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?

Yotam Ottolenghi vegetarian paella is my go to-it does have cayenne pepper but you can easily leave that out. The other ‘spice’ is saffron, smoked paprika, bay leaves and I think a bit of turmeric. Tastes lovely and complex but very easy.

Jamie Oliver does an amazing one-pan filo dish. I fill it with toasted pine nuts, baby spinach, onions, sun dried tomatoes, feta, lemon zest and fresh thyme and oregano. His filling is a bit simpler.

www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=jamie+oliver+one+pan+spanokopita&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_S4ojYs-OCcrXgQayxbi4Bw18

Well, if you served me mash with salad I'd be polite, but I'd think you were bonkers.

Tagine sounds good, and isn't spicy.

That's a lot of cheese in your menu!

And goats cheese and halloumi can be hit or miss anyway

Spice isn't essential, flavour can be added with garlic and herbs so err more towards Mediterranean cuisine or even Eastern European

I can't eat spicy food these days

Some favourites of mine that would suit the occasion :

Mushroom stroganoff - I use this bbc food recipe as basis

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/mushroom-stroganoff

But I use smoked paprika and red onion and hendo's relish

Sometimes I make it within quorn beef strips instead of mushrooms or sometimes a mix - depends what I have in

I agree mash with salad doesn't work

Veggie moussaka - use lentils, quorn or soy mince instead of lamb mince. Serve with home made bread/rolls

Veggie casserole - if you have a slow cooker then you can prep it in advance throw it in that morning and it's ready when you get home. You could possibly add dumplings too

And yes Parmesan isn't veggie so use a veggie alternative

But no Quorn - veggie tagine is delicious. No meat substitute needed.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

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

It's sweet potato mash !

Another vegetarian here.

I'd say no aubergines - many people don't like them
No goat's cheese.
No risotto

I'd go for italian or greek or something like a frittata and salad

If you google vegetarian mezze recipes, you should find lots of inspiration. A mezze with lots of small dishes gives your guests lots of options if they are fussy eaters.

How about koshari (rice, macaroni, lentils, chickpeas, topped with tomato sauce and crispy onions) instead of pilaf rice as it's a meal in itself rather than an accompaniment?

Small cheese pastries like rakakat/sambousek/bourek/tyropitta (pretty much the same thing from different places).

Then the usual suspects like falafel, halloumi, hummus, baba ghanoush, flatbreads, stuffed vine leaves, olives, pickles etc with a selection of salads eg tabbouleh or parsley and pomegranate, cucumber in orange blossom water, roast cauliflower with tahini and pine nuts, honey roast carrots or breaded asparagus with a yoghurt dip. Maybe some stuffed aubergines (imam bayildi) or stuffed baby marrows, peppers or artichokes? There are lots of Middle Eastern bean casserole type recipes too.

@chesirecat99

If you google vegetarian mezze recipes, you should find lots of inspiration. A mezze with lots of small dishes gives your guests lots of options if they are fussy eaters.

How about koshari (rice, macaroni, lentils, chickpeas, topped with tomato sauce and crispy onions) instead of pilaf rice as it's a meal in itself rather than an accompaniment?

Small cheese pastries like rakakat/sambousek/bourek/tyropitta (pretty much the same thing from different places).

Then the usual suspects like falafel, halloumi, hummus, baba ghanoush, flatbreads, stuffed vine leaves, olives, pickles etc with a selection of salads eg tabbouleh or parsley and pomegranate, cucumber in orange blossom water, roast cauliflower with tahini and pine nuts, honey roast carrots or breaded asparagus with a yoghurt dip. Maybe some stuffed aubergines (imam bayildi) or stuffed baby marrows, peppers or artichokes? There are lots of Middle Eastern bean casserole type recipes too.

Oh you’re making me hungry! What great suggestions.

@chesirecat99

If you google vegetarian mezze recipes, you should find lots of inspiration. A mezze with lots of small dishes gives your guests lots of options if they are fussy eaters.

How about koshari (rice, macaroni, lentils, chickpeas, topped with tomato sauce and crispy onions) instead of pilaf rice as it's a meal in itself rather than an accompaniment?

Small cheese pastries like rakakat/sambousek/bourek/tyropitta (pretty much the same thing from different places).

Then the usual suspects like falafel, halloumi, hummus, baba ghanoush, flatbreads, stuffed vine leaves, olives, pickles etc with a selection of salads eg tabbouleh or parsley and pomegranate, cucumber in orange blossom water, roast cauliflower with tahini and pine nuts, honey roast carrots or breaded asparagus with a yoghurt dip. Maybe some stuffed aubergines (imam bayildi) or stuffed baby marrows, peppers or artichokes? There are lots of Middle Eastern bean casserole type recipes too.

Gorgeous ideas. I love this sort of food.

@apric0t It's still mash and salad - and that makes no sense at all to me.

I thought it sounded rather an odd recipe all round. The comments were very mixed. Maybe have a look at them, OP.

I don't fancy that recipe either @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie but steak or similar with salad and chips or warm new potatoes in a salad are normal enough, there is no logical reason why mash and salad don't go I'm not sure about huge chunks of halloumi in pastry either as it goes so rubbery as it cools.

It thought it was going to be something like potato borek/bourek/boureka/boregi, delicious, bitesize crispy filo parcels of feta and potato, not mash on the side.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/434811/recipe/potato-cigarette-borek-patestesli-sigara-boregi

Why on Earth would you be attempting Lebanese cuisine in February? You’ll get shitty aubergines and tomatoes here in the UK.

I’d go for something like Ottolenghi’s tray bake Raghu (2nd recipe on the link)

www.theguardian.com/food/2019/nov/16/yotam-ottolenghi-mushroo-recipes-ragu-aioli-lasagne

The dinner party happened almost a year ago!

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🎼 🎶 Yes! We have no tomatoes