Cooking When Living Abroad Advice

No Oven! What to Make When Living in a Foreign Country?

June 2, 2010

Ylia needs our help! She recently turned to the Kitchen Goddesses in the YumSugar Community for cooking advice. She's planning a special dinner for her boyfriend, but there are some complicated limitations. She explains:

I want a simple yet sophisticated menu... but there's a few limitations such as: no oven in my boyfriend's apartment and I'm a vegetarian. Although I don't want to make it into a whole vegetarian thing, I would like to have something to eat other than just salad and also cook something carnivore for him! To make things even harder I live in Venezuela, a third world country where you don't exactly have the biggest variety of vegetables and other goodies — I've never even seen a shiitake mushroom or ready-to-go chicken or beef broth. Help!

There you have it readers. Ylia needs a basic vegetarian and meat-friendly meal that can be cooked on a stove with simple ingredients. What should she make?!

Source: Thinkstock

14 Comments

ylia 2 years 50 weeks

thankssss so much for all the recipes and ideas!!!!! really a lot of help! i'm gonna start writing all down and put a menu together thanks so much again!

2 years 50 weeks

no worries! i live in china and apartments don't come with ovens - unless they're pricier expat targeted apartments. i can find just about any ingredient i want here, but if you live in a bit of a more remote place there's surely something delicious you can make. check out your little local markets! it's amazing to live seasonally, isn't it! we've made everything from pastas, noodles, curries, stir-fry, fish, wild rice, sandwiches, tortas... i mean tons of stuff without living with an oven. we've had many themed dinner parties too: mexican (taco buffet, beans, guac), greek (greek salad, sandwiches with yogurt), vegetarian night (veggie burgers!), persian (rice and herb stews). even if you can't find every ingredient in the world you need - make a list of what you have and get creative! since you're online scope out some food blogs, you're bound to find gems along the way! i like looking at yumsugar and tastespotting for recipes! :) good luck!

2 years 50 weeks

You can make a risotto with asparagus.

zeze 2 years 50 weeks

Veggie stir-fry with local veggies and herbs over pasta or rice. You can add sauteed chicken/beef to his. Or...faux eggplant parmesan (not fried), or bell peppers stuffed with rice, onion, tomatoes and herbs/spices with a tomato sauce... Make a "different" salad, adding fruit to rich greens (like strawberries or mangoes or pineapple" and nuts. The possibilities of side dishes are endless...I love smashed potatoes (boil small potatoes, toss them whole in olive oil, lay them on a backing sheet and smash them each down and top with salt and pepper. Good luck and don't be afraid to try something different, honestly cooking is all about being creative and making what you have work for you rather than the other way around.

zeze 2 years 50 weeks

Veggie stir-fry with local veggies and herbs over pasta or rice. You can add sauteed chicken/beef to his. Or...faux eggplant parmesan (not fried), or bell peppers stuffed with rice, onion, tomatoes and herbs/spices with a tomato sauce...Make a "different" salad, adding fruit to rich greens (like strawberries or mangoes or pineapple" and nuts.The possibilities of side dishes are endless...I love smashed potatoes (boil small potatoes, toss them whole in olive oil, lay them on a backing sheet and smash them each down and top with salt and pepper. Good luck and don't be afraid to try something different, honestly cooking is all about being creative and making what you have work for you rather than the other way around.

laaki 2 years 50 weeks

I'm also from Venezuela, and Yes you can find this time in many supermarkets, may be you are not looking at the rights one, what city do you live in? since I have lived in many city over the past 2 years I may be able to help you find the right supermarket. In Caracas you can get lot of veggies including the shiitake mushroom in Plaza's, Luvebras, and Gama, even in some Central Madairense like the one in chacaito.if you're in Puerto La Cruz you can find them in Le Marche, Sigo la Proveeduria and Unicasa in the Plaza Mayor mall....

laaki 2 years 50 weeks

I'm also from Venezuela, and Yes you can find this time in many supermarkets, may be you are not looking at the rights one, what city do you live in? since I have lived in many city over the past 2 years I may be able to help you find the right supermarket. In Caracas you can get lot of veggies including the shiitake mushroom in Plaza's, Luvebras, and Gama, even in some Central Madairense like the one in chacaito. if you're in Puerto La Cruz you can find them in Le Marche, Sigo la Proveeduria and Unicasa in the Plaza Mayor mall....

2 years 50 weeks

I'm from Venezuela, and you can find those items (mushrooms and broth) and many more at a store call Oceania in Caracas, seriously we are not that far behind... I find the description of my country a little offensive, but I hope you find the right recipe and have a great meal anyway. The veggie paella sound like a good idea.. good Luck

Spectra 2 years 50 weeks

If you can get rice, try making a rice pilaf with whatever veggies you can find. And for your boyfriend, you could maybe find some chicken and do a stovetop braise: brown your chicken, deglaze your pan with some wine or stock, put your chicken back in and simmer it until it's done. I make a really yummy braised chicken thigh dish that I serve over plain buttered noodles for my husband a lot. Also, you could maybe make fajitas--you can make veggie ones for you and add some steak, chicken, or fish for your guy. Those are fairly easy to do on the stove, too.

Spectra 2 years 50 weeks

POPSUGAR Food 2 years 50 weeks

If you're looking for something non-vegetarian for him, how about a fish or shellfish ceviche? That is "cooked" but doesn't require a stove. :)

POPSUGAR Food 2 years 50 weeks

If you're looking for something non-vegetarian for him, how about a fish or shellfish <a href="http://www.yumsugar.com/tag/ceviche">ceviche</a>? That is "cooked" but doesn't require a stove. :)

chiefdishwasher 2 years 50 weeks

Got pasta?.......saute your favorite veggies in a frying pan in a little olive oil......toss with the pasta........make his special by using butter while you saute his chicken pieces in a separate pan....toss his pasta separately with an extra dollop of butter and shred a little parmesean over his!......or substitute prawns for the chicken!.......ready in minutes!

2 years 50 weeks

How about a veggie "paella"? Surely there is rice, and a variety of veggies she (hopefully) has access to. Sounds like a time to really stretch the imagination!

Link Love

14 Comments

You Might Also Like