Veggie dinner party ideas

[Chickenfeed67]

I need inspiration! No fake meat or goats cheese. Something fancier than the usual chilli/shepherds pie we normally have. Help!

Whole roast cauliflower with shawarma spices, pickles, tzatziki, chopped salad flatbreads

Spiced mushroom pilaf, yoghurt sauce

Parmagiana pie, green salad

Spanakopita with a big Greek salad, fancy olives, hummus, pitta bread - super easy and really nice

Flan or quiche can be really nice if large and homemade with a lovely salad, rosemary potatoes etc

But we make a lot of veggie chillis and lasagnas too.

Paella with crusty bread
Thai green curry with rice

Do they eat cheese?

Sorry assume they do save for goats cheese.

Fajitas/burritos with halloumi
Cheese and onion pie

I'd go Mexican help yourself feast. You can do chili and rice, fajitas, quesadillas, guac, salad, sour cream.. the works.

Beetroot wellington. Delicious

Celeriac steaks. Ottolenghi has a fab recipe online

I'm not very good at fancy dinner party food - but these are all cheap and easy for casual dinner with friends:

Veggie lasagne with spring greens or salad
Tofu pad thai, or any noodle stir fry with sticky teriyaki aubergine, and veggie spring rolls
Veggie chilli with guac and sour cream, and rice or jacket potatoes
Creamy garlic mushrooms and spinach with pasta or rice
Failing everything else - random mixed meze/tapas, and general "picky bits" (but this is always more fuss than you think, and never seems like enough food!)

Ps if you're not vegetarian yourself, don't underestimate the volume of carbs people might want! Cauliflower steak etc can be delicious, but it doesn't fill you up like an actual steak!

Are you doing meat for the non veggies? If so, what do you have in mind as that could influence the veggie dish.

Go Moroccan. Cheese filo cigars to start or you could just go lovely hummus and an aubergine spicy dip with pita. Then roast veggies with couscous and a harissa dressing. Throw some feta in if you want.

Make an orange semolina cake with an orange syrup ahead and serve with Greek yogurt. All dead easy. The main is a one tray bake.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/28/root-mash-braised-shallots-recipe-ottoleghi

This is delicious for a winter dinner party. Don't be intimidated by the list of ingredients, it's quite straight forward.

I did a middle eastern, mostly veggie (and some vegan) spread the other day:
Felafel
Hummus
A middle eastern salad
Fatteh (so so good)
middle eastern bread
Baked feta
An Iranian mushroom, walnut and pomegranate stew with rice
Meat eaters also had pulled lamb

Relatively easy as you can do the stew in advance (it needs a long time to cook) and prep some of the other ingredients in advance.

This is wonderful! So delicious! All my vegetarian and meat eating friends love it. In fact the carnivores said they prefer it to the meat version.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/mediterranean/greek/vegetarian-moussaka-with-ricotta-topping%3famp

I made this at christmas and it was really yummy https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/ottolenghis-butternut-crunch-pie/

This is so easy but looks pretty. You could make or buy a dip, some flat bread or crudites and somes olives as a starter or side such as Muhammara or a hummus The stew and dips can be made in advance so not much to do on the day.
https://greenkitchenstories.com/moroccan-aubergine-chickpea-stew/

You can serve it with couscous, bulghar or quinoa rather than the millet in the recipe. Merchant Gourmet do good puches of ready cooked red and white quinoa if you want to make it super easy ( but more expensive). I usually have Harissa on the side too.

@SallyWD moussaka post looks good and is another dish you could make in advance and just heat up when guests are due.

Other ideas
https://www.feastingathome.com/vegan-oaxacan-bowl/

https://www.feastingathome.com/mushroom-rice-bowl-recipe/
https://www.feastingathome.com/grilled-harissa-veggie-kabobs/
https://www.feastingathome.com/vegan-buddha-bowls/
I cook several times a week from this site for a few years now and have never had a duff recipe.

My go-to dishes are mushroom bourguinon or a vegetarian biryani using a delicious lentil curry layered up with rice etc. Both can be vegan as well. A vegetable puff pastry tart is nice but relatively ordinary.

Mushroom stroganoff served with rice. You could do breadcrumb coated fried courgettes with mayonnaise or yoghurt dressing as a first course, or perhaps ratatouille in individual bowls with a baked cheese topping.

Aubergine, tomatoes and feta open tart, serve with Greek style lemon & herb roast potatoes and mixed green veg. For a first course you could do tempura or grilled asparagus with hollandaise sauce.

Or something more wintry, mixed vegetables eg layered carrots fennel cauliflower & parsnips au gratin served with haricot beans or puy lentils cooked with tomatoes & garlic. You could do leek & potato soup to start, or perhaps mushrooms a la Greque.

I think I'd go for:-

Starter - vegetable tempura and chilli dip
Main - fancy mushroom stroganoff served with wild rice and salad
Dessert - topicsl fruit pavlova

Mints, Irish coffee.

One word: Ottolenghi

Veggie shepherds pie. Dellicious. Dont skimp on the fresh herbs pinchofyum.com/vegetarian-shepherds-pie

For this time of year:

Posh Homity pie, with spinach and sweet potato and cream cheese sauce.
Warm tomato salad and roast asparagus.

Lemon surprise pudding.

Oatcakes, figs, grapes, cheese

I would go for an Indian feast.
Onion bhajis, Channa Saag, fragrant basmati rice, roasted spiced cauliflower , flatbread/naan bread, raita etc.

I would buy a selection of Indian sweets (my nearest city has few amazing shops) as often too full but a sweet bit is nice.

Lots of great ideas- thanks everyone! I think a Mediterranean feast of different dishes seems a good way to go. Might have to invest in an Ottolenghi book…