Vegetarian friends coming for dinner

[winkywinkola]

The rest of us are having lamb shanks.

What can I serve veggie friends that is delicious, glam yet easy peasy? Please!

Ratatouille?

Why not just make an entirely veggie meal?
Spinach and ricotta cannelloni
Mushroom risotto
Mushroom Wellington
Goats cheese and caramelised onion tart
Baked holoumi or feta in Filo pastry

how veggie??

I tend to go cheesey oniony tart/quiche, nice individual ones. Bit of fancy puff pastry for the tarts, shortcrust for the quiches but obv that won't work for your vegan types

Risotto? mushroom maybe? Some terrible airmile asparagus perhaps

Halloumi kebabs??

Baked stuffed butternut squash? It can be prepped in advance and is delicious. I use this HFW recipe:

1 large butternut squash (about 1.5kg) or 2 small ones (about 750g each)
50g butter
1 medium garlic clove, finely chopped
a little olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g feta cheese, crumbled into small lumps
1 tbsp shredded basil leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 190°c/Gas Mark 5.

1. Make sure the outside of the squash is scrubbed clean. Cut the squash in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds and soft fibres. Put in an ovenproof dish, put a little chopped garlic and a small nut of butter in each cavity, brush with olive oil and season well.

1. Bake for about an hour, until the flesh feels very tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.

1. Then carefully scoop out the soft flesh, and the buttery, garlicky juices, into a bowl, leaving a 1cm-thick layer of flesh still attached to the skin, so the squash holds its shape. Roughly mash the flesh.

1. Fold the feta and basil into the soft squash, along with some more salt and pepper. Spoon the filling back into the two empty squash halves, return the squashes to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes before serving.

In the past I have served with spiced quinoa, courgette and pinenuts and a rocket salad on the side.

My friend recently made me roasted butternut squash with thyme and Brie - she had scraped out the innards, mixed it all together and then roasted it for 10 further minutes and served it in the half-skin.

It was hearty enough that it felt like the roast everyone else had, then she served buttered kale, mash etc to everyone so it was only the main event that was different for me.

Ratatouille isn't very exciting.

When we have vegetarian friends round I just make the entire meal veggie. I find that Greek or Indian cuisine is excellent for vegetarians as you don't feel that you are missing meat.

The last time I fed lots of vegetarians I made hummus, felafel, tzaziki, Greek salad and spanakopita. I can't remember which recipe I used for the spanakopita, but it was delicious.

Delia Smith's recipe for spinach and ricotta lasagne is amazing. Just serve it with a refreshing mixed salad, and garlic bread for the very greedy hungry.

Indian food - where to begin as there are so many options. This is an excellent website.

Great ideas thank you so much.

Can't do all veggie meal but will definitely make sure all get same veg. Iyswim.

Please don't give them a goat's cheese tart, at least not unless there's some kind of alternative. I hate hate hate goat's cheese but it so often seems to turn up as the standard veggie option.

I hate goat cheese too. Minging.

all this talk of butter nut squash has reminded me of butternut squash lasagne

peel, chop and roast the squash. Have a good tomato sauce, some feta or halloumi, some thyme and some pine nuts

layer the squash with the crumbled cheese and the toasted pine nuts and little bits of herb, and then an layer of lasgne....make two or three layers and you can either top it off with the tomato sauce and grated cheese, or make a cheese sauce for the top

I add ripped up bits of ham, cos we are not really veggie...but even dh, who sniffs at veggie dinners likes this, even without bits of pig in it.

Mushroom tarts?

tarts

Probably go with the veg for the lamb. Although I'd omit the goats' cheese - it really does get everywhere if you're veggie - I quite like it, & I'd still gladly never be served another goats' cheese anything.

Mind you, I'm the same about butternut squash....

Mmm, butternut squash lasagne.

catsmama

you forgot garlic! you can't have a lasagne without garlic!

yum yum, butternut squash is delish!

Involtini from Nigellas how to eat. Yum

Zing....I am a terrible recipe giver...I just assume everyone will know all the bits and bobs to put in :D

It really is a lovely thing though, squash lasagne.

How about...asking them what they would fancy?

No idea why you can't go all veggie; bear in mind that the worst meat to cook for some vegetarians is lamb as it absolutely stinks.

"How about...asking them what they would fancy?"

And what they wouldn't. A friend of a friend is fed up with the number of times she has had butternut squash risotto/vegetable lasagne/anything with goats cheese when eating out.

Second Nigella's involtini, they're yummy. Mushroom risotto and butternut squash are rather overused in vegetarian menus so I'd avoid if you can. On a memorable trip to Dartmouth, we counted eleven restaurants, if I remember correctly, with mushroom risotto as their vegetarian option! I expect they all got them from the same supplier

I'm a life-long vegetarian and wouldn't expect anyone to make everyone have a vegetarian meal on my account, but equally when I cook I try and make things as simple as possible so personally I'd do one dish that suits everyone rather than extra work! Is there a specific reason why you can't give everyone the vegetarian option or do you just not like the idea of not having meat?

If you're doing lamb for everyone else I'd do a nut roast, or chickpea roast, or lentil loaf. Some kind of all in one dish that can be served with the same accompaniments. They have a bit of a reputation but they're usually lovely and fairly easy to make, you can prepare in advance and just cook alongside the meat.

If you can get an acorn squash, you can hollow it out, stuff it with mushrooms, basil, garlic and pinenuts / chopped almonds / sunflower seeds and put the top back on and bake for an hour - serve with tomato sauce (fry chopped onions add garlic, add chopped tomatoes and herbs and simmer) with a sprinkling of cheese... Very easy but looks 'special'.

I'd ask too. You could always do a quorn meal like chilli with wraps, tacos, guacamole, sour cream etc and veggie fajitas too. also if they like spicy stuff then a few curries with a daal and chicken tandoori if the carnies have to eat meat.
A yummy stew with herby dumplings is nice too.
goat's cheese IS minging!

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/squash-spinach-pasta-rotolo

This is really easy and tasty and makes good leftovers.

To be honest, glam food to sub for someone else's meat used to confuse the heck out of me when I was veg. I would be very happy with the other things you're having (I assume you weren't going to just serve lamb?). So spuds or veg and butter, all that would suffice. Fancy things like Quorn or nut roasts with strange flavours were just... odd.

Maybe best ask the guests what they do or don't eat? I can't stand vanilla or blue cheese, myself.

I cannot stand Quorn or fake meats, seems a bit pointless to me, so I'd be very disappointed if I was given something Quorny! Same with tofu.

I think it depends how substantial the accompaniments are, if it is just potatoes and one type of veg then it might not be that filling as there's not much fat or protein compared with the meaty alternative.