To ask vegans about their biggest dinner party bugbears

[revampneeded]

I am a brown butter and cream loving non vegan with wonderful vegan friends and I want to lay on a wonderful meal for them, but I'm a total rookie.

So: asking vegans what makes their hearts sink (and conversely, what they'd most like to eat) if a friend is cooking for them?

PerseverancePays great steer! Thanks so much. And the burgers too. I’m thinking onion rings, guacamole…

Sparklesocks yeah, you can kind of tell when the chef is catering to non-carnivores under duress and being a bit sulky about it.

WhatTheFlap great, yes, middle eastern is a really good option.

ScaredOfDinosaurs awesome, one way or another I think dessert is in the bag now.

Thethuthinang up to now I’ve had a pastry phobia (aka total ineptitude) but thinking about it that could look really pretty, with some vegan ice cream on the side. Hm...

My mother in law made this for us lately, with salad and homemade olive bread. It was delightful:

www.thevegspace.co.uk/recipe-the-ultimate-vegan-moussaka/

Pudding was local Irish strawberries and Swedish glace ice cream. Perfect.

I think as an omnivore I struggle for a central/protein element of a main that doesnt involve a meat or cheese substitute. Any vegan suggestions please?

I'm a veggie breastfeeding a baby with dairy, soya, and egg allergies. I'm also a coeliac. 😂 So I eat a gluten free vegan diet. You'd be surprised by how much is out there!

Special faves are curries (DH's family is Indian and my god he can cook), so easy to make vegan and you can add as many sides as you like. He does a great spread. Chickpea and spinach curry, a tandoori jackfruit dish, onion bajhis, a potato dish I can't remember the name of (4 month sleep regression, I'm tired!), skewered Quorn chunks (be careful because most have milk in, it's the 'chicken' chunks that are safe), rice, mango chutney, a 'yoghurt' dip. Amazing. And all of it vegan.

I love tapas. Guacamole, stuffed vine leaves, olives, roasted butter beans, grilled peppers, roasted tomato. Experiment with dips like spinach 'hummus' with toasted cumin seeds. Everyone can eat it because it's tasty!

My bug bear is people just giving me processed food. I don't like it. I'd rather have something we can all tuck into because it tastes good as opposed to a engineered dish that the poor host has stressed over. Make something you'd like to eat, too!

Also fruit salad is not a desert!

Well that's certainly true.

I'm not a vegan,but a veggie. My main bugbers are that either my food is stolen by omnivores or it's a meat substitute.
An actual vegan or veggie designed meal is so much tastier!
My go to for protein is lentils - puy being the most delicious imo.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

I think as an omnivore I struggle for a central/protein element of a main that doesnt involve a meat or cheese substitute. Any vegan suggestions please?

Jackfruit, tofu, banana blossom, chickpeas, lentils, butter beans, avocado, meat replacement like Quorn (there are nicer ones out there now), quinoa... there's loads. It's often a case of just imagining your plate differently and not just aiming to replicate a piece of meat. You can, but sometimes it's better not to with vegan stuff.

Stuffed peppers for starters or mains. Also agree with fruit salad for dessert… I would rather not bother at all tbh. Fruit salad is not a dessert! Just because I’m vegan doesn’t mean I don’t have a sweet tooth.
Also I don’t like spicy food and whenever I eat out at a restaurant the default vegan choices seem to be curries.
Also I know you said dinner parties, not restaurants, but the most disappointing meal out I ever had was at a posh restaurant known for their amazing Sunday lunches. We went for a relative’s birthday and they checked that there would be a vegan alternative and told no problem. Everyone else’s food came out first and were huge piles of potatoes, veg, gravy and roast. Looked amazing. Ours came out and we were served a tiny salad, that was about 6 forkfuls (no exaggeration). We were starving and had to sti there whilst everyone else finished eating and talked about how stuffed they were. So portion size to me would be another consideration… not crazy portions but should be equivalent to non-vegan meals, in size and how full it will keep you.

Absolutely hate all the vegetarian options being made vegan. With mushrooms. And ratatouille combos.

Been vegetarian over 20 years and just when restaurants worked out they could do lacto vegetarian and menus offered an actual selection along came fashionable vegan …

Nigellas vegan lemon polenta cake is easy peasy and delicious. I used sweet soy yogurt instead of the almond soy yoghurt the recipe suggests (as I couldn't get it) and it was so good.

A nice aubergine and tomato stew, flavoured with pomegranate molasses is nice, served on spicy Moroccan rice.

Some vegan homemade flatbread, and vegan spiced hummus on the side with griddled peppers.

I did this last week and it was very, very well received.

I regularly cater for vegans. I tend to do a theme - so curries, or CentralEuropean, and cook mushroom goulash and vegan bigos served with mash (better for winter), or burgers - veggie or peanut burgers with lots of sides like salads and potato wedges. For pudding I will usually make a chocolate cake or a crumble with custard made with plant milk. I don’t make anything different for the meat eaters and most of them don’t really realise that they are eating vegan food.

Not a fan of Swedish Glace, which was always the dessert of last resort for Shabbat dinner.

I'm a meat eater, but we've cut down a lot and are eating more veggie and vegan options. There are so many great things you could make that should suit everyone - loads of Mexican dishes with black beans/butternut squash etc, even a black bean chilli, plenty curry options. Substitute meat options are great now too, veggie burgers and sausages for a BBQ with interesting salads. I wouldn't bother cooking different options if I had veggies round, I would maybe just have separate bowls of feta/cheese/sour cream for toppings if they were vegan. Non-dairy yoghurt great too. Despite having almost always eaten meat, I find it bizarre that some folk can't manage a meal without it!

Another meal that goes down well is a vegetable tagine, with a lemon or Orange polenta cake for pudding. And you can do Middle Eastern starters like falafel, hummous, stuffed vine leaves etc

Also vegan shepherds pie made with lentils and Marmite gravy. Comfort food at its best.

Using soy based foods is a no go for me

Being fussed over and embarrassed.
I’m quite happy to eat large helpings of veggie sides and forgo the meat etc, but some hosts can go ott with the fussing and then I can’t accept another invite.

Last time I cooked for vegan guests I made Indian food. Samosas, lentil dhal, chickpea curry, various sides. A mango desert set with agar agar rather than Gelatine, and coconut ice cream. We all had the same thing, it was a fully plant based meal.

I don't want to cook for any vegans,,and thankfully I don't have to.

@WhatTheFlap

Mezze is always a favourite of mine! Hummus Babaghanoush Pitta breads Falafel Stuffed vine leaves Roasted veggies Tabbouleh Etc.

Also love a mushroom! But agree that sorbet or fruit salad is a shit dessert. I do enjoy a crumble though 😂

I'm vegan and would love this. Middle Eastern food is always a good bet.

You can make avocado chocolate mousse for desert:
chocolatecoveredkatie.com/avocado-chocolate-mousse-vegan-healthy/

I cater for vegans occasionally. Not too hard actually (we are veggie so that helps). Things I do are felafel with pitta, salad and various bits to go with; curry (and you can make homemade vegan nan bread to eat alongside); veggie filo pies / tarts of various descriptions; and the last thing I tried which was truly amazing is this:

www.theguardian.com/food/2021/may/22/meera-sodha-vegan-recipe-walnut-stuffed-aubergines?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

My brother is vegan, he prefers to have lots of veggies and hates "fake" meat etc. He prefer fruit salad to fake cream desserts etc. but rates Sainsbury's free from chocolate cake which is also gluten free.

All vegans are different so very hard to generalise. My tip from hosting big (20+) people dinners when with ex is to come up with a menu that covers as many dietary requirements as possible in the minimum number of dishes so I recommend for instance a 5 bean chilli for everyone, guacamole, salad, salsa, tortilla chips (plain are vegan) then have sour cream and cheese to add for the veggies and perhaps pulled pork if committed carnivores would whinge if no meat.

You can use the same principles with curry, Moroccan, Lebanese etc food. I avoid English and French food as a bit of a nightmare to make vegan friendly and cohesive

Sorbet! This being the dessert option makes me unreasonably incandescent with rage. I’m angry right now just writing that word. Bloody sorbet.

@stillsleeptraining

Sorbet! This being the dessert option makes me unreasonably incandescent with rage. I’m angry right now just writing that word. Bloody sorbet.

This really made me giggle.

I do like sorbet but it's not really decadent is it...

My biggest dinner party bugbear is everyone at the party going on and on about the drawbacks of being vegan and how wrong it is and poking me with sharpened sticks all evening. I have come to see friends not discuss my life choices. I personally never mention it.