What are some good vegetarian dishes to serve when there is company?

It's different when it's just me, close family or friends. But when there are guests, I'd like to make a good impression.

Tell me how you would plan dinner when you have guests.

Hi lo_mcg, I dont recall anyone asking you for an opinion about us. Since we haven't attacked you here, you must be a real ugly person at heart for attacking us. That's definitely great upbringing. :)

Generally, when I have dinner guests I try to make dishes that naturally do not have meat in them, but are still things an omnivore would order in a restaurant. My favorites are Eggplant Parmesan, Spinach Lasagna, and Ratatouille.

Any pasta dish is easy and fast. There are so many different ways to make pasta and so many things to add to it, that even if you have picky eaters, you can probably please them. A veggie tray is another easy and simple thing when a lot of people are over. They won't think "hmm... that's vegetarian. she must be trying to force it on us" because veggie trays are very common at get-togethers.

I also have this vegetarian cookbook called "The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet" by Nava Atlas. There is a lot of good stuff in there, from the creative, to new twists on old favorites. Nearly all of them are easily crowd pleasers. However, the best thing of all is that all recipes contain five ingredients or less. They are also all common ingredients that you probably have in your house right now (with the exception of one or two recipes, and I think alternate ingredients are listed if you don't have those ones).

Good luck!

I like to go all out with guests. It's a good way to gently encourage healthy and compassionate eating. There's such a stigma to being vegetarian. People still think we just eat salad all the time.

It can be difficult to come up with a super fantastic dinner. Especially if they're last minute guests.

Someone recommended tacos with bean filling. I'd use a combination of Soy Taco and Soy Rizo instead. Soy Rizo is more flavorful than Soy Taco. But Soy Taco is more substantial. So I combine the two. Tofutti sour cream. Follow Your Heart vegan cheddar. Salsa and sliced avocado.

Fajitas are good too. Trader Joe's carries a fantastic "sliced steak" seitan. I like to use them to make a "fajita salad."

That spinach lasagne someone recommended sounds fantastic. I think I'll try that one myself.

For desert, I have this 5 ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe from Sinfully Vegan. Bake big cookies, but half bake them. So they're really soft. Top it off with a scoop of Maggie's Mudd 'Mississipi Mud Pie' nondairy ice cream. Fair warning, it's "adult" ice cream. It's got hooch in it. Top that off with Wax Orchard fudge sauce. DIVINE!

I agree pasta dishes are excellent. If it's cooler weather, you might want to make a hearty vegan stew or chili. You can also make a vegan dinner pie--"La Dolce Vegan" has an excellent portabello pot pie. I double the dough recipe and put the crust on the bottom for a slight change, and it's quite tasty. Carol J. Adams (a noted vegetarian feminist author) says that mushrooms give a feeling of luxury.

Check out www.vegweb.com for recipes and ideas.

soup, pizza/pasta and salad

spring rolls for starter, thai curry with vegetables accompanied by noodles and/or rice

vegetable fajitas- tortillas and different fillings: roast onions and peppers (spiced with cinnamon, lime zest, cayenne, pepper, oregano and sugar), soured cream, re-fried beans, guacamole, grated cheddar and tomato salsa

spinach lasagna has ALWAYS gone over well with my guests. i like to toast pine nuts, crumble them, and include them as a few layers....people seem to love that. it's a vegetarian dish that is appealing to everyone =)
just serve it with a big italian salad and garlic bread...even some wine if you're into that. enjoy!

go to http://www.seeveggiesdifferently.com/
it has alot of very easy (and great tasteing) vegetarian ideas
my favorite would be the "southwest skillet supper"
heres the link for that http://www.seeveggiesdifferently.com/rec...

hope this helps :)

Any non-meat dish that they would order when out to eat: veggie lasagna, mac and cheese, etc. If your guests are open minded you could serve a strictly veggie/vegan dish, but some may be put off by that.

pasta dishes
tacos( bean filing)sour cream tomato lettuce
cheese and spinach pasties
vegetable spring rolls

Vegetable lesagna, garden salad and fresh real italian crusty bread