Cooking food for vegan friend?

Question

I have friends coming to supper tomorrow. Have just found out that my veggie friend has become vegan. I am stumped what to cook as all my veggie recipes contain dairy products. I was going to do a mushroom and asparagus pasta dish - it has cream & parmesan in it plus I'm not sure if pasta would be OK? Also salad dressings - Ok if I make my own with Olive Oil & vinegar etc?
I'd rather not cook separate meals for everyone - not because I'm lazy just because I don't want my friend to feel uncomfortable. Any suggestions on how I can make this dish acceptable for a vegan or even any other good recipes (haven't been shopping yet).
Sorry if I appear ignorant of vegan diets - have to admit I'm not even strictly vegetarian myself.
Thank you

Answer 1

Can I just say how refreshing it is to find a post like this... I think it's great that you're doing research and are trying to make your vegan friend feel more comfortable. I think he/she would appreciate any vegan food you serve so I wouldn't worry too much.

I always find stir-fry's to be a good meal because it's simple to cook and you can easily add meat for the meateaters. Just try and add as many fresh vegs as possible and then fry in a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil. To make it interesting you could put chunks of fake chicken in but if you add things like cashew nuts, tofu and sesame seeds then it would be better without. I usually serve it with brown rice but the meat-eaters may prefere white so go with that.

Or you could make a sausage pie? Some vegan sausages are really tasty... my dad can't tell the difference between some vegan ones and real meat. So par boil some veggies (potatoes, carrots, brocolli) and then put them in a dish with other vegs such as peas onions etc. Then cook the sausages, slice them and put them in the dish. I usually then make a thick stock or get bisto gravy (yes, it's vegan!) and pour it over. Then I put 'jus roll' ready made pastry over the top.

If you're serving bread then give your vegan friend some olive oil to use instead of butter or you can buy vegan margerine for less than a pound from most big supermarkets.

Good luck with everything and thanks for having an open mind and actually caring about your friends diet.

Answer 2

Check the label of the pasta to make sure it has no eggs. Most dried pasta is vegan.

If a recipe calls for milk, you can use soy milk just as you would cows' milk. If you need cream, you can put silken tofu (the kind in the aseptic box) in the blender and liquefy. As someone else said, if you can, try putting the parmesan on the side. Olive oil and vinegar dressing should be okay. Annie's Naturals makes many brands of salad dressings, most of which are vegan (those that aren't have dairy). If you buy soy cheese, watch for casein (milk protein).

Or you can just heat up some marinara sauce, toss in mushrooms, onions, and garlic, maybe some veggie crumbles or tempeh, and pour that over pasta. If you can find some nutritional yeast, that gives a cheesy flavor to pasta. It's good to sprinkle as you would the parmesan.

Most of these will be at your local natural food stores.

You can also find great vegan recipes at www.vegweb.com.

And thank you for being a considerate friend.

Answer 3

Why not make Tapas and then you can include a selection of vegan items. If you wanted to include some dairy or other items for your other guests, you could do that without making anyone feel uncomfortable.

My suggestions would be
Portobello mushroom caps stuffed with chopped nuts and spinach
Sliced oven roasted roma tomatoes sprinkled with sea salt and rosemary on toasted focaccia
Baked asparagus risotto balls with warm tomato dipping sauce
Chinese vegetable wontons
Pesto stuffed ravioli on a slice of grilled aubergine
Leek and onion tartlets

Served with a large salad with your homemade dressing, and an assortment of breads and dips

You'd have to research the individual ingredients to check everything was vegan friendly, but all of those items would be easily adapted. If I was having a tapas party I would try to have 6-8 different dishes, allowing 1 or 2 pieces per person, plus bread and salad and a dessert. It sounds like a lot of work, but each item is quick to make and you should be able to prepare everything in advance and then reheat when your guests arrive, as needed.

I also went to a sushi party held by a vegetarian once. She provided the rolling mats, rice, seaweed, sliced vegetables, tempura, wasabi, ginger and soy sauce and we all brought something to fill the sushi rolls with. We all took turns making the sushi rolls and giving them silly names. Some were competely veggie, some had fish and one or two had some bbq chicken and everyone was happy. Not sure how vegans feel about seaweed, some people consider it a plant, some consider it an animal so it would be up to the individual person.

Have fun!

Answer 4

You'd be surprised by how many of your current recipes don't have dairy in them. If you are using dry pasta, it's fine unless you buy egg pasta. Fresh pasta contains eggs. Vinegar and oil is perfectly fine. How about looking up a way to make a cream and Parmesan sauce vegan or look for a different sauce. Whatever you make vegan isn't going to taste like the original. You could just use a different sauce that tastes just as nicely. Take care not to use some of the hidden animal ingredients like Worcestershire sauce and bouillon. You can make some spectacular vegan pasta dishes without worrying about milk. Search the Internet for some ideas.

Answer 5

Veganism means not eating anything derived from animals: meat, dairy, eggs, honey, etc. Rawism is a separate philosophy applied on top of that, the idea that raw food is healthier. Raw vegans make up only a small portion of vegans.

Answer 6

Lovely Lentil Soup : ingredients 2 table spoons olive oil , 1 medium sized onion diced , 2 large carrots diced or sliced 2 garlic cloves crushed 1/2 pound of lentils rinsed thoroughly 1 pint of water 1 bay leaf

Cooking procedure :

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add

Answer 7

1 what a nice friend you are.
The pasta with a meat & dairy free sauce would be fine.. serve grated Parm on the side for those who want it. I make a veggie sauce with all kinds of things Mushrooms, Zucchini or Asparagus, etc added to a good quality ready made sauce like Muir Glen.
Salad with your homemade dressing sounds delightful.
I hope this helps some
Slainté (to your health)

Answer 8

HERE IS A NICE DISH
PAELLA

3ozMUSHROOMS SLICED
VEG OIL FORFRYING
5oz BROWN RICE
1/2 pint UNSWEETEND PINEAPPLE JUICE
1/2 PINT OF WATER
2 TBLSPOONS OFTOMATOE KETCHUP
2oz SULTANAS
HALF A SMALL PEPPER CHOPPED
2oz OFNUTS
PINEAPPLE RINGS TO GARNISH

METHOD

1/ SAUTE THE MUSHROOMS INA LITTLE OIL THEN ADD RICE AND COOK FOR 2 MINS.

2/ add pineapple juice water and tomatoe ketchup. simmer for 25 to 30 mins until all theliquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.

3/ ADD SULTANAS, GREEN PEPPERAND COARSLY GRATED NUTS. HEAT THROUGH AND PILE INTO SERVING DISH AND GARNISH WITH THE PINAPPLE RINGS.

Answer 9

Moroccan Quinoa Cous Cous
Ingredients

4 oz quinoa
2 cups water (or vegetable broth)
1 lemon, juice and zest
1 oz pine nuts (toasted)
1 oz currents (dried)
2 dried figs (chopped)
.5 tsp fennel seeds
.5 tsp coriander seeds
.25 tsp cinnamon
.25 tsp cumin seeds
.25 tsp ground cardamom
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp pepper
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced


Directions
Grind fennel, coriander, cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, salt and pepper together.
Rinse quinoa until water turns clear.
Pour rinsed quinoa into a pre-heated (med heat) non-stick pan, and toast for a minute. Add spice mixture and dried fruit. Stir to combine and add water and lemon juice. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook uncovered until quinoa is done (about 15 minutes). If too much water is left, cook until evaporated. Let sit for 5 minutes, fluff with fork and add parsley and pine nuts. Add an equal amount of mint, if on hand. Serve.
Makes 4 servings.

Vegan Pizza with Artichoke and Avocado

1 Pizza crust
1/2 c. Artichoke hearts
1 Avocado
6+ Chopped olives
1 Clovegarlic
T olive oil


Directions
Coat pizza crust with olive oil. Crush garlic in a garlic press and spread over crust. Add sliced avocado, artichoke hearts and olives. Bake according to crust instructions. Yum!
Makes 4 servings

Lentil Soup

1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup brown lentils
1/2 cup yellow split peas
1/2 cup green split peas
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
7 cups water
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)


Directions
In a one quart jar, layer the green split peas, yellow splite peas, brown lentils, and red lentils. Place lid on jar and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix together dry ingredients as follows: parsley, salt, sage, minced garlic, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano (if using). Pour spices into the corner of a small plastic storage bag. Twist and tie off (cut off any extra bag.)
At this point, the lentil soup is ready to store or to give as a gift.
TO PREPARE: Rinse and pick over lentils. Place lentils in large stock pot with 7 cups of water. Add to the lentils: 1 chopped onion and one chopped carrot. Empty contents of spice packet into stock pot. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. For a thicker soup, take the lid off during the last 15 minutes of cooking time.
Serve HOT. Makes 6 - 8 servings. And it is GOOOOOD!

Jam Rollypolly

8 oz. (200g) Self Raising Flour

4 oz. (100g) Vegetable suet

1/2 to 1/3 Jar of jam (Strawberry or Raspberry are best)


Preheat oven to GM 6 / 400 °F / 200 °C.



Mix flour and suet in a bowl. Add a little water to form a dough (not too much so it isn't sticky). Roll out to a square shape and spread with jam. Roll up into a sausage shape and sprinkle sugar on the top. Bake at top of oven for around 30-40 minutes until pastry is crisp and light brown. Serve with custard (Several brands of custard powder are vegan and can be made with soya milk.

This will keep you busy.

Answer 10

There are some good vegan recipes on this link, hope this helps.
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