INVITING FOOD FOR ENTERTAINING

By Jennifer Aherne

Starters
It may seem obvious, but the presentation of the vegetables at a dinner party becomes even more important when they are the 'main event.' Choose the best, organic where possible. Taste, size and colour are very important, for example... baby cauliflower and equal sized florets of broccoli can make an excellent starter when accompanied by a good sauce and arranged on the plate in alternate colours.
The sauce can be either cheese or if you are vegan tomato and basil.

The colourful range of exotic vegetables we can now buy in the supermarket, mean there is no excuse for anyone to claim vegetarian meals are boring! A small red cabbage, cut in half and roasted in olive oil makes a colourful starter. Season well!

Asparagus with a white parsley sauce drizzled on it, decorated with small pieces of grated carrot for colour and texture.

A halved ripe avocado is another old favourite appetiser, with either a blue cheese dressing or a simple vinaigrette.

Soups are easy to make if you have a blender, experiment with different vegetables for your own unique creation. Be bold, try something different like beetroot soup.

Main Courses
How about a vegetable pie? If you can make your own shortcrust pastry, great, if not, cheat, get a ready made vegetarian one. Roast the vegetables in olive oil to keep a good firm texture. Whole baby onions work well, as do sweet potatoes, red cabbage and broccoli spears. You can either add a white sauce or a vegetable stock gravy.

If you have an old fondue set lurking in a cupboard... get it out, cheese fondues make a great social eating occasion with lots of fresh, raw veggies to dip and lovely new baked french bread. Vegans can use a fondue pot filled with taisty vegetable stock, once boiling hot, tofu and vegetables can be cooked at the table. The Swiss call this a Chinese Fondue.

Nut cutlets and nut roasts are every non-vegetarian's idea of what we like to eat, (most unfortunate if you ara a vegetarian with an allergy to nuts!) so some of the ready made versions are dull and boring. There are some notable exceptions, but if not you're keen, make your own. See The Denise Fossey Recipes Page

My family have always enjoyed mock duck (get it from a Chinese food store), this is a wheat gluten product, it is wonderful served hot in a Peking sauce, (both Peking and oyster sauce are produced in vegetarian versions) a few chopped spring onions as a garnish will bring it to life. Serve it with rice or as we do with roast potatoes.

Desserts
If you are buying ready made desserts be careful, if it doesn't have a V sign, chances are it isn't vegetarian. Meat ends up in the most extraordinary places. Why not make your own apple pie or fresh fruit salad. Rhubarb crumble or fruit soup! Rhubarb and pear work really well.

Copyright © Jennifer Aherne 2006.

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Last updated 4 January 2007