I want to invite some friends over to dinner, they are vegetarians. So I need some suggestions on what are some good vegetarian dishes I could prepare for them. You should know that I'm not a great cook by any means, but I will certainly do my best to impress. I need ideas and a lot of help.

rice slow cooked in olive oil and garlic.

fresh herbed squash.

mashed and baked tofo with seasonings

Do they eat eggs/cheese?

Roasted vegetables and pasta would be a safe, yummy, relatively easy thing. Ever roasted veggies? Get some bell peppers, eggplant, carrots, and garlic, put em under a broiler for a few minutes (the peppers will actually get black spots, which is good), toss them in a closed paper bag to steam for a few more minutes and then rub the peels off. Chop it all up, toss with some pasta (make sure it's eggless if they're vegan) and good olive oil, finish with a squeeze of lemon and a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. You could serve a three-bean salad with that, and/or green salad.

If they eat cheese (even if they don't, but then it's a stretch), homemade pizza can be good. You can make a couple of different kinds. Roasted peppers and garlic are good on that as well, as are spinach, pine nuts, pineapple, fresh basil, corn, cashews, sun-dried tomatoes. . .along with the usual veggie toppings like mushrooms and onions. You can get premade dough or crusts, just check the ingredients lists.

FYI, most of us are very moved that people try to accomodate our dietary choices, and are just happy to be eating with friends. Doesn't have to be super remarkable to be happy-making.

Stir-fried veggies with rice is always good and relatively easy, also.

Make a simple veggie lasagne, salad and garlic bread. Easy-breezy! nd who doesn't like lasagne

olives & gin.

Google portobello mushrooms recipes too...

~I'm not vegetarian, but, yet, they're a delicious veggie, with great sustenance, for carnivores and herbivores alike!

Avoid a mishmash of different vegetables that don't go together all that well. Many people who prepare vegetarian meals for the first time seem to think they need to make up for the lack of meat. If you want to avoid using milk or cream as well, use coconut milk instead. It's just as cheap as cream and pretty much just as good.

I agree with HereToRockYourWorld, I usually don't care whether the meal is that perfect or not if somebody has invited me over to dinner.

oh my god, stax. I have those coctail monkeys. They're from the 80s.

Lots of Mexican recipes can be made vegetarian...

Roasted butternut squash/pumpkin, sundried tomatoes and pine nuts with pasta in olive oil and garlic we have that all the time and we aren't even vegetarians!

Do vegetarians serve meat when they have a carnivore friend for dinner?

Pasta with tomato sauce , sweet pepper , mushrooms , onions , garlic , basil, oregano ,(and maybe courgette)
First stir fry onions , sweet pepper , mushrooms with garlic and herbs , then add to tomato sauce

PANDURITO said:

If my visitors would bring a carnivorous animal like a dog with them, then I'd gladly serve that very special "carnivore friend" meat.
[Edited 1/11/07 4:43am]

PANDURITO said:

lol

I suppose they could...One of my girlfriends is a vegetarian, her husband and 3 sons eat meat. She is one of the best cooks I know, and her meat dishes are excellent and she has no idea what they taste like.

PANDURITO said:

it's a little easier for carnivores to eat a vegetarian meal than it is for a vegetarian to eat a meat-based meal, knowhutimsayin?

Pork chops

as for veggie dishes for your friends, i'll echo what the other kids are saying - keep it simple and within the realm of what you're familiar with.

it could be as easy as a spaghetti dish with a really good sauce that you mix some fresh veggies into. serve with garlic bread and a nice side salad, and you could probably even serve it to a carnivore/omnivore and they wouldn't miss the meat. the point is, it's a full, satisfying meal.

you could pan fry some potato pasta (gnocci) and serve it with a good red sauce and a side of some kind of green vegetable. gnocci is VERY filling and always a crowd pleaser.

there's really no need to get near tofu if you're not familiar with it and don't have a curiosity about cooking with it. there's lots of other stuff out there that i'm sure you ARE familiar with that can end up as a good veggie meal.

and like heiress said, you can also make just about anything mexican into a veggie dish...you could even have a "do it yourself" taco salad bar where people can put ground beef on it if they want...or not!

DanceWme said:

Anx said:

I know. I needed to get a morning laugh... and it felt good

DanceWme said:

i'm like that with BMs.

novabrkr said:

timeless!

Anx said:

Gnocci . Vegetarians do end up being served a LOT of pasta. Gnocci would be something a little different. And I second the suggestion to fry it, rather than just boiling it.


The taco bar is a good idea too. You can get either packaged vegetarian "crumble" or TVP (textured vegetable protein, reconstituted according to package instructions) and season it with whatever seasoning you'd usually use on ground beef, just fry it up the same way. It's one of those things that it so similar to the meaty version that most omnivores wouldn't mind just eatting the vegetarian stuff, but yeah, you could also serve beef and then people can choose . Good idea.

Halushki is good. It's basically just cabbage & noodles. But you cook the cabbage down in water and butter till it starts to turn caramel colored and get a real sweet taste. Then toss it with noodles and some more butter, throw some romano cheese on top. There's a bunch of different variations and recipes for it.

Stuffed roasted artichoke hearts are good too, or simple salads like cucumber and tomato with some olive oil, sea salt and black pepper.

Hummus with roasted red peppers and olives thrown on top of it is good too, with some toasted pita.

If you eat cheese (parmisean, specifically) I love the recipe for stuffed artichokes found in the Joy of Cooking. I use regular sized artichokes, and cook it longer, accordingly. I'm doing this from memory, so I hope I get it right

6tbs breadcrumbs
6tbs olive oil
3bs parmisean
1-2 clove garlic
1/4 cup chopped parsley
salt & pepper

sometimes I double the recipe, depending on the artichoke size/number

2-4 artichokes

cut of the tips of the choke, remove the middle, mix the above stuff together, stuff it in the artichokes. Put them in a covered casserole dish with a bit of water at the bottom, 1tbs lemon juice 1tbs olive oil in the water.

cook at 375 for 40 minutes to over an hour (depending on the size of the artichoke). Maker sure they are well covered so the filling doesn't dry out, but you have to cook them long enough to make sure they get tender.

I've also thought steaming them on the stove would work, but I haven't tried it.

These are surprisingly filling. They get better as you eat them & get closer to the middle.

NDRU said:

How do you get the center of the artichoke out in any sort of tidy way?

I like artichokes, but my mom never made them, and I find them a little hard to hadle. I need tips.

Speaking of tips, do you always cut all the tips off, regardless of what you're doing with the thing?

HereToRockYourWorld said:

I remove all the tips, because they can poke your fingers. You can rub them with lemon juice so they don't turn gray/brown

slice off the top 3/4 inch or so of the whole artichoke, and spread it out a little so you can dig in and work around the center with a spoon. You can kind of pop out most of the center, feathery part (it's a different color & texture), but you'll need to scrape the remaining part with a spoon, rinsing it as you go to remove all the thistle. It's a little work, I won't kid you.
[Edited 1/11/07 13:28pm]

NDRU said:

Ok. Yeah, seemed like it would have to be a pain in the ass. Hoped I was wrong about that. Thanks! At least I'll know it's not just me.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

yeah but it gets easier. I never ate artichokes until a couple years ago (my mom never made them either), and now I can't get enough of them.

That stuffing is good for other stuff, though, like chicken--oops wrong thread--or probably mushrooms

7kisses4U said:

if they're not vegan (dairy-eaters) then it's not hard at all. pizza, pasta, mexican, etc you've got tons of options.

if they're vegan like me, then it's a little more complicated but not by much. you can still do pasta just nix the cheese. a nice stir fry is always yummy as well.