vegetarian entertaining

Casual Vegetarian Entertaining Delicious, Easy Recipes that Meat-Eaters Will Enjoy Too Oct 10, 2008 Joanne E. Brannan
Don't worry if one of your dinner party guests is a vegetarian. You will all relax and enjoy your evening with these tasty menu ideas. Casual Vegetarian Entertaining menus can be exciting, healthy, colorful and delicious! Fire your imagination with these ideas for your vegetarian dinner party, and make your vegetarian guest feel right at home and well looked after. As these dishes are familiar to meat eaters too, without simply being an adaptation of the meat and two vegetables theme, everyone will relax and enjoy eating well.
What does Vegetarian Mean?
Some vegetarians are stricter than others, for example vegans eschew all animal products including dairy products, honey and eggs. Many vegetarians will eat dairy produce, so long as they contain no animal based ingredients such as rennet. Other vegetarians may be less strict, however it can be rude to ask any questions beyond “are you vegan?”, in which case take care to exclude animal based ingredients using the tips below.
Casual Vegetarian Entertaining Starters
Houmous is a truly delicious starter served as a dip with sticks of raw vegetables and small savoury biscuits. Homemade Houmous is easy to make, tastier than store bought and far cheaper!
Spicy pumpkin soup is delicious and satisfying, sure to reassure any or your guests who are alarmed at eating a vegetarian meal!
Italian Themed Casual Vegetarian Entertaining Recipes
Lasagna is always delicious, and Green Lentil Lasagna is no exception. This recipe is not vegan as the pasta contains eggs and the sauce contains cheese. Ensure that the cheese used is certified vegetarian, i.e. free from animal based rennet. The lentils, cheese and egg in the egg pasta all provide protein, an important consideration in a vegetarian diet.
Pizza is also always a favorite, so long as you exclude all meat and fish from the toppings, and use vegetarian cheese. A sourdough pizza is a delicious dish to serve with just red wine and a colorful salad for very relaxed, but elegant, dining, and using your own sourdough culture is a great conversation topic! Sourdough adds a delicious flavor to the pizza base that really makes this dish something special.
Indian Themed Casual Vegetarian Entertaining Recipes
Many traditional Indian Dishes are vegetarian, and the rich array of spices used ensures that Indian food is never dull. Try a simple vegetable curry served with rich and homemade red lentil dhal; this dhal has a rich and delicious flavor, and provides a valuable protein contribution to the meal. Good quality store bought curry paste (rather than often inferior curry sauces sold in jars) makes it easy to create an authentic tasting vegetable curry based on ingredients such as onion, eggplant, zucchini, pepper and chickpeas.
Vegetarian Drinks
Be aware that many wines are produced using animal based fining products. Look for wines with vegetarian certification to put your guest at ease. Some other drinks may include animal based colorings, again look for a vegetarian certification just to be sure.
Endless Vegetarian Dessert Possibilities
It is easy to find good dessert recipes that are vegetarian. Do, however, check that any cheese or jellied ingredients are free of animal products. Gelatin and rennet are traditionally animal based products, but vegetarian substitutes do exist.
Dinner parties are a great opportunity to show the great variety of delicious vegetarian dishes that are healthy and easy to prepare.Enjoy casual vegetarian entertaining for both your vegetarian and meat eating friends.
Copyright Joanne E. Brannan. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.