Best posh vegan dishes for a lunch

[AnneLovesGilbert]

I’ve got two lunch parties coming up with vegan guests coming and need some inspiration. One of them has made mention of having to eat a lot of chickpeas wherever he goes so I’m keen to avoid them as a key ingredient.

I’m veggie and sick of the sight of halloumi burgers and cauliflower steaks so I sympathise and would like to diversify so the dishes are vegan and then the veggies and meaties can add bits to them if they wish.

Grateful for any ideas!

Get some ready made puff pastry (most is vegan) and then cut it into four squares,
Blend 300g of frozen peas with mint and lemon juice to make a purée, put it on the pastry squares leaving a 1cm gap put onion chutney and 5 half’s of asparagus on top, cook on 190 for 25 minutes.

They are so easy but I serve them all the time and everyone always comments how lovely they are.

That sounds gorgeous, thank you. Would you serve them with salad?

Puff pastry is made with butter is it not?

Try a curry - Kaju ‘butter’ masala but instead of butter use either east end margarine or pureed cashews. It’s really, really luxurious. You could serve it with garlic naan made with alpro yoghurt. The vegetarian recipe is below but doesn’t take much to make it vegan.

www.vegrecipesofindia.com/kaju-butter-masala-recipe/

Most shop bought puff is vegan including main brands and supermarket versions. I guess marg is cheaper

Jus Roll is vegan.

Beetroot tart tatin is gorgeous too

most ready made puff pastry is vegan, the jus rol stuff is, you just need to check the back.

@BarryMcguigan aaaaaahh! I've always just stayed clear! Good to know!

Yeah I serve with an avocado, corgette and walnut salad with olive oil and lime.

They are also nice as a main for a Sunday dinner

@Teddybear45 that looks incredible! M&S plant kitchen range do a cashew nut curry with roast sweet potato, kinda sounds like that. I'm going to try!

@allymcn - the recipe is a lot better than M&S’ version. I think because the sweet potato makes it too sweet. The recipe is a really good base sauce too - have used it over eggs, chicken, and tandoori marinated cauliflower florets / capscium pieces too.

Another one for puff pastry - what about a mushroom wellington? Plenty of recipes online.

I would make a veggie chilli made with mixed beans and serve with grated cheese, freshly made guacamole, salsa, soured cream, rice and tortilla chips. If you want to serve meat do pulled pork to go with it.

It's not a lot of effort and feeds a crowd

If it were me, I’d stay away from mushrooms. Every single vegan dish I’ve had recently has been mushroom based.

Bosh cauliflower wings are one of my favourite things to eat.

I’d probably make those cauliflower wings, flatbreads with homemade baba ganoush, houmous, a cous cous salad with pomegranate, green salad, chargrilled courgettes and aubergines plus a green salad.

I’ve never made baba ganoush and it’s one of my favourites so good idea!

That looks brilliant Teddy, thank you.

I do an ottalengi recipe with roasted carrots, sweet potatoes and onions with a tahini and zaata topping but I made it when some of the others who are coming were here recently so some really great ideas to try, thank you.

I’m going to do pudding and was wondering about meringue with chickpea water but the science of that baffles me so I’ll do a trial run. Found two nice cake recipes one using oat milk buttermilk. Not sure about avocado for cake and they’re so hit and miss I don’t think I’d risk it.

As a veggie it’s so disheartening eating something completely different to everyone else at a do, even though it’s nice the hosts have made the effort to accommodate me, so I definitely want to do a whole vegan menu with extras if others wish.

Loads of great suggestions

Raw or cooked courgette furrytoebean?

Raw but I turn them into ribbons with a potato peeler for extra fancy

Cashew nut and courgette stir fry with onions, sweet peppers, garlic, ginger, chili peppers, beansprouts and rice noodles. Add soy sauce and hoisin to taste.

I had this last night because I have a glut of courgettes and it was fab.

I had my in laws to stay last week and served them a chocolate mousse thingy in a posh glass and it was really easy but looked veeeeer fancy.

You make chocolate mousse by blending a full bar of melted dr oetakers dark chocolate cooking chocolate, about 100ml of dairy free milk and half a tub of silken tofu (sounds rank but honestly it’s incredible, it tastes like very expensive mousse like a gu pud) put it in the posh glasses and then put it in the fridge to set.
Then I melted sugar, a teaspoon of water and golden syrup in a pan (you don’t need much I used a table spoon of each to serve four) and added a tiny bit of bicarbonate soda at the end to create a cheats caramel/cinder toffee. Then you put it in the fridge to let it set, when it’s less runny break up some almonds and put them on top of the mousse and put the caramel on top.
Put back in the fridge.

When it’s ready to serve put some vegan vanilla ice cream on top and garnish with a mint leave.

It’s sooo easy but looks really good and everyone always thinks you’ve done loads, this is completely suitable for none vegans too, people are always shocked it’s vegan.

Butternut squash risotto is one of my faves

The dish that always seems to be popular here is really odd but it's a mushroom and (veggie) haggis wellington. It sounds disgusting but is lovely

The puff pastry tart sounds lovely. Maybe mushroom steaks to go with it and some nice side dishes/salads?

veggiedesserts.co.uk/vegan-portobello-mushroom-steaks/

Maybe with this:
www.feastingathome.com/roasted-romesco-potatoes/