Veggie pot pie or shepherd's pie~

Asian noodles with veggies~

Baked beans with cornbread~

Polenta with Marinara~

Mac and Cheese~

Dirty Rice/Jambalaya~

Chili. Vegetarian (Deborah Madison's Black Bean Chili is awesome) or meaty, both are good. Plus a big thing of cornbread and some sour cream, limes, and cilantro.

Also I feel like if you have to prep lots of different sides of veggies, salsa, etc. that if you're limited to 4 hours, it's a lot more kitchen time than just making a couple of big things.

I agree with Slow Lorus....chili would be great. And a lot of preping could be done ahead of time so you wouldn't eat up so much actual kitchen time. With so many different types of chili you could do, you are sure to find something to please everyone!

When I'm cooking for a crowd, I usually make mujaddara (lentil rice pilaf). It's delicious, well-balanced, and in most incarnations totally vegan. Yummy!

Hmmmm... stovetop.

I'm thinking of a vegetable tagine (aka-braised veggies w/couscous or rice).

On the other hand, Moosewood has an excellent cookbook: "Moosewood Cooks for a Crowd" - or something like that. It might have some excellent ideas you can either glean or expand upon.

I'm in a bit of a similar situation, making a monthly vegan meal for a huge crowd in a camp kitchen. I have a whole menu set up and they vote on what they want for particular meals.

This week I'm doing spaghetti, tomato sauce and veggie meatballs, caesar salad, garlic bread, and grilled Italian veggies. I'm making the tomato sauce, veggie meat balls, and bread in advance.
I also agree chilli is a good option, I serve mine with corn bread and baked sweet potatoes with chipotle-cashew cream.
Indian dishes such as palak paneer and chana masala with dosas and rice are great too.
Mushroom stroganoff with green beans on the side and a salad.
Noodles in peanut sauce with sauteed veg and tofu, green onion cakes and chili sauce on the side.
Veg sushi, miso soup and tempura is an easy option if you're comfortable rolling sushi- it's fast, once you get the hand of it.

Good luck!

Thanks, so great to read this!
I like all your ideas! It'd be wonderful to know which recipes you use...
Dorien

I would also say vegetarian chili. Or chickpea dal with rice and yogurt.

Red beans (pinto beans) or and cornbread. But if the oven is questionable, you can always fry hush puppies (they're delicious stone-cold). And salad.

Red beans are an incomplete protein, and corn meal is an incomplete protein, but combined---they make a complete protein, and that is vegetarianism at its finest.

I love cooking this Chilli Black Bean Stew (http://www.waitrose.com/recipes/index.aspx?recipeuid=e76b1f16-b84b-4c5b-83fe-4aa5c4c2e998) for a crowd (more like 8-10 than 80 though!). It can easily be scaled up, takes only a few minutes to prepare (except soaking the beans overnight), and can be prepared ahead re-heated easily.

If you wanted to go an Asian route, a big batch of peanut noodles served with a side of Asian Slaw. Cabbage is cheap and plentiful. Works beautifully with a mix of red and green.

Salad of corn, black beans, tomato, jicama, garlic, cilantro, scallions, lime vinaigrette. Add rice and/or avocado, and/or crumbled cotija cheese if you like.

Meze: Pita bread, olives, feta, pan-roasted vegetables, stuffed grape leaves, rice pilaf, tabbouleh, etc.

Vegetable stir-fry over rice.

Fresh spring rolls.

Vegetarian pad thai.

Make big veggie sandwiches on long hoagies or baguettes, then slice them up. Serve with new potatoes that you've boiled, drained, and tossed with pesto.

I'd also highly recommend checking out some of Mark Bittman's 101 columns:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/dining/02mini.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/dining/18mini.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html

One more idea: Breakfast for dinner.
Pancakes, omelettes, frittatas, scrambles, bagels with whatever kind of toppings, etc, etc.

Shakshuka.

Hi Dorien-

I'd recommend reading an article or two on scaling recipes- it's not always a 1:1.....80:80 equation- cooking time, salt amounts, and especially if you're baking-it's all different when you're using industrial sized equipment. Not everything just doubles- I did a batch of cornbread for a friends wedding once, (130 ppl) and it came out horrible....too salty and hard as a rock. Had to be redone.

Googling 'large group recipes' or 'church supper recipes' should get you to some sites that are helpful.

Good luck with everything!

Cheese Enchiladas with rice and beans.

Pasta salad is always a good vegetarian option as well. And it's certainly easy to feed a crowd with. You could do a "salad" theme night and just do a variety of different salads; pasta, bean, lettuce, etc. Many possibilities.

Thai!

Fresh spring rolls (mint, basil, carrot, cucumber, lettuce wrapped in rice paper rolls) with sweet/spicy dipping sauce (Mae Ploy is great)

Veggie or tofu green curry with Jasmine rice

Green papaya salad

Coconut ice cream with grilled pineapple for dessert

This menu can be totally vegan (with coconut-milk ice cream), or you can add serve grilled green curry chicken on the side, or add shrimp to some of the rolls for good carnivore action.