We’re having a party for our 20th wedding anniversary in a few weeks. We’ll be ordering a deli meat/cheese tray(s) with fixin’s from the grocery store along with buns/bread/condiments, and I’ll be either ordering or making side dishes like potato salad, pasta salad, fruit/veggie tray, etc.
Part of the reason for making stuff myself is because I’m on Weight Watchers, and several guests are either also on WW or watching their food intake for other reasons. So I want to keep it healthy and fresh instead of a meat-and-fat orgy.
One glitch is that one of my relatives is vegetarian. This is normally no problem when we have people over for dinner because I can COOK all kinds of yummy vegetarian dishes, and I’m familiar with the usual vegetarian staples and ingredients. trouble is, I’m blanking on what I can provide for my relative as a “main” item on the buffet in lieu of a deli sandwich. I don’t want her to have to live on carrot sticks and fruit.
I’d also rather not have to have a crockpot going or anything like that. It’s July, after all, and that would be just one more thing to monitor. There will be a kitchen at the venue, but again, I don’t want to play short-order cook by say, offering a Boca burger. We will not have a grill going; it’ll be all just chilled/room temp buffet.
Ideas so far (things that I know how to make):
Hummus/pita
Tabouleh
???
I’ve never made baba ghanoush, but I could try it.
Do samosas necessarily have to be served hot?
My pasta salads are pretty substantial, with lots of veggies in them; that might be enough, with some cheese/bread thrown in.
Tonight for dinner we are having corn quiche. It is delicious, easy to make several of, and works well warm or cold. It’s a perfect buffet line main course.
A bean salad of some sort? Billions of variations, easy, and rib-sticking. Can be served hot, room temp, or cold. I like to do one with white beans, garlic, dill, lemon, olive oil, and maybe some other diced veggies (red bell peppers, celery, etc.)
Veggie sandwiches. Egg salad (if she eats eggs). Veggie-cheese wraps. Pimento cheese sandwiches (if she eats dairy). Deviled eggs (these may get snapped up by the meat eaters quickly too). Cold baked beans.
As a non-meat eater, I wouldn’t expect you to do much more than the items that you have already mentioned.
A good pasta salad and some hummous and pita, maybe a cheese plate (does she eat dairy products?) should be just plenty—If she needs something more substantial, she can always get a pizza on the way home. This is your day, and you shouldn’t need to put too much extra thought into it on her behalf. You will surely have enough to worry about.
This is how I feel when friends invite ME to their place for a dinner. I tell tham that I will be fine with whatever they are already having. I don’t want people to go out of their way on account of my food choices, and between several beers and some chips and salsa I can hang for hours without starving to death…
My very first vegetarian dish was eggplant parmesan, which is delicious and can be prepared easily with ready-fixed eggplant cutlets, except it’s best served warm. Lasagne can easily be made vegetarian, if you’re ever looking for other veggie dishes; there are many Italian vegetarian dishes, in fact.
Sounds like you’ve got stuff pretty well covered now, though, so good luck with the celebration and congratulations!
Those do sound good, but they also sound like they’d need to be made fresh and served hot – if so, no go. The party is not at our house, there’s no catering staff, and I’m not going to spend my party time cooking.
Yes, please – though the ones I Googled looked pretty rich.
True enough, hadn’t thought of them. I like making deviled eggs, too – it’s an excuse to get out my piping bag!
True enough, but she’s a dear aunt, and I don’t want her to think that I didn’t consider her needs. (You’re a thoughtful and gracious guest, though!)
Not at MY grocery store. “Organic? Vee-gun? What’s that? We got both kinds of food: meat AND potatoes!” OK, not really, but I can guarantee you that fake deli meat is hard to come by around here.
tarragon918: Yeah, hot dishes are out. Cold/room temp buffet only. Otherwise I’d have had all kinds of ideas.
I think I’ll go with MPB’s way of thinking, and maybe make up some falafels and deviled eggs just for a little extra vegetarian protein.
You are obviously a very considerate niece and host, and I am sure that whatever you decide on, it will be appreiciated in the generous spirit that it was offered in…
I get frozen pre-made deep-dish crusts from the store. For 2 quiches I mix:
8 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup of grated cheese (your choice of flavors)
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1.5 cups frozen corn
3/4 cup diced green bell pepper
Mix it all up and pour half in each crust. Cook at 400 for about 45 minutes. You can make the day before and refrigerate. All 4 of my kids eat and love this recipe. It’s not gourmet, but it’s tasty!
If you’re going to make falafel from scratch, just one (important) point:
Use dried chick peas. leave them to soak in cold water for at least 12 hours. do not use any recipe specifying boiled chickpeas. DO NOT BOIL and DO NOT USE BOILED/CANNED CHICK PEAS. then mash them up in a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Then deep-fry or keep them in the freezer before frying.
Ooh, them quiches sound good! I could use fat-free evaporated milk and reduced-fat cheese (no one can ever tell the difference). Green peppers are evil, though; I’d probably use fresh diced tomatoes with the goosh removed. And it’s sweet corn season! Another must try!
SP, thanks for the tip. I do have some dried chickpeas around here that I never seem to find a use for. The canned ones are just so convenient, y’know?
* 1/4 cup margarine
* 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup
* 1 can PROGRESSO Lentil Soup
* 1 can (10 oz.) RO*TEL Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies
* 2 cups cubed cooked Spicy Tofurky tempeh or other favorite tempeh
* 12 corn tortillas, torn into bite-sized pieces
* 2 cups (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large saucepan, cook pepper and
onion in melted margarine until tender, about 5 minutes. Add soups,
RO*TEL and spicy Tofurky/tempeh, stirring until well blended. In a 13 x 9 x 2-inch
baking pan, alternately layer tortillas, soup mixture and cheese, repeating
for three layers. Bake 40 minutes or until hot and bubbling. Serves 8.
