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...)

Old lace IMHO robust sauces freeze best (eg tomato, aubergine/courgette/onion/paprika). Plain-boiled drained dchick-peas and butter beans also freeze well. But really, (apart from butter/haricot./red/black beans and chickpeas) it does not take very long to cook a sauce from fresh, and it usually tastes nicer.

Technically, frittata - cold omelettes mixed with mushrooms/veg etc - freeze well, but to me they taste of rubber. So much simpler to disappear to the kitchen for 20 mins at the most and cook them from fresh.

However, the following will freeze well and be very useful. You can blend it to a mush, add water and serve as soup, or mix it with red lentils (boil for 15 mins, very simple, and then with crunch veg eg charred stir-fry broccoli or cauliflower). Or you can serve as a suace for pasta/ boiled or steamed veg. Or serve with little pots of good olive oil and really nice bread, and dip in.
Finely chop celery stalks, onion, grated carrot, finely-diced aubergine and courgette . Cook in a very generous glug of olive oil until soft and just beginning to go brown. Add tinned tomatoes or tomato puree to taste, plus fresh chopped garlic and fresh/dried herbs, plus enough water to stop it sticking. If you like the flavour of smoked or dried paprika, you can add some - about a dessertsppon for 4 people. Some people also add a couple of tablespoons of wine, or a single tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Cook gently for about 20 mins. This goes well with pasta of all kinds/baked potatoes/ stir fried broccoli, ideally with lots of freshly-grated parmesan on top.

Very very simple/quick meal idea. Broccoli florets (I head between two people), one arge/2 small red pepper, good handful unsalted cashew nuts. Cut broccoli into smallish florets, and the red pepper into strips. If liked, add one or two cloves of garlic finely chopped. Stir -fry in hot olive oil, adding raw cashews when veg nearly ready. When cashews beginning to brown, sprinkle all with soy sauce. Seve with carb of choice - pitta or naan bread, or brown/wild rice.

Do you really need both afternoon cake AND pud? You could easily save money and time by just buying a few packets of biscuits, if people really want something sweet in the afternoons.

Easy puds:
Agree that ice cream can be the main event on one night - maybe a bowl of strawberries alongside, and some brownies (bought or made)

A crumble is easy to scale up - I find blackberry or plum less faff than apple, as no peeling

And then maybe some kind of traybake for the third day, with custard, cream or ice cream?

The Richmond veggie sausages are really nice btw, and no more expensive than meat ones.

I like the idea of Mexican Night, Italian Night and Curry Night that a PP suggested.

I'll throw in this recipe - it's seriously easy to do and could be easily scaled up for 10 people.

thedoctorskitchen.com/recipes/spinach-and-chickpea-saag

Also, this makes a huge amount of really tasty fruit compote. I usually do it in the slow cooker when we have guests and is lovely with yogurt and some granola.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/apple-pear-cherry-compote

Cheap things to do for the afternoon cake are fruit scones served buttered, plain scones with jam, drop scones served with golden syrup, rock buns, all of these are easy to make at home and won’t need complicated equipment.

If you’ve got some bun tins, make small fruit fairy cakes or jam tarts with home made or bought shortcrust.

How about a cheese and fruit board one night instead of pudding?

Have 3 big pieces of cheese - maybe a cheddar, a brie and another. Lots of crackers/biscuits and grapes, some berries, slices of apple all jumbled onto a big plate/board.

I love this meal plan with shopping list. Most meals are less than 20 mins to prepare or easily done in a slow cooker. I especially recommend the butternut squash dhal.

It's vegan but there's no harm in that for vegetarians. You could pick one week and have all the lunches and dinners covered or the days are on the shopping lists so just pick the days you want.

www.thevegspace.co.uk/four-week-vegan-meal-plan-and-shopping-list/

If 2/10 'don't fancy vegetarian food for 3 days' I would do fajitas one night as it's easy to make a veggie version with onions and peppers and then add some chicken strips on the side for the others. Lots of wraps, guacamole, soured cream and grated cheese alongside some salad.

To be honest though I would just do veggie food for the main meals and rustle up a bacon sandwich one morning if you were feeling particularly accommodating.

When I had to feed a large gathering that included one vegan, most who were happy to eat whatever they were given and my dad a vocal anti vegetarian, I served vegan chilli with (separate) sour cream and chicken nuggets on the side

Ok. Don’t panic!

Veggie of 30 years and on benefits here so I think I can help.

You will need (hoping you’ll already have most of this actually):

Bread
Fresh pasta (doesn’t need to be filled, tagliatelle or similar is fine)
Unflavoured cous cous or Quick cook rice - I tend to use cous cous as a rice sub as it’s quicker and easier to do
Cheese
Eggs
Potatoes
Sweet peppers
Mushrooms
Tomatoes (I prefer cherry myself)
Iceberg lettuce
Cucumber
Broccoli
Aubergine
Courgettes
Carrots

Large jar/s pitted olives
Passata
Tinned tomatoes
Tomato purée
Garlic (lazy garlic is great stuff)
Ginger (as above)
Soy sauce
Sweet chilli sauce
Diced onions (I get frozen much easier and cheap)
Budget tortilla chips (trust me people won’t notice)
Sour cream
Guacamole
Stock cubes
Marmite
Pesto sauce in as large quantities/cheapest you can find and you can make it go further by adding cream cheese or olive oil
Herbs and spices - hoping you have the needed ones in already or can adapt

Breakfast each day - “continental” as you said - so bread, cheese, fruit (needn’t be fancy, grapes, apples, bananas should be fine), natural yogurt, tea, coffee, fresh but cheap juice

Day 1

Lunch - salad with a base of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber and additional optional cheese, boiled eggs, olives, sliced peppers, sliced mushrooms, make your own salad dressing if you wish or get a cheap but large bottle of a fairly neutral one.

Afternoon cake - start simple so as not to create high expectations - a simple Victoria sponge

Dinner - pasta with a simple tomato & herb sauce (passata, tomato purée, garlic, basil and oregano) and whatever veg you fancy using, I generally like peppers and broccoli with this but you could have thinly sliced courgette - whatever you fancy

Pud - meringue nests with whipped cream and fruit

Day 2

Lunch - sandwiches - cucumber, cheese, egg, quorn deli slices (the “ham” comes in a decent sized pack)

Afternoon cake - banana loaf

Dinner

Chilli - quorn mince, Tinned tomatoes, Passata, garlic, ginger, chilli. Serve with rice or cous cous, tortilla chips and guacamole and sour cream to dip

Pud - ice cream is perfect after a chilli and no effort

Day 3

Lunch - vegetable frittata - eggs, diced peppers, onion, mushrooms - whatever your guests fancy

Dinner

Mushroom stroganoff - onions, garlic, smoked paprika, stock, diced mushrooms, sour cream. Serve with cous cous or rice or even roast or mashed potatoes as it’s quite hearty and rich

Pud - a strudel would work well with this with ice cream or custard.

Day 4

Lunch - wraps - fill with veggies, quorn chicken chunks quickly fried off, salad items (lettuce, tomato) and dressed with sweet chilli sauce and/or sour cream

Afternoon cake - lemon drizzle - dead easy!

Dinner - pasta with veg and pesto sauce - give you a bit of a break from “proper” cooking mid way but still provide something tasty and filling

Pud - bought cheesecake or tiramisu (you can serve small portions of this if you use lovely glassware and “ice cream” fan wafers) - again gives you a bit of a break from cooking

Day 5

Lunch - toast/crackers and veggie pâté/soft cheeses, olives, cucumber and tomatoes

Afternoon cake - scones - bought or home made - I can’t make scones but maybe you can

Dinner - stir fry - sweet peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, thinly diced carrot, onions, garlic. Sauce - sweet chilli sauce mixed with soy sauce and ginger works really well. Serve with rice or cous cous.

Dessert - sorbet works really well after a stir fry

Day 6

Lunch - sandwiches again it’s been a few days so not too repetitive

Afternoon cake - iced ginger squares - easy but weirdly impressive

Dinner - hearty veg casserole - carrots, broccoli, courgettes, aubergine, as you like, potatoes, quorn chunks, all cooked in stock and flavoured with herbs, serve with crusty rolls and butter

Pud - gonna go retro and say apple pie and custard.

Day 7

Lunch - home made carrot and coriander soup served with crusty rolls and butter

Afternoon cake - chocolate cake - a little indulgence after the healthy soup

Dinner - vegetarian/vegetable pie you could use ready made pastry - with potatoes and veg

Pud - meringues again - light after a carb heavy meal

Day 8

Lunch - frittata or omelette

Afternoon cake - jam tarts topped with cream or yogurt - a little indulgence after a light lunch

Dinner - veggie curry - if you’ve a slow cooker all the better. Diced veggies (carrots, peppers, aubergine and courgette all work well), quorn chunks if you like, stock and spices as your preference , serve with rice or cous cous, poppadoms (home made it bought) and home made raita (yogurt, cucumber and mint dead easy)

Pud - I’d go with ice cream or sorbet again as that’s what I like after something spicy

Day 9

Lunch - mini pita pizzas - pita bread or even ordinary bread, tomato purée, garlic, basil, oregano, veg as preferred by guests - mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes...

Afternoon cake - fairy cakes - light and retro after the pizza

Dinner - ratatouille served with buttered bread or rolls or rice or cous cous or even pasta

Pud - sweet pancakes - home or ready made either way dead easy, serve with cream, ice cream or sorbet or as they are

Day 10

Lunch - as it’s the last day have a “free for all” to use up whatever’s left of the salad and deli items. Provide bread/crackers/wraps as guests prefer

Afternoon cake - as it’s the last day maybe go for a “showstopper” as it’s the last day - a Black Forest gateau is actually surprisingly simple and you could even use some cheats by using a shop bought chocolate sponge and adding the cherries and cream

Dinner - if they won’t stand for at least 1 takeout they’re pretty selfish and ungrateful but...failing that I’d do a big “shepherds pie” type thing bread and butter - kill em with carbs!

Pud - cake and custard

I know you’ll not follow plan to the letter but hope it gives you some ideas and helps you panic less.

I just found out that 2 of the 10 DO eat meat and 'don't fancy 3 days of vegetarian food'.

No problem. Premier Inn are taking bookings again now and have reopened restaurants too. Send them a link to your nearest one.

Honestly, how can people coming to stay as guests be so rude? I would eat what I was given, be polite and grateful and take myself off out to the chippy if I didn't like it.

Thai butter bean curry. Fry off four red onions finely chopped. Add passata. Add five cans of butter beans (drained). Add Thai green curry paste to taste (check ingredients as some contain shrimp others veggie) then creamed coconut and lime juice all to taste. Before serving stir in Creme fraiche and serve with rice or spinach and nam. Sprinkle corriander on top.

@OldLace

Ah, this is all GREAT - thank you so much !!! x

I'm thinking of avoiding products like 'veggie sausages' as I assume that they are not very nice, not all vegetarians like fake sausages and, for 10, it might get expensive ?

I just found out that 2 of the 10 DO eat meat and 'don't fancy 3 days of vegetarian food'. Well, I'm not cooking actual meat on the side and being careful with utensils etc so that the vegetarian guests are okay.

So, i might buy a decent cooked ham / some salami and put it in on a separate plate and those that cant manage 3 days without meat can eat that! Then the veggie guests dont have to smell sausages etc

When they host ten people on a restricted diet for three days at short notice they can do as many different meals to satisfy random preferences as they like.

Do come back and let us know how it goes!

I made this veg chilli last week and it's gorgeous! I froze a batch of it and re-cooked some yesterday- it freezes very well. Add cheese/sour cream/guacamole etc. and it's delicious. I substituted refried beans for cooked, blended pinto beans with paprika.

It's already a large-ish batch so you wouldn't have to multiply the recipe much. Maybe twice, or three times and you can freeze any spare.
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/double-bean-roasted-pepper-chilli

Breakfast: Cereal, toast and pastries(weekend) with tea/coffee

Lunch: sandwich, soup, toasties, salads, hummus with veg and pita

Dinner: pasta bake, lasagna, curry, chili, ratatouille, aubergine parmigiana, stir fry with tofu and noodles/rice, jacket potato with beans

Puddings: cakes, brownies, ice cream.

@Graphista

That is an amazing and comprehensive list but the OP is only having to cater for 3 days.

@OldLace how and why are you suddenly having to become caterer? (Are you putting everyone up as well?) And why a cake each day?

Sorry I'm very nosey and user intrigued about the cake

@OldLace, you mentioned heading off to Aldi and in searching for a particular product (frozen apple strudels, 89p each delicious and 2 or 3 would serve everyone article [[https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/lidl-shoppers-reveal-44-favourite-14128032]]
Take another shopper with you, it'll be 2 trolleys.

correct link here

but the OP is only having to cater for 3 days.

Oops!

Somehow got it in my head it was ten days!

Oh well plenty of ideas for her

MASSIVELY GRATEFUL to you all thank you so much.

@Graphista Yes, thank puff it's only for 3 days (for 10 people though!)
or I'd be sobbing in a cupboard.

BUT... your amazing list and menu has inspired me.

I grew up in a 'meat and 2 veg' family. I was a vegetarian myself for 6 years as a teenager. I remember being given plain boiled (to death) pasta and a lump of cheddar each night by my disapproving mother!

So, I am not a confident cook and tend to make my kids 'nursery' food still ie fish pie, spag bol, shepherd's pie, roast dinner, tuna pasta etc

This list has given me SO many ideas so I will be trying loads of them (under less pressure when the visitors have gone)

I hope at least some of them are grateful and I get a bunch of flowers / bottle of pop from the family member who was supposed to be doing it and has (very happily imo) ducked out of it last minute.

Wish me luck. I'm not brave enough to post pics (and dont know how to link my phone and MN, rubbish at tech) but I promise I'll come back and let you know how it goes.

I have supplies from Aldi (inc the apple strudel! thanks @Etinox) and will be attempting to turn them into a 3 day feast shortly :)

Aww how sweet of you to say

When I first turned veggie there was no quorn, no Linda McCartney and definitely no supermarkets own veggie ranges.

Eating in restaurants 9/10 I'd end up with a plain omelette and a sad 70's salad!

My grans were great cooks though and were very good to me once they understood things like not using meat stock.

Although they very much did have the impression I needed MORE food than the meat eaters to make up for the lack of meat so I'd be sat this skinny size 6 teen being presented with a plate piled high!

Mum understandably refused to be cooking 2 or more separate meals every night for our family and so I was happy to cook for myself.

Due to the lack of veggie stuff in the shops I was left with batch cooking from scratch and getting dried soya stuff from Holland and Barrett and the independent health food shop in my town and even they had limited range.

It's VASTLY improved over the years, not only availability but labelling etc too

I'm fine with and happy to eat quorn, Linda McCartney etc but not everyone is, some don't like fake meat, some have intolerances.

You'll be fine I'm sure. Have fun

They're nervous to go out to eat but feel fine about going on holiday with 10 people (is that even allowed?) Do people not realise we are still supposed to be 2m apart.

too nervous to go out to eat... Probably a euphemism for frightened that the moths will escape from their purse!

@AdaColeman

too nervous to go out to eat... Probably a euphemism for frightened that the moths will escape from their purse!

[quote Crunchymum]@Graphista

That is an amazing and comprehensive list but the OP is only having to cater for 3 days.

@OldLace how and why are you suddenly having to become caterer? (Are you putting everyone up as well?) And why a cake each day?

Sorry I'm very nosey and user intrigued about the cake [/quote]
Me too!

Can't help with recipes (and I bloody love stuffed peppers with cous cous) but I'm massively intrigued by the back story and actually I'd tell them to shove the cake up their arses.