Vegetarian dinner party

[Anonymous]

There's no real "dinner." Just appetizers. Fritters n beans. Yikes.

Can't you just make normal dinner food?

- Eggplant parmesean with side of spaghetti

- Other pasta dish - maybe bowtie with veggies or mushroom stroganoff

- Will they eat fish? Order ProFish swordfish or kanpachi or wester Ross salmon

Have cheese and crackers and chips and dips, vegetarian wanton type appetizers with soy sauce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's no real "dinner." Just appetizers. Fritters n beans. Yikes.

Can't you just make normal dinner food?

- Eggplant parmesean with side of spaghetti

- Other pasta dish - maybe bowtie with veggies or mushroom stroganoff

- Will they eat fish? Order ProFish swordfish or kanpachi or wester Ross salmon

Have cheese and crackers and chips and dips, vegetarian wanton type appetizers with soy sauce.

This but vegetarians don’t eat fish but you can do it for those who do.

[Anonymous]

Meat/fish lover here. Just my two cents, for what it’s worth… A vegetable quiche would be a nice main dish that should satisfy everyone, especially if served with an interesting, creative salad and good hearty bread. Anything called a vegetarian ‘loaf’, especially with lentils and/or beans, sounds frankly repulsive. Fish would be wonderful for those who are willing to eat it. Whatever dessert you come up with would probably make everyone on both sides happy.

[Anonymous]

As another non-vegetarian, agree with PPs that you need an entrée-like dish in there. A quiche would work very well. I don’t love fritters, so from your menu it’s a couple of dips and soup, with a side of roasted veggies? That’s appetizers and a side, not a meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As another non-vegetarian, agree with PPs that you need an entrée-like dish in there. A quiche would work very well. I don’t love fritters, so from your menu it’s a couple of dips and soup, with a side of roasted veggies? That’s appetizers and a side, not a meal.

+1

NP-I’m another meat and fish lover, and I think some kind of vegetable quiche would be the perfect happy medium between vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. Plus it’s filling enough to stand as a main dish.

Another idea- DH is a “meat and potatoes” guy, but even he’s satisfied with a good, cheesy baked pasta dish. I usually toss cooked penne with some Rao’s, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, and a little cream. Top with more mozzarella and bake. It would be great with your sides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the idea of a pasta.

If eggplant parm is boring, look up recipes for eggplant and zucchini lasagna instead. You can bake a full pan like regular lasagna or make individual stacks.

I think this is over done. I like the quiche idea with roasted veggies...

[Anonymous]

For a vegetarian dinner party I would pick up an Ottolenghi cookbook like Plenty or Flavor and make a few different complementary dishes. They're all so good!
In Plenty , there is a great eggplant dish with buttermilk sauce, which you could do with the winter vegetable couscous. Or the polenta with mushrooms and taleggio.
In Flavor, the spicy mushroom lasagne is very good as is the eggplant in curry coconut dal. He has some menu suggestions in the back too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Thanks for helping me brainstorm!! Here's the current evolution in my thinking. It will all be served family style and at the same time.

Two shared sourdough bread bowls--one with spinach-artichoke type dip and one with butternut squash hummus; served with cut up veggies

A new kind of soup (since there's now squash in the hummus)--maybe curried carrot or cauliflower?; Sourdough bread

Cannellini bean fritters--though I may need a better name for these; they are probably 4 inches in diameter and pan fried; they're more substantive than I think people are assuming

Roasted root vegetables

Dipping sauces (again, dill-horseradish and still thinking about the other)

Fennel-orange-arugula salad

Apple tartlets


I still haven't ruled out a lentil "meatloaf" or a savory tart. I just really want to have sourdough bread and that seems absurd with a tart. And I make lentil loaf for my kids all the time, so it just doesn't seem special enough for a dinner party.

I’m another lifelong vegetarian (and almost middle aged 😀), and this looks great to me. I agree that vegetarians are used to making meals out of several smaller dishes - sounds like the non-vegetarians posting aren’t used to that, though, and want a “main dish”. If you want to go that route, I’d drop the fritters and do a quiche instead.

[Anonymous]

I am NOT a vegetarian (although I do eat very “vegetable forward” 😊) and I think OP’s revised menu sounds great. I liked the original menu, too, although much prefer a fresh salad to creamed greens when you are also served fried food. I love the various flavors and textures in the meal, and I find small plates style of dining very convivial and encourages chatter (lots of passing and sharing, various dishes to discuss, and more on-going chatter when people aren’t simultaneously faced with a pronounced entree).

I also agree that you have a terrific attitude, OP, and as such I am sure your guests will have a grand time.

[Anonymous]

OP I’ve made this without a crust many times (I use feta insteada the Gruyère or cheddar she calls for). I’d make a double batch or in a 9x13 otherwise it looks too skimpy for guests (I eat it for breakfast): https://smittenkitchen.com/2016/11/spinach-sheet-pan-quiche/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the idea of a pasta.

If eggplant parm is boring, look up recipes for eggplant and zucchini lasagna instead. You can bake a full pan like regular lasagna or make individual stacks.

I think this is over done. I like the quiche idea with roasted veggies...

As a vegetarian I'd rather have overdone. Not a big fan of eggs and just eat them sparingly.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I had my dinner party this past weekend, and I told my guests about this thread, and they encouraged me to report back that we had a fabulous meal. The menu was pretty close to what I had described here: creamy kale-leek dip in a sourdough bread bowl; beet-walnut hummus in a sourdough bread bowl; curry bisque made with sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, and lentils; white bean cakes; roasted veggies; creamy dill-horseradish sauce; cranberry-miso-ginger compote; apple tartlets. I did a lousy job with the compote, and I forgot to put the cabbage I'd intended in the bean cakes, but everything turned out well otherwise. As someone earlier in the thread anticipated, there was lots of reaching and passing and dipping and sharing.

The guests raved about the food, and, whether they were just being nice or not, we ate a ton and no one went home hungry. We also drank just a tad bit too much and stayed up way too late talking and laughing. It was exactly the kind of night I needed!

[Anonymous]

Stuffed mushrooms. Stuff it with spinach, mushroom stems and a bit of parmesan cheese. You can stuff with anything! Bake them in the oven.