Vegetarian dinner dilema - what would you prefer?

[Rowlers]

Friends coming over tonight. Vegetarian.
Want to cook but not spend all day in kitchen.
Here are my options:

1. Buy M+S Greek hor d'oeuvres (vine leaves, felafel, houmous etc) for starter and make vegetarian moussaka for main course
2. Make Delia's chickpea, chilli and coriander cakes for starter and attempt a tart of some sort (????) for main course
3. Other option not yet thought of.

What do you think?

Both sound nice but first option is easier, imo. I'd be more than happy with that...in fact, where do you live?

i'd go for the greek option. sounds really nice!

I'll have option 1 please

Get your vegetarian Moussaka from Waitrose it is unbelievabley delicious and very hard to match

Chickpea cakes don't sound too tasty and your guests will spend journey home farting

Snafu, you'd be more than welcome anytime. Do you have any rubber gloves?
I'm so glad you are all opting for the easy peasy option.
Off to M+S then ...
Ooh, pudding forgot about that.
Heavy or light?
Chocolate or fruit?
Decisions decisions...

and vegetarians secretly love ready-made and deli food, they LOVE it as a special treat, when I was veggie (14 long years) I used to drool over that kind of thing as most of the food I made was virtuous.

Suzy
True though!
No Waitrose for miles unfortunately. Nearest supermarket = Morrisons.
Think I'll do it myself in that case.

oh you poor poor deprived woman
I can, however top trump as I am 12000 miles from my nearest Waitrose and I miss it everyday.

Do you have veg moussaka recipe?

if you're going to M&S, 2 desserts stick out for me. One is their lemon tart mmmm (though waitrose one is delicious aswell) and then in the frozen section at M&S, is a meringue thing - think there are a few types - 1 is Toffee and Pecan Nut and the other is Champagne and Strawberry. They look like swiss rolls but made with meringue, cream and the respective filling. All you have to do is leave them out for a certain time and they defrost. They are divine!

Veg moussaka - this one... \link{http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/vegetablemoussaka_7074.shtml\here}

Suzy, got \linkwww.deliaonline.com/recipes/vegetarian-moussaka-with-ricotta-topping,1267,RC.html\Delia's moussaka recipe}.
Never tried it but looks easy enough. She says, hopefully.
Foxy, thanks for the tip. Must admit supermarkets do such good puddings these days it's not always worth making one yourself.

Oops
\link{http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/vegetarian-moussaka-with-ricotta-topping,1267,RC.html\Delia's moussaka recipe}

Yum, they both look good, I'm going to make one too as we don't eat enough lentils in the Wong household, surprisingly

I love MN.
Perfect for indecisive blobs like me!
Thanks ladies.

Don't forget to check labels for gelatine, etc!

Oh definitely option 1. Tart / quiche / pastry things are what you get everywhere when you are veggie and they are all so dull. I would be very impressed if served your option 1 by a friend. No pastry, nothing dripping with cheese in lieu of actuall having tasty ingredients in, no pasta = happy spoilt vegetarians :)

Agree with everyone

One last question
Lemon meringue pie - home-made of course yes or no?

Well I don't like it much, so I would say no. Does it not have gelatine in?

No gelatine in my recipe.

ooh yes

Well I am disappointed now. I would have been expecting something superb after the other courses, and instead you give us

lemon meringue pie

heavy heavy gooey sickly pudding and lots of carbs with dinner .
I have been veggie 25 years this year
People tend to think we are over virtuous - i like cheesey pastryish carby goo and i seem to always get five leaves and a lentil!

franny we seem to differ in our opinions I like to eat FAT!!!!!!

Oh NotAnOtter I do like gooey cheesy fried stuff as much as the next person, but it gets so samey and unimaginative. When we stay at my mums I can hardly walk for a week after because it is all heavy white carbs and cheese for every meal - blah.

And I like chocolate for pudding, not meringue :)