We had a potluck success yesterday!

[Guest guest]

Hi, All!

 

     There was a recent thread about what to take to a potluck (or picnic) meal

when the crowd to be there is " mixed " or mostly non-vegetarian..

 

     I wanted to take an all-veg main dish, mainly to see what would happen--and

because I wanted to eat " that " kind of food myself.  I made up a huge crock pot

full of what I call " barbecue beans " .  Some recipes call it " calico beans " , some

cookbooks call it " glorified beans " --basic (original) recipe has 3 or more kinds

of cooked dry beans (usually kidney,

garbanzo, navy beans, and either butter beans or regular lima beans).  It also

calls for

a mix of " barbecue sauce " ingredients--ketchup, brown sugar, dash of vinegar,

maybe hot sauce, onion...I forget all the additions--or you can just add

prepared barbecue sauce and ketchup, adding onion and brown sugar as desired. 

And, there is the last ingredient (the one I changed when I did it this time),

which is browned ground beef.

 

     Call it morbid curiosity, but using " meat-substitutes " is still really new

for me.  I had used " Boca " crumbles before, but didn't remember if I'd liked

them or not.  A friend (who is vegetarian) suggested I try " Fantastic Foods "

brand " sloppy Joe " mix.  I did--a package of F.F. Slopph Joe mix and I added to

that one packet of Boca " ground crumbles " .  Instead of the tomato paste for the

S.J. mix, I used organic ketchup and added just a little more dried chopped

onion, some dehydrated bell pepper flakes and not much else.  Poured it all into

the cooked and seasoned beans and let them all meld together for a couple more 

hours.

 

      This was a 6 quart crock pot, and it was probably 2/3 full when I took it

to the potluck last night.  There were probably around 80 people there, and LOTS

of different foods on the

serving tables.  Mine was just one of many--and I know there was at least one,

maybe 2 other dishes there with that same recipe, though mine was the only

all-veg one.  My DH was one of the last persons thru the line.  He sat down

beside me at the table, and pointed to his plate.  There was a small serving

(maybe a tablespoon and a half in quantity) of " my "

bean dish.  He said, " I did get some of your beans--THAT was all that was left

by the time I went thru the line! "

 

     I had fully expected to have quite a bit of left-over beans for another

meal this week.  I knew they were good, but I really did NOT expect for the

other people to eat them ALL up!

I also didn't expect DH to LIKE them, but he did!  At home (earlier in the day),

I had allowed him to take a small serving out for a " snack " , since the main meal

would be much later.  He teased me saying, " Is this some really WEIRD stuff in

here--don't tell me, I don't wanna know, since I think it tastes GOOD and I'm

EATING it! "   I didn't tell him what was in it, knowing he has this " thing " about

" fake " foods...but he said later, " That was good, and you can make it again! "  

(When DH says THAT, I know it means he gives the recipe a " two thumbs up " .) 

This recipe also contained almost ALL of the kinds of beans DH has always SAID

he " hates " and wouldn't ever eat--garbanzo beans, kidney beans, lima

beans...Considering that, I think the fact that he liked this recipe is almost a

minor miracle!

 

     One good thing is that I have PLENTY more of those beans in my pantry.  I

also bought TWO packages of the Boca crumbles yesterday and TWO boxes of the

sloppy Joe mix--I actually COULD make the recipe again, and I might--SOON!

 

     I just wanted to pass on my minor " success " story--both with getting DH to

try something I never actually expected him to try, much less to really

LIKE--AND the " success " of making something totally " vegetarian " for a potluck

that everyone seemed

to go for in a big way!  They liked it--they really liked it!!  That makes me

feel good!

 

     --Smiling this morning, despite the downpour of rain outside where we live!

--Laura B., in Illinois