on the zucchini thread.

I like vegetable potato curry over brown rice.

Eggplant roll-ups. If you grill the zucchini strips first you can fill with hummus or lemon enhanced white bean dip or ……. Can enhance with sun dried tomatoes, olives, ….

Lentil soup with veggies in or as a side, or a salad on the side.

Stuffed Portobello mushrooms.

Between this post and the zucchini post I’m looking forward to cooking for the first time in a while. Thanks!

kkards

For situations like this i prefer what i call assembled meals instead of actual cooked meals…ie i go to the nicest grocery and pick up pre made parts and maybe add a nice salad or the gazpacho you mentioned. There always seems to be a vegetarian option, and depending on what city your in, often a seafood one (if that’s an option)
to that end, if seafood is an option, and you are comfortable cooking it, swordfish or salmon with corn on the cob (easy and not bad in a microwave if kitchen is really limited). Maybe add coleslaw or potato salad (see above, I’d buy this, the potato salad, from the ready to eat section, but depending on the kitchen situation you could make it. The cole slaw i buy the bag of veggies already prepared and add dressing)

rachylou

This website has some interesting recipes: https://www.emilieeats.com/hig.....n-dinners/

One of my favorite dishes at the Thai restaurant is eggplant tofu curry. Tofu does have some gluten.

Were peanuts okay? I love peanut sauce over tofu and over spinach. My brother prefers it over a mix of vegetables.

Runcarla

This salad is a meal in itself, and all you need is a bowl.

10 oz bag spinach
2 cups bean sprouts
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped red peppers
1 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup cashews
1 cup celery
optional - 2 cups rice (any kind, but brown is nice)

dressing: 1/4-1/3 olive oil, 1/4-1/3 soya sauce (you can get gluten free and low sodium), 1-2 cloves crushed garlic

* put dressing on approx. 20 min prior to serving.
** makes A LOT, so you can halve the ingredients, but would recommend keeping raisins and cashews the same.

Thanks Carla! Sounds like good lunches.

BD, I love peanut sauce, need to learn to make it.

Sal

Are eggs a possibility?

Does an omelette work - without dairy? I had a good mushroom and bell pepper and parsley one on the weekend.

Or Huevos Rancheros?

Or a vege stir fry with cashews?

No recipe sorry - just ideas.

Anonymous

The cauliflower and chickpea bake looks good

https://www.taste.com.au/recip.....e/adljo2zd

Sal, I eat eggs practically every day—scrambled, in frittatas….. Last time we saw each other, the only thing my dining partner turned down was a frittata. And the Face he made!

Right now I’m looking for a good gazpacho recipe, without bread in it. NYT has one, but it includes this weird method of drizzling olive oil into the mixer. I’m not sure I’ll even have a mixer.

elpgal

My go to meals are-

Tofu scramble, corn tortillas, guacamole, corn salad

Chickpea, veg cooked with a curry pouch, brown rice, yogurt raita

Hodo tofu nuggets and veg with a bottled GF stir-fry sauce, rice noodles

GF pita, falafel, tomato/cake/parsley salad with a tub of hummus.

Thanks, Epgal

I'm veg, but DH doesn't like cheese, so these are some easy things I do. I use a lot of bottled curry sauces and just throw them on whatever seasonal or frozen veggies, then add cashews, tofu or paneer. Chinese style stir fried veggies- I use coconut aminos cause less sodium than soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sriracha. Riced cauliflower is a good alternative to rice, and noodles made or zuchini work too. Bean and veggie burritos with corn tortillas.

Bijou

Miso soup with daikon, carrot and tofu and soba noodles. If you eat chicken or seafood, that is nice in it instead of the tofu. For starters edamame are fun and healthy - can buy them frozen as fresh are hard to come by.

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