to ask for help to cook for 3 vegetarians

[OnlyWantsOne]

Ignoring that these people have invited themselves to dinner tonight when I'm poorly self employed and it's the fucking holidays with the kids

I have to cook some thing really amazing for 5 adults tonight. 3 vegetarians... I'm a good cook, have well stocked cupboards and can go to local town for ingredients

What are your fail safe meals for entertaining?

yabu to ask here, does this look like the food/recipes topic?

Ah yes, of course. Thanks.

It's the rennet in the cheese that makes it non vegetarian, but there's quite a range of suitable vegetarian cheeses.

I must learn to type more quickly!

Veggie chilli for everyone, served with crusty bread and salad. Use red lentils with kidney beans, it gives a much nicer texture than just beans. A butternut squash as the main vegetable bulks it it and adds sweetness. Half a tsp of cinnamon with the other spices adds a lovely warm deep taste.

Call up your friends and ask one to bring drinks, one bring dips and nachos, the other a pudding.

Mushroom stroganoff

really quick and easy and very tasty.
serve it with rice and salad

Recipie on bbc good food so you can get the quantities right

Veggie stir fry.

Cut an aubergine in half, douse in olive oil, bake for 30 mins. Take out of oven, slather in pesto , toms, mozzarella, whatever else is in the fridge. Stick back in oven for 20 mins. Delicious and easy with a big leafy salad. Half per person supposedly ...but I eat the lot.

I do aubergine, mushroom, courgette and pepper fajitas, it's so quick and easy and as my DH is a vegetable hating carnivore I just do chicken for him and all the accompaniments are the same...

Laloue - that sounds great! I might have that for dinner

I would do something like a ratatouille with garlic bread or sweet potato wedges, green veg or salad on the side, and veggie/meat sausages.

Or a ribollita. I did it for a vegan friend of mine and she said it was one of the nicest meals she'd ever had. Also good with sausages and hunks of bread. I use this recipe. Hugh

The spinach and feta pie mentioned above also works really well as individual parcels.

Make sure you squeeze the cooked spinach well to get rid of the water before adding it tot he rest of the ingredients.

Cut filo into squares (about, erm, 5 inches a side I think), brush with melted butter. You can use one square per parcel or use 2 offset ones (centre in the same place but the top one rotated 45 degrees) depending how much pastry you prefer.

Put a dollop of the filling in the centre of the pastry, gather up the corners into a parcel and twist to hold in place. Brush outside with more butter.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at gas 6.

Pizza delivery - split the cost between you.

Also works with ricotta, goats cheese or anything similar.

How does 'invited themselves when I'm busy' turn into needing something super special .

• Jacket potatoes or
• bagged salad with loads of deli bits & nice bread or
• pasta & tomato sauce

Brecon, why would cheese be unsuitable for vegetarians? Genuine question

Some cheese is made with animal rennet. (if you want to know more google vegetarian rennet as some people may not want to read the details)

I must read page 2 before posting :)

So, what are you giving them, OP?

I went to coop and got everything for that cauli and coconut milk curry ^^ up there

Have bought double quantities and am going to freeze up portions before they get here.

Re the chickpea though. They are in a tin but still look rock hard. Do I boil them to soften?

No, tinned ones should be ready to eat.

We love the Jamie Oliver veggie chili made with sweet potatoes. I prefer it to meat chili.

Spiced up vegetables are always a good option, curry or otherwise.

I always rinse tinned chickpeas, they can have a bit of a strange flavor otherwise.

If you're doing curry, do chapatis too. They're really cheap, really quick and they'll be impressed. If you have gram flour, onion bhajis are very quick and easy and can be baked in a hot oven to make them a bit healthier.

Lots of lovely dishes. Just don't put the bacon on. My sister was a veggie for two years until the smell of cooking bacon. (Joking guys as had glass of wine and it's been a long week). I'd cook a veggie Spanish omelet (hoping eggs ok). That with salad is so tasty.

I'm sure you are sorted for tonight OnlyWantsOne but keep this MN recipe for Morrocan Veggie Tagine in mind for future veggie guests. I've been using it for a couple of years and it has gone down well with veggies and non-veggies.

www.mumsnet.com/food/recipe/2041-Moroccan-vegetable-tagine

I have used curry paste instead of harissa paste (used a bit more than the recipe) and used a bit less cinnamon. I also sweated the veggies in olive oil and cooked it on the hob rather than the oven. I usually serve it with rice rather than couscous.