Soup Kitchen Cookbook Project

[Rebel Rose]

I could really use some help with this rather large cookbook project!

 

First, the origin story. I run a gleaning organization (gleanme.org) and I walked into a local hunger mission with 3 crates of beets and kale. I had called ahead and gotten "orders" for how much to bring to each place, but with volunteers sometimes communication in the kitchen is non-existent. So I walk in with all this beautiful, organic produce and the kitchen manager--this is a paid position, mind you--looks at me in total panic and says, "What do you with beets? And kale?" I kid you not, she had no idea how to prepare them. At about the same time, I was asked by a couple of other sites if I could provide recipes to go with the produce. So I started accumulating recipes that use cheap, readily available ingredients and converting them for batches of 10 (makes it easier to do the math for feeding 40-70 people).

 

Next, the reality. Soup kitchens and hunger missions get a lot of boxed and canned goods. Very little in the way of fresh produce, and extremely little meat--which means recipes that can stretch meat are in high demand. Their patrons are often unhealthy--seniors, homeless, pregnant, addicted, diabetic--and soup kitchen fare is often heavy in starches. It's really important to get fresh, nutritious produce into these meals. But another challenge is that paid and volunteer staff alike often have little or no professional training, and rely on an unvarying pattern of scrambled eggs, meatloaf, chili, and macaroni-cheese. So in order to get them to actually make use of the produce we deliver, we have to make it exceptionally easy for them to incorporate seasonal produce into their routine.

 

So, the cookbook is my way of doing this. I hope to make this cookbook available for free to every soup kitchen, hunger mission, homeless shelter, safe shelter, food bank and pantry in the U.S.

 

I would love it if you would help this effort by submitting recipes! Who better to support this project than eGulleteers, right?

I’m looking for a number of basic recipes that  include seasonal variations and suggestions for other ingredients. Some of the recipes popular in hunger kitchens are meatloaf, lasagna, meaty mac-and-cheese, chili, soups and stews, various pasta combinations. Summer recipes might include frittatas, bean and potato salads, tacos, stir fries and so on. But what I really need are basic recipes that offer exciting, seasonal and versatile variations like a Pumpkin-Pork Meatloaf, or a Peasant Paella.

 

Some basic guidelines:

1. The focus is on fresh fruit and vegetables. Each recipe should highlight or include large quantities of seasonal produce.
2. Please see the sample recipes and follow that format.
3. Please do not submit copyrighted material from other sources unless it is freely available, in which case give attribution to the source.
4. If it's your recipe, please let me know what attribution you would like. I am happy to provide website links for your business, restaurant, or blog!
5. Recipes should be hearty and filling.
6. Size recipes for 10 servings.
7. Recipes that can stretch meat (peasant stews, bean soups, seasonal meatloaf variations, etc.) are needed. Most of the meat that kitchens receive is ground.
8. Limit use of dairy. Many soup kitchens do not get a lot of milk (other than powdered) or cheese.
9. No expensive or rare condiments, spices or ingredients.
10. Suggest substitutions whenever possible.
11. Minimize steps and preparation
12. Soup kitchens may not have a food processor—many have large transient populations and are vulnerable to theft.
13. Dishes that can be prepped a day or two ahead and then popped in the oven are good. (Although limited in space, some kitchens have volunteers willing to store food overnight.)
14. Recipes that re-use bread are welcome. These kitchens get lots of bread and donuts and much of it goes to waste.
15. High-water produce is not used very often and some kitchens don't want to bother. Items like fruit and cucumbers are often just given away as fresh snacks. But if you have an idea for a nutritious, filling, large scale recipe or seasonal variation, fire away!

 

I have attached a sample working draft of the cookbook. It's basically just a rough outline of the Table Contents, the Winter section intro and a few sample recipes from the Winter section. I start each section with an introduction to what's seasonal (and likely will be coming from gleaners), some basic ways to cook each item, and notes on nutrients.

 

 

The Glean Me Cookbook-Sample.docx

[Lisa Shock]

How reasonable would it be to suggest making stock of some sort for use later? (It could be frozen in precise amounts. You freeze it in a measured container, pop it out the next day and place in a baggie.) I am talking about old-school restaurant stock made by using vegetable trimmings and/or roasted bones -kitchen scraps that would otherwise be trashed?

 

For using old doughnuts, please read through THIS thread on using cake scraps. There are lots of good suggestions there.

 

Stuffing

Serves about 12

(recipe is approximate as loaves vary in size)

 

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, butter, lard, etc.

1 onion, any type, small dice

2 carrots, small dice

2 stalks of celery, small dice

1 teaspoon salt

1 loaf of stale, dry bread cut into small squares (savory breads only!)

Optional: 1 teaspoon of ground rosemary, or, crushed oregano

Optional: 1 seeded & diced bell pepper, OR, one bulb of fennel cut thinly and diced

 

2 cups vegetable stock, or chicken/beef stock

4 eggs

 

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large saute pan and heat the onions until they have brown edges. Add the carrot, celery and salt, then stir and cook for another few minutes until they are heated through. If using optional ingredients, add them to the pan, stir and heat through.

 

Place bread in a tall sided hotel pan, a half-pan usually works well. Bread should fill the pan about ¾ full, feel free to add a little more if the pan isn't very full.

 

Mix in the hot vegetables, tossing to get even distribution.

 

In a bowl, or large measuring cup, crack eggs into the cold stock and beat until the mixture is evenly combined.

 

Pour liquid mixture over the bread mixture. Toss to evenly coat. Cover and bake in a hot oven at 375° - 400° for approximately a half-hour.

 

Serve hot. Stores well, re-heats well, freezes well.

[Kerry Beal]

Cabbage Soup

Recipe By: Sherry 
Serving Size: 10

Ingredients:

1 lb hamburger
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 cup celery chopped
1/2 green pepper chopped
2 cans tomato paste
4 cups water
2 boullion cubes
3 tbsp parsley
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
2 cups potatoes raw and cubed
1 cup carrots raw and cubed
6 cups shredded cabbage (6 to 7)

Directions:

Brown hamburg, onion, celery and green pepper in a bit of oil.  Add all but cabbage and simmer for one hour.  Add cabbage and simmer for one more hour.

[Kerry Beal]

not sure serving numbers - a little garlicy sausage will stretch

 

Caldo Verde

Recipe By: 

Ingredients:

3 chorizo sausages (or any dry garlicy sausage), cut 1/2 inch thick
2 tablespoons oil
2 onions chopped
1 clove garlic
8 yukon gold potatoes diced
2 boxes low sodium chicken broth
1 head kale chopped fine
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Saute sausage and remove most from the pan.  Add oil, saute onions and garlic.  Add potatoes and saute until starting to cook.  Add chicken broth and cook until potatoes are tender.  Mash potatoes (or use immersion blender).  Add kale and cook until softens.  Add back remaining sausage and salt and pepper to taste.

[Kerry Beal]

big batch

 

Tomato Soup

Recipe By: Mom
Serving Size: 23

Ingredients:

11 quarts tomatoes
1 head celery rib or just leaves
4 med onions
1 bunch parsley
2 bay leaves
Later
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
salt

Directions:

Cook 2-3 hours then put through fine blade of food mill.  Meanwhile cook together butter, flour, sugar and salt.  Add to strained soup and boil a few minutes.  

[Kerry Beal]

Anyone know where their copy of the Victory Garden Cookbook is? Can't fine mine - but I recall lots of great recipes for using produce with minimal meat.

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Cabbage Soup

Recipe By: Sherry 
Serving Size: 10

Ingredients:

1 lb hamburger
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 cup celery chopped
1/2 green pepper chopped
2 cans tomato paste
4 cups water
2 boullion cubes
3 tbsp parsley
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
2 cups potatoes raw and cubed
1 cup carrots raw and cubed
6 cups shredded cabbage (6 to 7)

Directions:

Brown hamburg, onion, celery and green pepper in a bit of oil.  Add all but cabbage and simmer for one hour.  Add cabbage and simmer for one more hour.

I make a soup similar to this one but with rice instead of the potatoes and carrots. Cabbage roll soup. I don't use boullion cubes, I use broth, but the cubes would work. I use crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes but like the cubes, the paste would work just fine if I needed it too. Of course replacing the spuds and carrots with rice is kinda the reverse of cutting the starch and upping the fresh veggies so I'm not quite sure why I mentioned it.

[cakewalk]

I think this thread might be helpful: https://forums.egullet.org/topic/38117-dinner-for-40/

 

The situation is very different, especially in terms of budget, but there's a lot to learn there in terms of cooking large amounts, shopping, recipes, etc. 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

There are several threads extant on eGullet that deal with eating on the cheap. I think this is my favorite one. There is good info here, more ideas here, more here, and some here.

 

I'm not very psyched about developing recipes with so many stipulations and restrictions, just to get shot down, but I did have an idea about dirty rice made with chicken livers. Since there is so little room in the budget for meat, and an ounce of chicken liver provides 99% US RDA of Vitamin B12, is cheap, and liver haters seem to like "dirty" rice, what about something like this?

 

Also, cook up pinto beans on the first day to feed the group for two meals with a little pork (shoulder is usually cheap) and you don't need much relative to the beans. You want onion, salt and jalapeno in there, and you are set for a bean stew on the first serving. All it needs is cornbread, and greens are great if you have them. Kale, turnip, mustard, spinach, whatever you can get. If you have butter for the cornbread, then you have a luxury to offer. Also, stuff like jalapenos and onion can be incorporated into the cornbread, or corn, cut off the cob, if you have it.

 

Then refrigerate the leftovers for a couple days so you won't create monotony and serve something else the day after the bean stew. On the third day, mash the beans, as you heat them, with a potato masher, since you said not to expect a food processor. The hand mashed beans give better texture anyway. Serve the refried beans in flour tortillas with some grated cheese and finely chopped onion. The best accompaniment would be shredded lettuce and tomato, if you can get it.

 

In summer you can make delicious soups with a relatively small amount of ground meat, browned off in the pot, removed, then onions, carrots, celery added and sauteed in the remaining fat. Then add the meat back, and water, stock or some bouillon cubes, plus any produce you have available. Crusty or even crappy bread will do, if that's all you have, and there's your meal. Saltines are also very cheap, if you buy a generic brand.

 

In winter you can roast root vegetables.

 

Gratins can be made with all kinds or produce, if you have a little dairy, and stale bread crumbs make a good topping for this.

 

Savory strata is also a good use of stale bread, if you can get eggs and milk, perhaps some cheese, with onions, peppers, spinach, mushrooms (even canned), or probably your kale if you cooked before adding it. A little bacon, sausage or ham would be welcome, but not strictly necessary. 

 

I love beets, and some don't, but Harvard beets seem pretty easy to love. Also, they lend themselves to roasting well, and that's less labor intensive.

 

Good luck with your project @Rebel Rose!

[Rebel Rose]

On 4/6/2017 at 11:45 AM, Lisa Shock said:

How reasonable would it be to suggest making stock of some sort for use later? (It could be frozen in precise amounts. You freeze it in a measured container, pop it out the next day and place in a baggie.) I am talking about old-school restaurant stock made by using vegetable trimmings and/or roasted bones -kitchen scraps that would otherwise be trashed?

 

Thanks for the stuffing recipe Lisa, that is great!

 

I make stocks and broths at home, and I plan to include a one-page instruction at the end of the book in a section on stretching the budget. I think it will be a hard sell to most soup kitchens, but the smaller places like safe shelters, where the women have to buy their own food and probably participate in cooking, might welcome the idea. In soup kitchens, it's just not likely they'd devote freezer space to bones or veg scraps, nor will volunteers linger for hours to get the broth/stock simmered and strained. But it all depends on their setup and staff!

 

(My broth tip: caramelize two white onions, sliced, in the pan prior to adding vegetables and water. It gives the resulting broth a darker color and sweeter taste.)

[Lisa Shock]

Flexible Pasta Salad

recipe by Lisa Shock

approximately 50 generous portions

 

1 lb dry garbanzo beans, white beans, navy beans, or other light colored beans (black or red beans can be used, but, they stain the pasta if stored overnight)

water to cook beans

1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

¼ teaspoon salt

 

4 lbs dry pasta shapes (ditalini is best, followed by elbows or small shells -larger shapes can be used, but, they don't pack well and waste storage space)

water to cook pasta

1 teaspoon salt

 

2/3 cup vinegar (cider, white, or wine)

1/3 cup vegetable oil (good olive oil if you can get it)

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon dry basil (or a quarter cup minced fresh basil)

1 large onion (grated or minced finely)

½ lb carrots (peeled and sliced into small shapes)

½ lb celery (washed and sliced into small shapes)

 

Optional Add-Ins

cherry tomatoes

tomato wedges

raw mushrooms (washed and sliced)

broccoli (cut into popcorn size florets, peel and slice stems into small shapes)

cauliflower (cut into popcorn sized pieces)

cabbage (finely shaved)

kohlrabi (sliced into small shapes)

kale (finely sliced)

bell pepper (seeded and sliced into small shapes)

olives (drained, sliced or chopped)

canned roasted bell pepper (cut into small shapes)

canned artichokes (sliced into small shapes)

capers (drained)

peas (fresh or frozen)

snow peas (trimmed and blanched)

sugar snap peas (trimmed and blanched)

green beans (trimmed, blanched, cut into small shapes or frenched)

use your imagination...

 

Cook the beans in water with cumin (if using) and salt. Drain and chill. If using garbanzo beans, feel free to discard skins.

 

Cook the pasta in water with the salt until it is almost done. It should NOT be crunchy, but, it should be firmer than one would normally cook it if it were being eaten hot. Drain, run cold water over pasta for a few minutes, drain again and chill.

 

Mix vinegar, oil, salt, and basil in a very large bowl or pan (everything will wind up in here). Add the grated/minced onion. Stir well to mix, then add carrots and celery. Add the cooled beans and pasta, and toss well to mix. It will seem like there is too much dressing. But, the pasta will absorb it. Place in a storage container, and chill for at least 1 hour. This will keep for up to 5 days.

 

Serve as-is, or with optional add-ins. If making and serving on the same day, tougher add-ins, like broccoli or kale, and canned items, like capers or olives,can be mixed in at the same time as the carrots and celery. More delicate add-ins should be mixed in at the last moment or placed on top.

 

[Rebel Rose]

19 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

I make a soup similar to this one but with rice instead of the potatoes and carrots. Cabbage roll soup. I don't use boullion cubes, I use broth, but the cubes would work. I use crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes but like the cubes, the paste would work just fine if I needed it too. Of course replacing the spuds and carrots with rice is kinda the reverse of cutting the starch and upping the fresh veggies so I'm not quite sure why I mentioned it.

 

I love substitution ideas! I include them in nearly every recipe. Soup kitchens and group kitchens often have to work with what they have, or what was donated that week. Except for a few staples, they don't get to "shop" for food. So subbing ideas will be a consistent theme throughout the book.

[Smithy]

Would stuffed bell peppers (green or ripe) or stuffed eggplant be too much work to be feasible? 

[Rebel Rose]

Thank you, everyone, for the recipes so far. These are exactly what I was hoping for, and will make my load so much lighter!

 

14 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

There are several threads extant on eGullet that deal with eating on the cheap. I think this is my favorite one. There is good info here, more ideas here, more here, and some here.

Good luck with your project @Rebel Rose!

 

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I can use them all!

[Rebel Rose]

27 minutes ago, Lisa Shock said:

Flexible Pasta Salad

recipe by Lisa Shock

approximately 50 generous portions

 

Wow. This is PERFECT!

 

[Rebel Rose]

13 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Would stuffed bell peppers (green or ripe) or stuffed eggplant be too much work to be feasible? 

 

I think they'd make a nice "extra" dish when bell peppers are in season. Maybe pack them with scrambled eggs and bits of meat, a little cheese on top. For places that serve up a selection of offerings buffet-style, it could work quite well!

 

Of course, if a kitchen gets 100# of bell peppers (5 crates), they won't want to stuff them. But I'm looking for options for every vegetable, so stuffed peppers are in!  Stuffed eggplants, though, I think would be too many extra steps.

[Smithy]

3 hours ago, Rebel Rose said:

 

I think they'd make a nice "extra" dish when bell peppers are in season. Maybe pack them with scrambled eggs and bits of meat, a little cheese on top. For places that serve up a selection of offerings buffet-style, it could work quite well!

 

Of course, if a kitchen gets 100# of bell peppers (5 crates), they won't want to stuff them. But I'm looking for options for every vegetable, so stuffed peppers are in!  Stuffed eggplants, though, I think would be too many extra steps.

 

Another vague (for now) possibility for stuffed peppers is cooked rice, or leftover bread perhaps, with a bit of ground meat, and perhaps chopped onions, in them. @Thanks for the Crepes's dirty rice could be a good filling.

 

I'm noodling around with the idea of a layered casserole of sliced potatoes, sliced peppers, onions, ground meat if it's available, and a bit of cheese for the top if available, all to be assembled, given a bit of broth for liquid to cook the potatoes, and baked until the filling is cooked and set.  I've done things similar to this but never put it into recipe form, and it will be a while before I can articulate it more clearly. If someone else wants to jump in, please do so.

[kayb]

scooIn the event you do wind up with a surfeit of ground meat:

 

Meat Loaf for a Horde

serves about 50

 

10 pounds ground beef, pork, chicken, turkey or a combo

5 onions, diced

10 cloves garlic, minced

4large sweet peppers,diced (optional)

1 pound loaf white sandwich bread

1 quart milk

1 dozen eggs

1 large bottle ketchup

thyme, oregano, salt,black pepper

 

tear bread into small bits in a large bowl. Pour milk over it. Set aside.

saute onion and sweet pepper until soft. Add garlic. Cook 1 minute more. Set aside.

 

Crumble half of beef in a big mixing bowl. Add half of onion mixture, 6 eggs, spices. scoop out half the soaked bread, squeeze out excess liquid, add that. Add 1/2 cup ketchup. Squ.ish all together with hands to mix thoroughly. Shape into a big loaf on a sheet pan. Repeat with other half of ingredients. Glaze top of loaf with 1 cup ketchup each, spreading with a spoon or fingers to cover the entire loaf. Bake at 375F for an hour. Drain grease, let rest for 15 minutes, and serve.

 

We served this with baked sweet potatoes and green beans, and people LOVED it.

 

 

 

 

[Rebel Rose]

These recipes are incredible. Thank you SO much!

 

(And keep 'em coming. )

[chromedome]

You may find this site helpful...not to plagiarize her recipes, of course, but for guidance and ideas. I've used it as a resource many times while writing freelance articles. 

[JohnT]

A bit on the side of @kayb's use of white bread in a meatloaf - this one is a South African Cape Malay recipe:

 

BULK BOBOTIE
Yield: 1 x 23cm x 33cm x 5cm baking pan - 12 portions

 

Ingredients:
3 onions, diced
90g butter
1.5 kg lean mince
2 thick slices white bread
375g full cream milk
3 large eggs
22.5ml medium curry powder
37.5ml sugar
15ml salt
3.5ml pepper
10ml turmeric
45ml white wine vinegar
120g seedless raisins
8 lemon leaves
60ml chutney

Serve with yellow or white rice

 

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (160° convection oven).
• Peel and dice the onions then fry lightly in the melted butter until soft. Add the mince and fry with the onion until crumbled and just browning.
• Soak the bread in the milk and squeeze out the milk, retaining it. Mash the bread.
• Mix in all the ingredients except half the remaining milk, half the eggs and the lemon leaves.
• Spoon the mixture into the greased pan, roll up the leaves and insert them into the mixture.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• Beat the milk and remaining eggs together and pour over the meat and bake for a further 30 minutes or until cooked.
• Serve with rice and chutney.  

[Lisa Shock]

Croutons

 

Bread

Vegetable Oil

Dry Oregano, Ground Rosemary, Thyme, or Herbs de Provence

Onion Powder (optional)

 

Cut the bread into ½ inch squares. Place on sheet pans in a single layer. Use a squirt bottle to randomly distribute a couple tablespoons of oil per sheet pan. (can also use a spoon to drizzle oil) Toss a couple tablespoons of dry herbs on top. Herbs may be used singly or several can be used at once. Sprinkle a tablespoon of the optional onion powder over the tray.

 

Bake in a low oven until fully dry and crunchy. This is a good item to bake after something else; you can just use the residual heat of a cooling-off oven and save energy $$.

 

Cool and store in sealed containers. Will keep for about a month if kept dry and sealed.

 

Serve with salads and soups, or use as a casserole topping.

[JohnT]

Many years ago I was in Rio de Janeiro with a friend and stopped in at a feeding hall for the homeless. The menu was "Black Bean Stew", which some Brazilians claim as their national dish, followed by a dessert of jelly (jello) and custard. We were asked if we would like a meal and stayed for the most delicious meal. It contained pork chunks, black beans and diced vegetables. Do a Google search for "Feijoada", it is an ideal low cost meal, full of nutrition and flavour. The meal cost us just a few cents but we donated US $ 10 each to the feeding hall - it may not sound like a lot of money now, but it was in those days.

[Kerry Beal]

If your soup kitchen gets left over rotisserie chickens - a whole chapter could be added.

 

Here's a contribution to that chapter - sadly not scaled for servings. I suspect double would be 10 servings.

 

Curry

Recipe By: mom
Serving Size: 1

Ingredients:

1 large onion chopped
1 large apple macintosh, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder or comb of cumin and chili
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
1 tbsp butter
water
raisins
tomato or ketchup
4 cups chicken leftovers chopped

Directions:

Saute onion and apple in butter.  Add curry powder and cook until fragrant.  All sugar, lemon, tomato and  about 1 cup water.  Stew together until thickened.  Add chicken and raisins and heat through.  

[Kerry Beal]

Another seasonal veggie suggestion - suspect double for 10 servings - lovely fresh tasting - not at all posh.

 

Marlene's Ratatoulli

Recipe By: 
Serving Size: 1

Ingredients:

2 large onions chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 large tomatoes
5 medium zucchini
2 red peppers
salt and pepper
chicken broth

Directions:

Saute onion and garlic in a bit of oil.  Add tomatoes and a bit of chicken broth to keep moist.  When soft add zucchini and red peppers.  Saute until softened.  Season with salt and pepper.