Are you hosting a dinner party for both vegetarian and meat-eating friends? You may think you need to prepare multiple options, but it doesn’t take much to please both the vegetarians and meat eaters in the group. While some may complain that meatless options won’t be filling, a hearty vegetarian spread can change the minds of your cheeseburger-loving friends.
If you aren’t used to preparing vegetarian meals, don’t worry – they are just as simple as their meaty counterparts! You can even use standard cooking appliances and microwaves for vegetarian dishes that everyone will love. Give the following recipes a try to see if the meat eaters will even notice that they are eating vegetarian-safe food!
Appetizer: Eggplant Caponata Crostini
This dish is certainly a classic with pine nuts, raisins, tomato and eggplant. Incredibly versatile, it can be served on crostini or even as a sandwich spread with pasta sauce.
The recipe involves heating garlic, red-pepper flakes, pine nuts, onion and raisins on medium-high for four to six minutes. After a couple steps the mixture will become thick, thanks to the eggplant. Then, simply grill for two minutes on each side, and you’ll be ready to serve the opening dish of the night.
Main Dish: California Grilled Veggie Sandwich
One of the top-rated vegetarian meals on AllRecipes.com, this sandwich will be sure to steal the show at your dinner party. Creator Heather Johnson notes that her “meat lover friends raved about this dish!” Indeed, this fresh dish can please all eaters with ease.
Ready in just 50 minutes, the sandwich is filled with veggies such as bell peppers, zucchini, red onion and squash. On focaccia bread and flavored with lemon-mayonnaise dressing and crumbled feta, this is a treat that will be remembered.
Simply mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, and garlic; put it aside in the refrigerator and then preheat the grill on high. After brushing vegetables with olive oil on each side, cook for three minutes on each side as well. Then head to the grill again to melt the cheese and warm the bread. Put it all together for a symphony of flavors just as filling as hamburger!
Side Dish: Vegetarian Fried Rice
Betty Crocker provides an interesting rice side dish that is rather simple – and very enjoyable.
Using brown rice, the dish mixes in carrots, green onions, snow pea pods, bean sprouts and other items for maximum taste. As a rice dish can certainly please any dinner party, this option is healthy and friendly to your vegetarian party-goers.
While the rice is cooking, heat a skillet over medium heat. Pour beaten eggs into the skillet, and then cut them into small pieces when they are firm in the skillet. In the same skillet, simply cook and stir carrots, onions and garlic for a minute. Add pea pods and sprouts and cook for two minutes. Stir rice and soy sauce, reduce heat to medium and cook for two minutes. Finally, stir in eggs and cook until heated through.
Dessert: Sugar-Free Pineapple and Blueberry Bake
There is a healthy and natural recipe from Aurelie Pare is another crowd-pleaser. It offers a light end to a hearty vegetarian meal! Once you gather your pineapple and blueberries together, you blend nut butters, banana, juice and spices together, mixing the nut butter mixture into the fruit. After 20 minutes of baking, you’re finished.
Simple and delicious, vegetarian meals can be just as hearty as meaty meals. After serving a spread like this, it won’t be hard to convince your meat-eating friends to join the next vegetarian dinner party!
Maire is an avid cooker who recently began creating her own vegetarian recipes. While she loves to cook, her real passion lies in crafting. She’d never throw a vegetarian dinner party without a few handmade decorations. When she isn’t experimenting in the kitchen and craft room, she blogs on behalf of Sears and other quality products.
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