Suggest me an easy yet impressive vegetarian dinner for 4?!

[IlFaitBeau]

I’m to be cooking a vegetarian dinner for 4 and whilst I love cooking and am a creative and spontaneous cook and very intuitive with cuisines - I’m feeling a bit stuck by a few factors -

1. Spice is “best avoided” I’m told. This significantly complicates my many renowned recipes!

1. Will be working all day till 5, and then kids and bedtime before guests arrive.

Any ideas? I generally like doing Persian/Lebanese inspired food but the spice thing has slightly confounded me. I was thinking what about a -

Pilaf rice
Finely chopped Lebanese style parsley salad
Peppers stuffed with goats cheese and various herbs
Halloumi and veggie skewers
And - i would possibly do a veggie Tagine with quorn - but the spice in it and specifically cumin/coriander will be an issue.

Without the Tagine my menu so far is a bit weird as the rice can’t be eaten “with” something.

Or can it?

Any wise ideas?

My meat eating spouse has reminded me to include paneer in some form - but frankly - I don’t understand how to do paneer without spice….

If spice is to be avoided - maybe something Italian? An aubergine parmigiana?

Or maybe even some kind of veggie wellington? (Mushroom or some such.)

I've got a great recipe for halloumi filo parcels with a simple Greek salad and sweet potato mash...

Maybe do some of the parcels without the chilli? Also works well for vegan guests swap out the halloumi for tofu.

It's easy and really delicious

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sesame-halloumi-parcels-sweet-potato-tahini-mash-chopped-herb-salad

Anna Jones’ recipes are always delicious (and they’re all vegetarian).

[quote apric0t]I've got a great recipe for halloumi filo parcels with a simple Greek salad and sweet potato mash...

Maybe do some of the parcels without the chilli? Also works well for vegan guests swap out the halloumi for tofu.

It's easy and really delicious

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sesame-halloumi-parcels-sweet-potato-tahini-mash-chopped-herb-salad[/quote]
Can even make the parcels the night before and then stick them in the oven while you make the salad

Thank you! I’ve never cooked with pastry let alone make pastry so am slightly worried about messing up the parcels even with store bought pastry although I’m possibly being daft.

My entire forté is Asian food all the way so the spice conundrum has put quite a twist in the tale!

Does ‘spice’ mean chilli or all spices?
I’d check on that, because if it’s just chillies, then a lot of Persian dishes you can do without chilli.

So, very different from your original plan but avoiding the spice how about greek mezze? You could still go peppers / skewers / parsley salad using you recipies.

And then add greek salad, pitta breads, tzatziki, olives, stuffed vine leaves (bought)

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetable-recipes/satisfying-veggie-bake/
pretty impressive and not spicy

I’m a vege and love recipes from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. I’ve tried the recipient and it is gorgeous plus looks amazing on the table! Quite easy too!

amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/dec/02/squash-stuffed-with-leeks-recipe

This recipe not recipient

Eggplant parmigiana (to get all American on you)

Slice four aubergines lengthwise into half cm sections. Salt them and leave for half an hour to bleed. Rinse and dry them then coat in oil and roast at 180 (fan) until browned, grind in summer black pepper.

At the same time make a good tomato sauce -plenty of garlic, salt, pepper, balsamic for tartness.

Grate a whole parmesan wedge. As good quality as you can afford.

Oil a pyrex or roasting tin

Put half the aubergines on the bottom. Add a half of the sauce with half the parmesan, then the other half of the aubergines, then the remainder of the sauce, then the last of the parmesan.

You can leave it at this stage in the fridge for a couple of days of you're going to be tight for time.

Chuck it in the oven for 40 mins (ish) at 180(fan) and leave for five-ten mins before cutting and serving with a crisp green salad.

Enjoy!

Didn't say, bit I usually say 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, reduced for about half an hour

@IlFaitBeau

Thank you! I’ve never cooked with pastry let alone make pastry so am slightly worried about messing up the parcels even with store bought pastry although I’m possibly being daft.

My entire forté is Asian food all the way so the spice conundrum has put quite a twist in the tale!

Defo just buy filo it's so easy to wrap the parcels the pastry does fall apart a bit but they still look great it's a dry not sticky pastry and easy to whip them up using lots of olive oil on a pastry brush, I normally cover the entire worktop with oil and slather oil all over them and they are fab!

As a vegetarian i strongly dislike most goat's cheese dishes- its often smells 6 too goaty/animally . Most of my vegetarian friends think similarly .

Eggplant parmigiana is hood- make sure its actually a vegetarian equivalent though as proper Parmesan is not vegetarian

Jamie Oliver has a great recipe for a chicken tikka salad to which i swap the chicken for quorn or paneer and you could swap the tikka paste for a milder flavour or go with something more lebanese to fit your menu

How about a vegetarian Greek moussaka with creamy mushroom sauce?

I can't paste the link for some reason, but you can see the recipe on mygreekdish.com

I find your menu a bit odd. 3 different cheeses that don’t go together. Labneh yes, halloumi fine. Paneer?

A tagine would be nicer without quorn. It’s processed and rather a divisive product. But if you’re not allowed to use spices how can you make a tagine anyway?

If you want to go Middle Eastern do the skewers, a few salads, flatbreads, dips, homemade falafels. Mezze sharing stuff. All can be done in advance.

Parmesan has rennet in it and the calves are treated very badly. If you do aubergine bake use an “Italian style cheese”. But I think you’d be more comfortable with eastern influenced food anyway.

Thank you - some excellent ideas here. I’m mulling through these all over today and will make a decision this weekend - thanks so much !!

Thanks again all. Having studied options I am going for -

1. The suggestion of Halloumi parcels with mash from @apric0t BBC good food link - as the main

1. A Lebanese style chopped herby salad

1. Jamie Oliver’s couscous-stuffed sweet peppers.

And aubergine parmagiana is the next one up for when next set of friends come over later in March!

Mash with salad and stuffed peppers????? Sorry but that sounds such a weird combination.

You have decided already, but my two favourite pasta recipes are;

Blue cheese

1- sautee diced garlic in olive oil. Add crumbled soft blue cheese like rochefort. Gradually add creme fraiche and stir until sauce. Add wwalnust towards the end and serve with a spinach salad.

Sun dried tomato

1 as above. But instead of adding blue cheese add diced sun dried tomato. Then creme fraice or single cream until saucy. Add pine nuts.

Serve both over pasta of choice- though usually a big tuby type pasta such as penne or rigatoni works best.

Both are ridiculously simple but taste really complicated and sophisticated IMO.

(Both those dishes for me started as a sauce for chicken until DH went vegetarian and I used pasta instead).

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

Mash with salad and stuffed peppers????? Sorry but that sounds such a weird combination.

That’s cool. We are all different :)

Oooooh the tortilla bake!! I think we can do that for just our dinner tonight - we’ve got all the ingredients already.

I’m also very intrigued by the pasta recipes - kids are massive pasta and strong cheese fans and we all love garlic so if not for friends over that can be for us actually one day. I’m saving all the recipes !