Vegan dinner party recipe help please

[pirateparty]

We have friends coming for supper. Ds will be in bed. My nut-allergic friend who has been veggie for a long time has just announced he's no longer eating dairy either, although can eat eggs. Menu now out of the window and would really appreciate any ideas for a main or pud. Am going to do tapas to start.

I do have a vegan cook book but I'm not sure what will work iyswim, having never cooked anything in it before - any suggestions gratefully received!

There's something in the BBC 101 veggie receipies book that's nice - you fry a couple of courgettes add wine and Rosemary to boil for a min then add two tins of flagolet (sp?) beans, two jars of tomato sauce and a tin of black olives. Put in oven topped with homemade garlic bread (with marg for the vegans) and bake

have you ever done the greek rice in vine leaves? (dolmades/koubebia ) or peppers/tomatoes stuffed with rice?

I pour boiling water on the leaves first and leave them in it until the rest is ready.
I just brown some onions with olive oil, take the pan off the heat and then add the rice and some tomato puree, salt & pepper, cinammon, mint and parsley.
Put a small dollop of your mix in a leaf, fold it in so it's the size of half a sausage. bear in mind that the rice needs space to fluff up so dont pack them too tight.
put them tightly next to eachother in a row in a heavy bottom pan, pour some chicken stock on (cover them but don't drowining them in it) and cook this on low heat for about an hour.

or you could buy them already made ;)

I would do usual recipes that are vegan such as:

-- thai curry. (coconut milk)
-- risotto (with a dairy free veg stock)
-- veg enchiladas.
-- mushroom stroganoff. Use Kara milk (Tesco)
-- Pasta with tomato sauce/olives

Also Pears and dark chocolate are a great pud for non dairy people

Spicy bean casserole:

finely chop and fry up an onion, add a can of mixed beans in tomato sauce (available most supermarkets) add chilli/ spice to taste.

Serve with any combination of wraps, lettuce, cheese(vegan can opt out of this bit) tortillas, salsa, jacket potatoes, rice.

Instant pudding is sorbet.

Indian food is very good for vegans.

I would go vegetable pakora to start. And then veggie curry, dhaal and rice. You could do a meat curry as well if you want. And a tropical fruit salad to finish with ice-cream for those who want it.

Wow. Thank you so much.

I adore stuffed vine leaves - not tried making them before but knew I had some vine leaves in the cupboard which were vacuum packed because I've always fancied giving it a go... Just found them - only 2 years out of date I bought them convinced I'd give it a go but obviously never got round to it. Will do another time though because they are gorgeous!

I think I'm going to go for either a thai curry or veg curry and change my starter (might do stuffed peppers), and have the tapas for lunch tomorrow.

Looking forward to trying some of those on other occasions too. I love cooking but sometimes just lack inspiration. Thanks very much everyone - really appreciated.

Vegan chocolate cakes are really easy for a pudding - just serve with soya cream and maybe some melted dark choc!

It's probably too late, but there is this one aubergine and spinach curry