Help! Need vegan ideas for hosting

[Craftymam]

Two veggies; one eats fish, one doesn't.

One allergic to dairy; the other allergy to eggs 🤣

What on earth am I making here for a dinner?

Thank you wise people 🙏

You can get vegan sour cream. There's very little you have to "avoid" or can't replace. :)

https://www.bosh.tv/recipes/greens-risotto

I substitute the kale with spinach and I don’t bother with the macadamia nuts, it’s lovely and always a winner for vegan friends

Honestly I think a risotto is risky unless you are used to making it vegan. Vegan cheese is often a bit wierd and you have to experiment to get the flavour profile from parmesan.
I'd go with something like a curry that is basically vegan at the heart

Falafel, pitta, hummus, a couple of nice salads.

Katsu curry served with breaded cauliflower (use vegan mayo in place of egg for the breadcrumbs) rice and an Asian slaw.

Tapas - one fish option, one cheese option, rest vegan.

We make vegan risotto fairly regularly. Flora buttery or Naturli butter are both fine and work well . You can also get vegan parmesan-style cheese. Honestly there's loads of alternatives now, just google vegan replacements for the ingredients you need 🤷‍♀️

@Kindofcrunchy I know you can get vegan substitutes but I tend to prefer to just do things that are vegan by design as I invariably don't like the substitutes.

The exception being vegan mayo which is not bad!

On Masterchef last week Monica made the contestants do a carrot schnitzel on a hummus I think. I thought that sounded brilliant. Although being me, I'll be doing that with an aubergine. Could something like that work? with some lovely chargrilled greens alongside - I'm a big fan of creating a little "sauce" of garlic, lemon and honey (cooked and caramalised or just as a dressing) as an easy way to add some extra flavour here without butter.

From going to a vegan fair not that long before Covid they were trying out different cheeses and even the owners of the cheeses found it hard to make a more palatable one. I tried a cathedral city plant based one which was ok but not brilliant, they do a grated one and Violife do a block and grated vegan one.

I noticed online that Boursin now do a garlic and herb option and Philadelphia now do an almond and oat soft cheese spread. Not sure if I’d rush to buy those though. A brand called Nurishh does vegan cheese including Greek style cubes and a Camembert.

I’d just go with the shop bought falafels and go from there to be honest.

Falafel, pitta, hummus, a couple of nice salads.

^I think this sounds easiest! Great minds 😅

Although my partner hates cucumber lol 😂

Falafels
Pitta breads/ flatbreads
Houmous with olive oil and pomegranate
Tzatziki
Whipped feta with honey
Lettuce salad with olive oil
Couscous with herbs, apricots etc.
Individual Greek side salads...

• one without cucumber
• one without feta
• one with everything (tomato, cucumber, feta)

Jees lol 😂 but sounds pretty fool proof and easy to prep

I can't imagine olive oil would make it any greasier than butter would. And clumpy? Who would it do that?

Vegan butter I did try, it was ok but… some things just taste better with what’s supposed to be in them eg like dairy.

This!! It's honestly so so delicious - the tofu soaks up all the flavours and it's sticky and crispy and moreish and fab.

You need to get proper firm tofu but that should be easy nowadays (my little local Sainsbury's does it)

Deliciously Ella is great for veggie, vegan, and gluten free recipes... always worth checking if you're stuck for ideas.

Sticky Sesame Tofu Rice | Deliciously Ella (UK)

You can get vegan "feta" from Lidl If going the mezze route.
Most vegan cheese is rank and worse heated
Risotto is gross regardless
Bang bang cauliflower/tofu
Hundreds of different styles of curries
How formal?

OP try this website, Cranks have done veggie stuff for years. I have their old 1970s recipe book and still use it!

https://cranks.co.uk/recipes/

Risotto with just olive oil is still creamy because of the starch. Vegan subs are horrible!

Something vegan (no fish, eggs, dairy)

Chickpea and veg curry (with rice, chips, naan bread, samosas, pakoras and mango chutney to dip)

Bean chilli with rice, nachos, salsa, guacamole

Risotto with asparagus, mushrooms and peas , garlic bread on the side (use vegetable spread rather than butter)

Vegetable tagine with couscous and salad

Some kind of bean casserole - I like the flavour of smoked paprika. Do with mashed potato or rice and garlic bread.

Vegetarian Pad Thai. It's easy to make and very tasty.

I wouldn't add dairy free cheese into anything - mostly it's not nice and doesn't have any protein anyway.

You could just have as a side for people to add; preferably with the dairy option too.

I can highly recommend this Ottolenghi chickpea recipe, it is both extremely tasty and easy to make. The accompanying sauce does contain dairy but could easily be made with a dairy-free yogurt.

ottolenghi.co.uk/pages/recipes/confit-tandoori-chickpeas

I'm vegetarian and risotto is difficult for a dinner party because you have to stand in the kitchen stirring for ages and can't really prepare anything beforehand. I'd go with a vegan curry and rice or bean chilli and rice, with extras like poppadoms or tortilla crisps and guacamole.

You could also Google stuffed peppers, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed butternut squash or aubergine and serve something like that with roast potatoes or cous cous.

Get the oven on and heat some olive oil in a deep baking tray (like you'd use for roasties) Add in a bag of baby new potatoes (you can parboil them first if you like) and a medley of Mediterranean veg - you can buy a bag of them or I do 3 peppers (a red, a yellow and an orange because we love them!), a courgette (only one because I detest them) and a big red onion all chopped into chunks. Toss them in salt, black pepper and oregano and roast for about 20 minutes. Then stir it all around a bit and add in some cherry tomatoes. I'd usually add sliced halloumi now but if you have a non-dairy person, you could grill halloumi separately or add feta when you serve it. Roast for another 15-20 minutes.
I serve it with balsamic glaze but you can drizzle with veggie pesto, again at the table. If your non dairy friend really needs some protein you could add tofu instead of cheese at fine point but I've never tried it.

Alternatively try a vegetable biryani. I've got a recipe somewhere but I know the other one off by heart 😁

God not the confit of chickpeas 🤢🤢🤢
Mumsnet loves it , I'm vegan and would honestly eat a strangers scab before that; it's utterly rank

That sounds disgusting 🤮