Catering for vegans

[PieandPotatoes]

We have friends who come and stay regularly. One is a vegan. They never bring any food with them. It takes me ages to do the food shopping (checking labels for ingredients). We spend loads on oatmilk, vegan cheese/yoghurt etc and we end up cooking two dishes at mealtimes as my husband refuses to eat anything without meat. I think that they should at least bring some vegan food with them. What do you think?

I'm not sure. I eat mostly vegetarian meals but often use ingredients that wouldn't be suitable for vegans, including milk, yoghurt, butter, cream, cheese, eggs. OPs family are actually meat eaters too, not vegetarians. I have tried vegan substitues for dairy but they were mostly horrible.

I'm very sure indeed and have been eating well as a vegan for years!

Vegan chilli? Same as normal chilli, just leave the meat out. Nothing weird needed.

Cake? Use some sort of sunflower or olive oil spread, and instead of eggs just put something like half a mug of apple juice in to replace the liquid volume. Makes no real difference to the end product.

Coffee and tea? Milk of any sort in those is an abomination and should never be used 😃

I rarely use substitutes of any sort,.except for soya milk on my breakfast cereal (just oats, nothing odd there).

Join us 🙂🙂🙂

Refusing to eat a meal without meat = spoilt brat
Refusing to eat meat = ok
Why does one person's opinion trump another?

YANBU

I agree.
😬

They might be vegan because of valid and objective environmental concerns, whereas the meat eater is probably just expressing a subjective preference.

I'd say that this makes a difference.

No thanks.
I'm happy with recipes which use dairy products and eggs, I have no need to use substitutes.
I don't drink tea and rarely drink coffee (I have it black if I do).
If someone else cooks a vegan version I'll eat/try it but I have no desire to make all my recipes vegan.

Well, that's a balanced view.
(Yes, that's sarcasm).

@Nolegusta @StripyShirt in my experience while vegan equivalents CAN be okay, there is a reason why cakes were made with eggs, butter and milk for hundreds of years. Vegan cakes also lack the structural integrity of a real cake.

I regularly host a vegan and - whilst I briefly think about what we are cooking - I don't buy any vegan specific foodstuffs. Just get vegetables and some normal cupboard stapes - bread, pasta, hummus, tahini, nuts, lentils, tinned tomatoes, spices etc. It's not difficult to make a vegan dish: Mexican, Middle Eastern, Italian and Indian are all easy cuisines for a vegan diet. For the meat eaters, serve the vegan option with some meat on the side (or they can just eat the vegan food!). For dessert I serve fruit and dark chocolate.

Things I often make are:

• middle eastern food involving felafel, hummus, pitta, veg
• a mexican dish involving black beans, rice and roasted veg
• curries of various descriptions
• a pie with filo topping and butternut squash, red onions etc inside.
• orzo with mushrooms (can bake in the oven)
• stuffed aubergines.

All delicious.

I'd say he's entitled to his subjective preference in his own house.
Wouldn't you?

Yes, I agree.
I definitely try vegan options but over half the time they're just not as good.

If you invite friends for dinner - yes, you cater.

If they invite themselves/ like to use your home as a base for holidays etc then they need to bring their own dinner/ingredients

Some of that sounds nice however I have yet to enjoy aubergine or butternut squash, regardless of how it's been cooked or who cooked it. Mushrooms can be questionable too, depending on type and/or how they're cooked.

This made me laugh because 20-plus years ago, when I married my husband, he didn't consider he'd eaten if he hadn't had meat.
He came from a family where meat was a luxury - his Mum would buy meat for the children but couldn't afford enough for the adults to eat it too. By the time he was 20 his parents were in a better financial place and meat was served twice a day (pa in law had a very physical job, so it didn't do him too much harm).
I have slowly weaned DH off his "meat-habit" and although we are not vegetarian I rarely buy meat and these days he's quite proud of the fact that we don't eat much of it..... so change is possible.

It sounds like they're thoughtless and your DH is inflexible.
How many nights are they staying?
First night:
Bombay potatoes, Chickpea saag, Tarka Dahl, muttar paneer (not vegan), chicken tikka (not vegan), broccoli and almond korma, mushroom and potato bhuna (thank me later), black bean rice, mushroom rice: lots of small dishes to share, 2 dishes for just the omnivore.
Second night:
Fajitas with shredded bison and peppers with tofu (honestly you just slice it up like a block of chicken or a really stiff omelette) and lots of seasoning.
Black bean chilli enchiladas. Baked with a really spicy sauce.
3 bean and sweetcorn chilli with tortilla chips .
Add guacamole, salsa, mixed salad and grated cheese (notvegan).
Third night:
Pasta arrabbiata, garlic bread (use olive oil and garlic rather than butter), a side salad dressed with oil and balsamic. Provide brewers yeast for sprinkling instead of Parmesan and your DH probably won't even notice!
Fourth night: falafel in pitta with all the salads, humus, sauces, and a garlic sauce made with coconut cream if necessary ( I'd rather have garlic snd yogurt but it isn't vegan) .

Basically whatever you make it needs to be punchy on flavours as the chewy texture is missing. Definitely doable. Tell you're husband it's only for a few days and tolerate him being childish.

I'd make very simple recipes everyone can have and add some meat.

A carrot and ginger soup with crusty bread. Cheese and ham for non veggies, if needed. Humous for veggies.

Leek, chickpea and butternut squash smoky paprika risotto with some fried chorizo on top for meat eaters.

A veggie curry with rice and dahl, and tandoori chicken pieces on the side.

Home made pizzas topped with tomato base, roast veg and olives, Add mozzarella and salami for non vegans.

Stir fry veg with rice noodles and cashews. Add some strips of chicken or beef for non vegans. You could add tofu for vegans

That way, the only extra expense is oatmilk and maybe some tofu - about £5.

Of course you cater to your guests needs? Your husband sounds absolutelty pathetic for having to eat meat every meal, surely a nice chilli or curry wont kill him? don't buy the extras like yoghurt - for breakfast do peanut butter on toast, beans on toast or something else simple. Give them the remaining oat milk to take home with them. Costs 1.20, hardly breaks the bank!

I think your husband needs to grow up a bit OP.

He has a preference.
The vegans have a preference.
Why does only one 'have to grow up'?

The vegan friends sound absolutely bloody awful and somewhat unpleasant - the husband however could make this easier as well but recognising this and either helping with the food or just putting up with something without meat for a meal or two to support his wife and be the grown up
bexuase the friends clearly aren’t

His is a preference - he likes the taste of an ingredient. I like the taste of pasta but if I insisted on having it for every meal people would tell me to grow up. Veganism is an ethical, moral and political stance against animal abuse. Nothing to do with preference.

Veganism is a preference, even if there's reason for that preference.
Meat eating is also a preference.
Neither trumps the other.

If I were OP I'd make what I want to eat, and let the husband and (ungrateful) vegan guests sort themselves out. 😬

But you can't address the lecturing and then joke that their cheese is plastic!