Catering for vegetarians at large party

[SevenKingsMustDie]

DH is turning 40 this summer and we are having a party in the garden (as long is the weather is ok!).

We DO NOT want to be tied down to a BBQ and not be able to mingle, so I am buying a heap of bread rolls, and making slow cooked beef, pulled chicken and pulled pork for people to fill the rolls, with sauces and 'naice' salads.

Am looking for suggestions for a veggie alternative - needs to be ok being kept warm in a chafing dish for a while...

TIA for your ideas!

If doing rolls, I'd probably opt for hummus and grated carrot or beef tomato and a cheese roll with a sexy pickle or slaw, then maybe get some falafel, cheese and onion pastries and mini quiches.

We have done something similar in the past but just pre ordered a load of portions of chips and curry sauce from the chippy to arrive at a certain time - maybe do that? Who doesn’t love a chip barm 😂

If you provide cheese please make sure it’s actually vegetarian. I’d be very happy with grilled veggies and (vegetarian) mozzarella perhaps with some pesto but be careful a lot of ready made pesto is not vegetarian. Veggies and vegans are a bit marmite with meat substitutes so I’d personally give them a wide berth.

You just have to check the chips are cooked in vegetable oil and not animal fat. Some chippies use lard.

Yes, almost all chip shops in Yorkshire use beef dripping.

This plus

Veggie pizza
Falafel
Bhajis, pakora

You need to check the curry sauce is vegetarian too. It isn't always.
Most chippies around the country don't use beef dripping, and when they do, they make a bit of a thing about it. It must be a regional preference.

cooked in vegetable oil where I live

They don't make a thing of it in any chip shop I've been in because it's no more remarkable or unexpected than them selling fish (which will be haddock if not specified) or chips.

What they will make a thing of is if they can do vegetarian chips.

Pizzas, quiches, frittatas with various nice salads (pasta salad/ rice salad/cous cous salad).

I usually do a dish from Leith's seasonal bible which is a medley of Mediterranean veg with a spicy couscous topping - just need to remember to make about double what you think as all the meat eaters pile in too its so good.

I think the answer to the meat eaters issue is to make most of the food vegetarian & have some meat as an extra for people who want it. On a separate table so there’s less risk of people mixing up utensils.

a pasta dish
roasted vegetables in a tomato sauce
quiche
salad
make your own wraps with all the different fillings

Do extra veggie options as the meat eaters always eat them too!!

Yes catering maths is always wrong as they cater per head.

”we have 30 people, including 3 vegetarians, therefore we need food for 27 people, plus enough vegetarian food to feed 3”.

when that actually works out as “enough vegetarian food for 3 people divided by 30”. So each vegetarian gets about 10% of a meal.

i always do it the opposite way round. Everything vegetarian, than add about 10% meat dishes.

I echo making trice the amount of veggie food and / or serving the vegetarians first. I was once at a friend's wedding evening do where the meat-eaters grabbed all the veggie food and some of us had to go round the tables and ask them for some back as there was nothing left for us to eat!

If the caterers are putting meat in all the food, you need better caterers who understand that just because someone eats meat, it doesn't mean they only eat meat and eat other food as well.

So if they're presented with a selection of dishes that includes salads, crisps, bread, bhajis, samosas, falafels, dips etc, just about everyone is going to choose from those foods and won't only stick to the 'processed pork five ways' option that many buffets seem to be dominated by.

Tesco do 3 for 2 in their veg section. They have rice stuffed peppers and garlic cheesy stuffed mushrooms which are both great options and delicious.

I would be very wary about fake meat. I, and many other veggies, do not want something that tastes like, and has a similar texture to, meat. I also avoid UPFs, which includes fake meat.

I often do halloumi with a dressing made from olive oil, lime juice and mint. It's yum in a roll but all the meat eaters do tend to eat it.

Or you could do roast veg with halloumi too.

There’s a delicious spinach and ricotta lasagne recipe which I’ve made a few times, tastes good hot and cold.

I see a lot of people criticising meat eaters for eating "vegetarian food". "Vegetarian food" is just food. Food is food. Vegetarians just don't eat the stuff with meat in it, and meat eaters don't have to eat meat options just because it has meat in it. If vegetarians are finding they're running out of things to eat, it is because the hosts have not provided enough food.

I don't think it's meant as criticism against meat eaters, but against the caterers/hosts who forget that meat eaters eat veggie food too.

No one is criticising the meat eaters. They are pointing out that vegetarians are nearly always undercatered, because caterers don’t calculate an allowance for everyone eating the veggie options, not just the veggies.

There are dozens and dozens of comments about "meat eaters" eating vegetarian food. Like it is a surprise that they eat food that doesn't have meat in it and so people need to be warned about this phenomenon.

People do need to be reminded about this though as people regularly under cater the vegetarian food, forgetting that meat eaters will eat it too. This isn't an attack at meat eaters, but a reminder to the OP that they will need to cater appropriately.