HELP! Easy Vegetarian menu for 3 days for 10 people ??

[OldLace]

Suddenly - I have a group of 10 people to cater for next week. Eeek!
They are all vegetarian (but not vegan)

I am not used to cooking vegetarian food and am panicking.
I am not a confident cook.

It needs to be idiot proof (and cheap if possible as I am taking over responsibility for this from a family member and probably the £ too)

They will need a continental type breakfast (I cant cook for 10 first thing!), a simple lunch, afternoon cake & an evening meal with pud.

Apparently eggs and cheese are okay, she says.

So, day 1 I thought overnight oats with fruit, soup and toasties, choc cake, lasagna and ?pud? But how to offer a variety over 3 days?

I'm not completely thick but am in panic mode I think?

Any advice on dishes please? (and likely costs? grrr not happy...)

Main meal ideas:

Pasta dish - veg lasagne, cheese and tomato pasta bake etc.
Risotto
Veg chilli with pitta breads or wraps to make it not rice again
Pizza!

Also, you could have one night of barbecue style food even if not on a barbecue - so veggie burgers, hot dogs. All the supermarkets do them now.

How about going out for a meal one night? They should be treating you in return for you hosting 10 people!

Jacket potatoes with beans/cheese/coleslaw/salad.
Cereals and toast for breakfast, surely no one expects something different everyday?
Veggie sausages - with mash or as Hot Dogs
Picky lunch - crudites, hummus, cheese, Ploughman’s

Breakfast - selection of cereals and breads. Butter, jam, honey. Maybe croissants on the first say if budget allows. (I cant stand oats!)
Lunches - soup, quiche, jacket potatoes.
Cake - scones, choc cake, lemon drizzle
Evening - pasta and tomato sauce (lasagna is very pan intensive, unless you can make a big batch of the vegetable part in advance and freeze), rice and chilli, vegetable fajitas with beans. Fruit salad, icecream, yoghurt.

A recent recipe I found is great and you can enlarge it very easily. I think it was from Delicious magazine. I've memorised it now.

Chop and fry onion over a medium heat until soft and golden, add garlic and ginger (I used the jar sort) and cook for a minute.
Add 1 tsp each of Garamasala, turmeric, cumin & coriander and cook for further minute.
Chop up lots of fresh tomatoes (however many you want) and add to the pan alongside tin or tins of chickpeas and enough water to make a runny sauce. Let it blip away for 20 mins and serve with some rice or whatever carb you like.
The recipe also called for a boiled egg with a still slightly runny center to be served with each portion, but I never bother.

Also forgot that you add a load of chopped spinach. I usually do but i think you could easily add broccoli or anything like that.

A hummus, falafel, pita and salad type lunch would be nice. You can make a green salad and maybe a cous cous or lentil salad.
Falafel are not expensive and nor is hummus and pita.

I'd also suggest a veggie type tagine as a dinner or a veggie bbq, make some veg kebabs, halloumi, Linda McCartney or Quorn burgers sausage and chorizo on the bbq and some more salad.

Rather than veg lasagne, try spinach and ricotta cannelloni (and use frozen spinach). It's much less of a faff as you don't need to make a bechamel sauce.

Delia's vegetarian shepherds pie with goats cheese mash is easy and tasty.

For lunch, halloumi and avocado burgers.

Breakfasts - Toast, crumpets, cereals, spreads like jam, peanut butter, marmite. Greek yogurt & honey. Have bananas, blueberries on the table.

Lunches - Toasted sandwiches, rolls with various fillings like hummus, falafal, cheese, hard boiled eggs, salad. Bowls of crisps & melon slices on the table to share. Or if it's cold go for soup/stew with warm part baked rolls. Lentil & onion soup is lovely & very cheap to make.

Main meals -

Lasagne with salad, chips, garlic bread.

Vegetable curry with rice, naans, popodoms

Jacket potatoes with various filling like bean chilli, cheese, baked beans or egg mayo served with salad & crusty rolls.

Quiche with new potatoes, corn on the cob & salad.

Vegetable stew with dumplings.

*if possible make sure any eggs you use are free range, preferably organic.

Oooh, thanks everyone

Cant eat out as 1 person nervous of eating out.

Weather very iffy so cant do a barbeque.

I can defo prep ahead and batch prepare so yes stuff I can do that :) or cook in a slow cooker like chili would be fab.

I 'm a rubbish cook so just want it edible and no short order stuff.
I am worried about spending £200 and having loads left / not having enough. Ooof.

Sometimes if you think of a theme it helps a bit, so Mexican night veggie fajitas, tomato rice, tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole etc.

Greek night, meze type dishes veggie moussaka, hummus pita, Greek salad.

Italian, spinach and ricotta lasagne, bruschetta, rocket salad.

I think a theme helps keep to a type of food rather than making all kinds just because it's veggie.

Please check all labels. My daughter is vegetarian and so many things you would think would be aren't. If it doesn't have the logo or say suitable for vegetarians it isn't.

So many cheeses (especially Parmesan) use animal rennet. Lots of chocolates - M&M's for example use shellac type stuff to make the crispy shell. Lots of wine is not vegetarian. Things like Worcestershire sauce aren't either.

I agree with a previous poster who suggested themes. Mexican/Greek/Italian would be great to base evening meals on.

I would caution against putting any meat replacement (like quorn or soya)products on a bbq. It really doesn't work. They are far better off being cooked in an oven.

Happy to send you some recipes.

I was going to suggest some of these options too. I should hope some of them will be helping, and not expecting YOU alone to cater. Sounds more like you are running a hotel!!!

Meat is expensive, so you might find you'll save by not needing to buy any. I'd concentrate more on fruit/veg and legumes/beans, rather than buying packets of 'vegetarian' foods, which are often expensive.

• Vegetable curry. Almost any left over veg/root veg can be thrown in. If making the sauce from scratch is too time consuming, just buy a jar. For 10, I'd likely make up 2 curries- say a korma and something with a slighty chilli kick. Store bought naans, or even pittas with rice. Popodoms, mango chutney and pickles.

• vegetable stir fry with either rice or noodles. Again, but a jar of sauce if from scratch isnt your thing.

• a fritatta. Bascially, eggs with any left over veg in it and backed. Roasted veg, potatoes, peas, carrots etc. Served warm or cold with a salad.

• Bake cakes beforehand and freeze, then defrost on the day. Apple and cinamon, banana, carrot or coffee cake.

• Wraps. Put everything on the table and guests help themselves. I make up a guacomole, plain or savoury rice, lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream and a veggie/bean chilli or fajita mix

• soup and crusty bread as lunch, or dinner entree. I often use those bake at home bagettes to save going to the shops daily for fresh rolls. Soup is cheap and fills people up. Pumpkin, root vegetables, beans or something with pearl barley in.

• BBC website have lots of veggie options.

Meant to say, that lidl/aldi or asda can be reasonable for fruit/veg. I know asda do a bulk pack of eggs, so I'd stock up on those.

SHAKSHUKA is lovely with flatbreads or crusty bread. Really easy to make - takes minutes.

You could make some lasagnes at home for the first night and freeze them in advance. Just defrost them in the morning so that would be one meal out of the way.

I always recommend the bbc veggie lasagne recipe. It's really good and easy to make.

Chilli is quick and easy and good to scale up to feed a lot of people, also curries, fry a load of veg and some tofu/ quorn pieces with some mexican seasoning and do fajitas/ tacos with sour cream and guacamole.
Lunches: I would just get a load of 'lunch things' and people can help themselves, like bread, things that go in sandwiches, cheeses, hummus, falafals, salad etc. Jacket potatoes/ soups/ toasted sandwiches also good if the weather won't be good.
Do you have to make the puddings and cakes as well? Or can you buy them for ease?

Bbc good food burnt Aubergine chilli is fantastic and I'm cooking it for dinner tonight.

The earlier curry recipe looks very good....this Jamie Oliver recipe has more ingredients, but is delicious... chickpeas, and red peppers and spinach work well, with some fresh coriander chopped over it.
wegottaeat.com/sukye/recipes/jamie-olivers-favourite-curry-sauce
Soups for lunch can be cheap - vegetable minestrone, carrot and coriander, tomato and lentil, and simplest of all pea and mint - using a large bag of frozen peas. You could buy some of those ready bake baguettes in advance.
Vegetarian chilli is a great idea, with salad and garlic bread...most supermarkets do a cheap garlic bread, ready to bake...always gets eaten! Simple puddings like fruit and yoghurt sound fine...Eton Mess with strawberries and bought meringues is quick and easy if you want to make something. Hope it all goes well.😃

Day 1 - yogurt, fruit, granola, cereal and toast
Baguette, couple of different cheeses, salad pickles etc bowl of crisps chopped fruit
Chilli and rice

Day 2 big pan of scrambled eggs if you can manage it, toast and cereal
Quiche and salad
Nut roast (can buy something if you don’t want to make) or some sort of filo pastry With roast veg

Day 3 pastries - croissant etc
Pittas with falalfal and houmous
Mushroom carbonara

Puddings and cakes are all veggie - just stay away from jelly.

I'd do as follows.

Breakfasts - cereal, porridge as an option, toast or something bread-y (crumpets, english muffins, croissants) with a variety of marmalade, jam, cheese, marmite type spreads. Big bowl of fruit and maybe a couple of pots of yogurt. Eggs to poach or scramble for those who want them. All just help yourself.

Lunches - chunky vegetable soup, breads, cheese, crackers, pickles, hummous, salads like pasta or potato salad, quiche, hard boiled eggs.

Dinners
Veggie chilli, heavy on the pulses and chunky veg, served with rice or wraps, and salads, etc.
Curry night - chickpea and spinach curry and a butternut squash one (different spices/heats would be good) served with naans and yogurt. Various chutneys, pickles, popadums, etc to go with it.
Night three I'd do baked potatoes with various fillings to use up the leftover chilli and curry if there is any. If there aren't any leftovers then something new like a veggie goulash would go great with the spuds. Various salads.

Puddings - I'd make a fruit salad, and have some ice cream and nice biscuits on hand. I'd make sure there was a selection of cheeses, crackers and olives etc for those without a sweet tooth. I'd probably also have a couple of loaf type cakes, like gingerbread and lemon drizzle.

Don't do complicated breakfasts, toast, brown bread, jam, honey, and peanut butter will be fine. Forget overnight oats, not everyone likes them.

Lunches ~~ Make soup, mixed veg and bean or a minestrone style or potato and leek all are cheap to make. A thick soup served with bread will be filling.. Use vegetable stock granules instead of chicken stock! Make the soup ahead of time if possible.

Other lunch ideas ~~ hummus & pitta bread or Tzadziki is another spread you could make it is plain greek yoghurt with grated cucumber and chopped mint stirred in.

Cheeses, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, radishes and cucumber and other salad items with bread for them to help themselves to, though be wary that the first comers don't eat everything. You can be generous with the eggs, (cheep cheep!) but miserly with the expensive cheese.

Dinner ideas ~~ pasta Primavera, make this with pasta shapes such a swirls, twists, or bows. Cook a good amount of small green vegetables, sliced courgette, broccoli florets, chopped green beans, peas, chopped spring onions, frozen spinach leaves....Meanwhile cook then drain the pasta. Tip the vegetables into the pasta and stir well to distribute. Serve with grated cheese to hand round.

Make a thick vegetable stew, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, turnips, cabbage, celery, onions & garlic. Use vegetable stock for flavour, and a little rice to pad it out. Serve with a choice of instant noodles (buy cheap ones) and cous-cous.

For puddings ~~ Yoghurt and stewed fruit (what ever is cheaper).

Deconstructed cheese cake, break ginger biscuits into crumbs and place in small glasses, add a 50/50 mixture of yoghurt and plain cream cheese with a little sugar, top each glass with chopped summer fruit or stewed fruit.

One thing I have found with large groups like that, is that they can be very greedy. Those earliest to the table will eat two or three portions leaving others without, so where ever possible portion out the individual servings yourself.
Get the group themselves to help you with the food prep, before they go out in the mornings for instance.

Oh forgot to say, use tinned lentils and beans in all stews, mixed vegetable soups, chillis etc for speed and convenience. These will all help make your meals more substantial/filling.

Try Asda, Aldi etc for large economical cakes, especially if you don't usually bake yourself, as you won't have the tins etc required.

I am a lifelong vegetarian and have a catering background. I beg you, please DO NOT do a stuffed pepper using couscous, it's so bloody boring and a cop out. If I were you I would do:

• 5 Bean chilli (various tinned beans) with rice, tortilla chips, salsa (fine to buy it), sour cream and salad. The chilli can be done in the slow cooker and frozen ahead or freeze leftovers.
• Penne arribiata - don't make it massively spicy but it's a simple sauce with pasta which you can serve with salad and garlic bread. Again freezer friendly.
• Burgers - is you do halloumi then a nice pesto mayonnaise and grilled peppers, serve with wedges or potato salad and coleslaw, maybe corn on the cob too as it's in season so cheap at the moment
• Curry - again slow cooker and freezer friendly. You can keep it simple and maybe do spinach, chickpea and sweet potato curry served with rice, raita and naan.
• Bolagnaise - either makes with TVP mince, a meat free mince substitute or do lentil Ragu.
• Roasted vegetable lasagne, so easy and satisfying again freezer friendly.

As a vegetarian you do expect to bilk our meals with salad, veg and garlic bread

I also think sharing boards are great because then everyone can help themselves. Obviously with the current Covid situation I can appreciate some people may not be comfortable with this.

Oooh vegetable tagine with lemon/herb cous cous serve with flatbreads

Agree with a previous poster, keep breakfast simple continental style toast, jams, marmalade and cereal.