Veggies - what do you most like to see at a buffet?

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

Got mates coming around for a boozy buffet lunch at the weekend. One has recently got veggie, so my usual charcuterie platter and roast chicken will not suffice.

Cheese, hoummous, pitta breads, maybe little finger food type things like mini-falafel, mini veggie samosas etc, interesting salads (ie. not just lettuce! cous cous, pasta salads, bean salads, etc)...

cheers Rosa - duly noted
any more ideas?

I'm with rosa - and it's great if it's all plated up separately at one end of the table. And please do use separate knives to cut everything and separate spoons to serve etc!

roast tomato and goat's cheese tart is lovely for this sort of thing and goes down well with non-veggies too.

I'm with rosa too & agree some sort of veggie tart is a good idea too, along with interesting breads, cheeses & salads -

depending on what sort of food you are serving, things like veggie pastries can go down well too - for example - I make cheese & asparagus rolls, instead of sausage rolls - very simple, bought puff pastry - rolled out & filled with tinned asparagus spears & thin cut cheese sticks - roll up, chop up, dust with egg & sesame seeds - filling, tasty & easy to pick up.

The one important thing I will add thats not already been said though is - make sure veggie food is clearly marked - either labelled or on in a separate area - I've lost count of the number of buffets we've been to, where theres plenty of vegetarian choice - but the food just isn't obvious by sight & no-one around knows what is veggie & what isn't - might as well not bother at all

Ooh yes, agree re. a quiche or a tart. And I agree about using seperate serving things. I've been to buffets where I won't eat the veggie stuff because it's squished onto a platter with the meaty stuff or a meaty knife is being used to cut the veggie stuff. Uptight, I know. Some veggies are more squeamish about meat than others

for those worried about cross contamination, i am going to just serve veggie food i think. much easier for me, once i've plenty of ideas. i like the idea of doing tarts/pastries, and i'm going to pop to the cheesemonger's to have a browse later.

Can I come? Sounds lovely

Baklava. (eastern sweets, yumyum!!)

cheese and pineapple on sticks
onion bhajis
vegetable samosas
cheese sandwiches
egg mayo.

the most important thing, if you're doing some meat and some veggie, is clear labelling and keeping the fish paste meat sandwiches separate.

tartlets also sounds good.

i'm just happy if there's something veggie left as often i find meat eaters take their meat plus the small amount of veggie stuff, leaving the veggies with only bread and salad.

at most of the buffets I go to, I make a point of being the first one up, or at least among the first.

The WI ladies love it, because a lot of them sit and daren't be the first ones to get food!

good point ruddynorah - another reason just to stick to all veggie stuff i reckon.

tomato and mozzarella salad, big rice dish, veggie cocktail sausages, loads of cheese and French bread....

I want to come now to :) -

& you're right with just sticking to veggie stuff if our experience is anything to go by - several times I've gone to the effort of providing meat dishes, especially making meat pies etc (which I hate doing ) thats despite us all being vegetarian - I gave up after a few "Do's" as we always got left with the meat stuff, whilst the vegetarian trays were cleared - best moment though was MIL complaining there was no meat in her pie - it had only taken her 3 years to notice

Pizza
Spring rolls
Tomato and mozzarella skewers
Salad
Pesto pasta
New potatoes
Coleslaw

All favourites :-)

samosas, spring rolls, pasta salad

Roast veg, no goat's cheese and not too much reliance on cheese!

Indian snacks/finger foods always work well for me and decent humous and other dips with crudites (yes, I am actually about 4!). And posh crisps.

No aubergine!!

I love aubergine. And goats cheese. And I hate coleslaw. Just goes to show you can't please all the veggies all the time :)