Dinner party menu for mixed Vegan, Veggie, Omini Group

[kitchenplans]

So dinner party for 6. 2 Vegan, 1 Veggie, 3 Omnis.

Ideally would prefer one dish (so I guess Vegan) but could bend to different versions of the same if needed to accommodate all.

Hard NOs

• No Ultra Processed Meat Substitutes (unless just for the vegans, and honestly I'd prefer to avoid even then)
• No boring "everyday" meals - e.g bean chilli or veg curry or sausage and mash or vegetable stir fry.

I want a meal that can be ideally mostly prepared in advance and has a big "Wow" factor.

For meat eaters I tend to start by planning around a more special or pricey meat - so Venison/Duck/Lamb/Beef fillet etc

For veggies, I tend to start by looking at something with fancy cheese or cream. Baked camembert or feta starter etc

So what 's the Vegan equivalent meal that's a real show stopper for everyone, including people who do eat meat and dairy?

Starterf/Main/Dessert needed.

I'm genuinely at a loss. I probably just need a starter for 10 and then I'll fall down a rabbit hole of Pinterest recipes!

Ottolenghi Flavour is vegetable based (although not fully vegan I don’t think) but might be a nice starting place for inspiration.

Or something like tapas, or an Indian feast with a few different dishes that you wouldn’t find at the local takeaway.

Rather than a centre piece main item, could you do a mixture of small dishes, like a mezze type set up. Yotam Ottolenghi has lots of beautiful vegan recipes that you could put together.

Or, you could go Japanese and feature tofu and aubergine, again lots of smaller dishes to pick and choose from.

Or, if everyone likes mushrooms you could use them as the main feature item, like this recipe https://ottolenghi.co.uk/pages/recipes/portobello-steaks-butter-bean-mash or similar.

Definitely go Asian, traditionally most dishes are dairy free and can easily be meat free too. An array of gorgeous curries with homemade naan would be amazing

I made a middle eastern style meze recently and that went down really well. It's easy to prepare a lot of it in advance like houmous, Baba ganoush, fatayer (spinach parcels with cashew cheese) you can then add breads, olives, tabouleh etc.

I do quite like the idea of a mezze, but a little worried about the difficulty of getting a lot of little dishes out to the table whilst trying to host. I guess that, and tapas, does lend itself to a good mix of vegan, veggie, meat/fish dishes which can all co-exist together but separately.

I'd also like to avoid spending a fortune on specialist vegan foods that only use a bit of and the rest would end up wasted.

I'm going start with a Middle East Vegan recipe search and see where I end up!

I would go Indian. You can make things ahead then just reheat and cook some rice and bread on the night.

How about this, I’ve made it before looks and tastes amazing www.bosh.tv/recipes/bosh-classic-mushroom-wellington

Last time I did this, I made a jackfruit and chickpea tagine with a load of Ottolenghi sides. With a higher proportion of meat-eaters, I add a lamb dish, too.

Or you could full-on autumnal with a dramatic and beautiful vegan stuffed pumpkin with sparkly pomegranate seeds for your main course. Something with figs for a starter. Cocktails/mocktails with pomegranate or blackberries. Poached pears or a pear tart for pudding, or something based on toffee apple flavours.

I love greek food and there are lots of vegetarian dishes. I like to make this Mykonian Onion pie which sounds strange but is actually really delicious. I looked up the recipe after trying it at a restaurant on Syros. https://www.lemonandolives.com/mykonos-onion-pie/
The one in the picture looks a bit anaemic but if you brush the top with olive oil and brown it , I think it looks nicer!
I serve it with a chickpea fricasee and greek salad which are both really quick to prepare. The pie and the fricasee are both vegan and I guess you could serve the feta for the greek salad seperately.

I’m vegetarian, ex Vegan

Honestly, trying to find a dish everyone will like is a losing cause!

I’d do a mezze with several vegan items (maybe lentil salad, sweet potato salad, broccoli chilli salad etc - just a mix of items & textures)
add some cheese/cheesy items for the veggies
add some meat for the omnis (I often do chicken thighs/drumsticks) and/or charcuterie

dessert : again both vegan items & some dairy (cream/ice cream) on side. Fruit kebabs or a bowl of berries, vegan brownies and cream to serve would be my choice

Swedish Glace ice cream is vegan and delicious if you want to fancy up your pud

I think Moroccan North African food lends itself well to plant based. Home made hummus, falafel, tabbouleh, aubergine dip with pitas. Lots of candles and rose petals. Big platter of roast spiced veggies with couscous and a harissa dressing. You can serve yogurt of feta on the side for none vegans. Maybe a bit spicy chickpea tagline.

Orange and polenta cake using olive oil as the fat served with none dairy ice cream

If you want a single main dish instead of tapas /meze then:

Home made falafel are a bit of a faff but are delicious- far far better than shop bought- and go down really well with meat eaters too. Serve with salads, hummus, and some sort of Mediterranean bread.

Pad Thai is really well known, vegan, and you can just add some chicken bits on top for the meat eaters. Not a common dinner party choice (because of the last minute cooking) but you sound like a good confidant cook.

I’ve done Katsu curry with rice and an Asian slaw for a similar group and that worked. Do breaded cauliflower for vegan&veggie. Breaded chicken for meat eaters. Everything else is the same for everyone.