Any ideas for tasty vegan foods that non-vegans would enjoy as well?

We are having a birthday party for a vegan, so obviously we want to serve vegan foods for her. What are some good meat free/dairy free foods that non-vegans will appreciate as much as vegans will? We already have a recipe for chocolate cupcakes, but we still need ideas for the appetizers and etrees.

Honestly, I would skip the soy meats and soy cheese, because in my experience, it doesn't really go over well with people unless they are open minded or have already have had exposure to vegan foods. (I've been vegan for 10 years, am very open to freaky vegan foods, but still don't really like soy cheese)

I would do things that already happen to be vegan...
guacamole, salsa, bean dip, hummus, dolmas, samosas, many kinds of salads (garden, fruit, bean, pasta, etc.), vegetarian spring rolls, chips, crackers, etc.

PETA has an excellent list of accidentally vegan foods you can easily get at supermarket that's not "weird":
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/

As for entrees...you can do stuff like pasta primavera, indian food, thai food, chinese food that happens to be vegan. If you want to do pizza, really I would do it without the soy cheese, like I said, an acquired taste even among vegans. Amy's makes a great no cheese pizza with roasted veggies, or you can make your own with pesto, some veggies and frozen pizza dough.

Making your own baked goods is easy to veganize...margarine for butter (but read those ingredients!) or bananas, apple sauce, prune puree, even oil. You can use soy milk, coconut milk, rice milk, almond milk in place of cow's milk. You can also buy "egg replacer" from health food store or use the following substitutions:
2 tbsp corn starch = 1 egg
2 tbsp arrowroot flour = 1 egg
2 tbsp potato starch = 1 egg
1 heaping tbsp soy powder + 2 tbsp water = 1 egg
1 tbsp soy milk powder + 1 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water = 1 egg.
1 banana = 1 egg in cakes.

Here is a list of some possible options that you can get from the supermarket. These products are vegan and vegetarian:

http://www.peta2.com/STUFF/s-eat.asp

http://www.peta2.com/STUFF/s-accvegan.as...


Vegans and non-vegans can enjoy almost anything together, that doesn't have animal products, but taste !

Here are some ideas:

Pasta with Lentil Soup Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 (16 ounce) package uncooked spaghetti
2 (19 ounce) cans lentil soup
freshly ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain, but do not rinse, and return to pot. Stir in lentil soup and season with black pepper. Heat through and serve.


RECEPIES:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Everyday-C...
http://vegetarian.betterrecipes.com/
http://www.cok.net/lit/recipes/

you can practically convert anything regular food to vegan, last night i made a vegan pizza and a non-vegan pizza and vegan carrot cake. You could not tell the difference between the two pizzas (infact our non vegan guests liked it more, and we didnt tell them it was vegan until after) and our vegan carrot cake was amazing. my best bet for you is to look up how to make your favorite food (FROM STRACH, that way everything taste way better, and its cheaper) and then just turn them into vegan, it really is quite simple.
for the pizza we made, we jsut got vegan cheese from a health food store.

I have found that you can substitute many things in a recipe and make it vegan. I recently made vegan banana bread. I just substituted cornstarch and lemon juice for the egg, and agave nectar for the honey. I would try just thinking of all the foods you want to serve, vegan or not, and try to convert them to their vegan alternative. That way you can have your cake and eat it too!

Try making vegan versions of non-vegan foods. Some examples are:

Quesadillas and grilled cheese made with soy cheese. (Follow Your Heart is a good brand. Melt the cheese in the microwave and then pour it onto the tortillas or bread.)

Soy cheese pizza

Nachos with soy cheese

Popcorn with Earth Balance (vegan butter)

Pasta and Nate's Meatless Meatballs

Subs or wraps with Tofurky Deli Slices and Vegenaise (vegan mayo)

Vegan fried "chicken"
(I use this recipe with Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chik'n Strips: http://www.vegcooking.com/recipeshow.asp... )

Check out http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-recipes.a... for lots of other ideas.
I hope this helps!

For appetizers, go with a tasty tray of various dips, served with vegan crackers and veggies:

- Hummus (buy in the deli case)

- Black bean salsa

- Pesto (without the Parmesan, of course!)

Here is a simple, fun and easy to make, "finger food" for your party:
You can make yummy Vegan "pizza" from 12 " flour tortillas, marinara sauce, shredded mozarella flavored soy cheese, sliced sundried tomatoes, chopped fresh basil, sprinkled with dried oregano and red pepper flakes. Fold in half and heat in oven on 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Everybody likes pizza! The soy cheeses taste great.
Whole wheat crackers and Hummus dip makes a good side dish.

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? They have a lot of awesome choices. I love their White Bean Hummus, its very good and my non-veg family likes it too. If you are venturing out to Trader Joe's there's a good website with some reviews if you want to check it out:
traderjoesfan.com

I'd suggest a hearty salad that contained chunks of stuff, such as nuts, garbanzos, and tofu, and/or a pea soup. (Of course, vegan pea soup will never taste as good as pea soup made with a ham bone.)

Any vegan food can be enjoyed by non-vegans as long as it's prepared the right way.

offer her a cheeseburger when nobody else is looking