Emergency menu help - terrible fussy/vegetarian/pregnant guests combo

[DilysPrice]

I need a Sunday lunch for 6 adults and two primary school children.

One adult is vegetarian, so I either need one vegetarian meal, or one vegetarian and one carnivore.
Two of the non-veggies don't eat cheese, and one doesn't eat mushrooms, so a single cheese/mushroom based dish is out of the question. The vegetarian doesn't eat lentils, and DS is highly sensitive to chillis so curry is out. One of the carnivores is heavily pg, which rules out a few things. Also no fennel, or aubergines.

I don't want anything that involves last minute prep.

I think the best bet might be two pies, one veg, one meat with some nice veg side dishes

Does anyone have any good pie recipes? Or any other brilliant plans?

I'd close the curtains, hide behind the sofa and ignore the doorbell.

Quorn spag bol with salad and garlic bread. Suitable for all?

What about a butternut squash tagine and a lamb one? Not spicy, use cinnamon rather than hot spices

Will the veggies/kids eat fish?

Pies sound good. Or how about a mix and match option - eg large amount of mash (or baked potatoes) with 3 topping options (eg tomato and vegetables, tuna and sweetcorn, chicken stew, beef stew, houmous). Or a carnivore main dish with butternut squash as a vegetable, so the veggie can have butternut squash with (say) a feta topping?

Bulgar wheat or cous cous, a huge tray of roasted veg, a mixed salad and dressings and some crusty bread.

at piprabbit, but actually I'm really looking forward to it, apart from the bloody menu planning.

Quorn was my first thought, but unfortunately that counts as mushrooms . Butternut squash is a nice idea, I do have a Nigella autumn vegetable tagine recipe which can have chorizo added to it on the side.. Baked potatoes are yet another on the list of things someone won't eat, also not quite posh enough - I want to be seen to have made an effort. .

If you were a veggie and everyone else got roast chicken and you got a big plate of cheesy roast veg you'd be miffed right?

Keep them coming please? Anyone got a good veggie pie recipe?

Oh and no the vegetarian doesn't eat fish. Everyone else does, so the omnivore option can be fish pie.

'If you were a veggie and everyone else got roast chicken and you got a big plate of cheesy roast veg you'd be miffed right?'

not if I knew you were cooking for people who wouldn't eat all the stuff you've mentioned, lol

A veggie tart-thing? I have lost my favourite recipe but it was something along the lines of ready-made puff pasty and fill the middle (one layer only) with an arrangement of butternut squash (pre-cooked), thyme, red onion and cranberries. Went down v well with the veggies present. I made it the day before and reheated (was cooking Christmas lunch for fourteen so trying to save time!).

How about loads of oven-baked jacket potatoes (rubs in olive oil before baking to make them extra crispy) and then bowls of salads, plates of cheese, meats, baked beans, other fillings? Can then do the traditional Sunday lunch pudding such as apple crumble to jazz it up?

This is similar but not quite what I meant. If you use ready-made pastry it should be a doddle but look great, leaving you free to serve non-cheesy meat to the others :)

Bake a load of potatoes, make a lot of fillings in advance, and salads everyone helps themselves to whatever they like. Make veggie soup and bread too, if you think you need need more. Big fruit salad and icecream for pud.

Xposts about bked pots with charmin....

How about a sort of traditional roast? A nut roast for the veggies (you can make well in advance and freeze), meat or fish for the rest, and loads of roast potatoes and veg? Simple but a crowd pleaser.

How about a small squash for the veggie to act as their 'plate'. You can stuff it with whatever veg you are giving everyone else, but it will show you have made an effort just for them (and all the effort you really need to do is put it in the oven) this sort of idea but without the biryani filling?

This Rose Elliot nut roast recipe is really delicious (nothing like any other less appealing nut roasts you may have tried). It goes perfectly with a traditional roast dinner, so you could make it the day before and just shove it in the oven with everything else. IME the omnivores always want a slice too!

agree about the baked potatoes...

DH is a baked potato refusenik unfortunately (mind you he'll end up doing most of the actual cooking once I've done the menu-planning and shopping, so he's allowed to be fussy).

I'll check out the nut roast, which does sound nice, for future use, but an examination of the freezer reveals a load of puff pastry which was on special offer, so I'm veering towards butternut squash tart and chicken or fish top crust pies.

lol, you really are royally screwed. i'd hand everyone a selection of takeaway menus i think.

A couple of big quiches using your shortcrust pastry plus a big panful of garlic and rosemary baked new potatoes and a selection of salads.

Nigella's baked plums and barbados cream for pud.

garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes, I meant. Or hassleback potatoes look like you've worked hard but are stupidly easy - and quick.

I would just do a pasta Napoli (nothing in there to argue with), garlic bread, lots of lovely salad with geared carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, celery... And dump it on the table and let them get on with it.

Do the veggies not eat cheese because do fthe rennet? It is easy to get veggie cheese these days.

Dessert - fruit and a cake of some type.

No, it's the non-veggies who don't eat cheese because they don't like it.

How can you not like cheese. That is physically impossible.

Nigella has a gorgeous chickpea / filo pastry pie thing in Goddess which looks fab as well as tasting good; I would make them all eat it. Or do Jamie's chicken pie from Jamie's Dinners as the meat option - again v easy but v delicious. Don't need pots with pies, just some lovely veg on the side.

Make one thing that caters for all actual health/ethical requirements (pregnancy/vegetarians/chilli). Ignore the 'don't like it' brigade. In my book, if someone cooks for you and you don't have any health or ethical objections, you eat it or go hungry.