How would you feed a vegetarian? page

[reamz]

So i have a friend who's veggie, coming round for dinner soon. I need to think up a menu that has stuff that's both primal and veggie friendly! (i'm hoping he'll be ok with me cooking a meat dish too,since he knows how i eat, but i need to ask first!)
ideas?

[MeatMe216]

When I had to cook for a large group that included vegetarians I did most meals buffet style.

On taco night I'd have a big bowl or fajita veggies, then different options for protein. Beef for the real folk, fake meat or tempeh for the veggers

On pasta night I made a big pot of sauce, meatballs for the meat eaters, faux meat balls for the veggers. I had shredded zuchini as pasta (as did the vegan) while my family had real pasta.

stirfry over cauliflower rice - tofu for the veg, meat for rest

Ideally, it would be nice to find dishes both could share, but unless your willing to sacrfice protein intake thats not really an option.
do they eat eggs or fish? obviously that would make it a great deal easier.

good ingredients to work with would be avacados, sweet potatos, coconut.

good luck! sharring is caring

[Stabby]

Corn oil and frosted flakes. To fatten them up. Mmm.

[iniQuity]

(i'm hoping he'll be ok with me cooking a meat dish too,since he knows how i eat, but i need to ask first!)
ideas?

It's nice of you to want to be so considerate, but your friend wouldn't return the favor (cook you some meat if you were coming over) so go ahead and make a side of meat for yourself, if he has a problem then tell him he needs to respect your lifestyle as much as you respect (or put up with) his.

[Hilary]

(*Scrapes rust off inner vegetarian cook, introduces her cautiously to inner primal cook...*)

It's surprisingly hard to think of a vegetarian dinner staple that's also Primal: almost everything has grains or pulses in there somewhere. Your best bet that you can both eat would probably be nut loaf of some sort (not necessarily as boring as it sounds), or cauliflower cheese. Oh, or get some vegetarian sausages (beware Quorn, not everyone can digest the stuff) and turn them into sausage casserole: that's nice and easy. Or experiment with turning tempeh, shiitake mushrooms and ground toasted almonds into a loaf with an egg or two... only just thought of that, but it seems like it would work. (Tempeh is traditionally made by fermenting the beans, and has the further advantage over tofu of actually tasting of something. Pleasant, even.)

Erm, not fish. It's an animal; vegetarians don't eat those.

Maybe the Cordon Vert is a bit more inspired (not to mention reliable) than I am:
http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/mainlist.html

It'd be a very hypersensitive (not to mention deeply rude) vegetarian who'd complain at you eating meat in front of them in your own home - though some would be worried at the thought of possible cross-contamination from using the same utensils.

[liss]

Love MeatMe216's suggestions.

If you don't need to go strict vegan you can also look at crustless quiches or other egg dishes. Omelettes can be impressive. Even scrambled eggs can be livened up with spices.

For another free-style buffet option I'd add a salad bar (leafy greens, fresh cut veggies, olives, olive oil & vinegar dressing, diced egg, shrimp, diced meats, etc).

Since I'm a shameless chocolate-pusher, I'd try to interest my guests in very dark chocolate for dessert. Failing that, a crustless pumpkin pie type dish or chocolate avocado pudding might work beautifully.

I can't speak for others, but when I was a vegetarian I never felt it was inappropriate for my hosts/friends to eat meat around me. I might have been foolishly dismayed (because I was oh so woefully ignorant) but not angry or disgusted. Unless your friend is unusually sensitive or deeply devoted to animal rights issues, I think you'll have no problems including meat on the table.

[Zophie]

You are a great friend. It will be just fine if you cook meat. Your friend doesn't have to eat it.

Do you have the primal cookbook? The summer squash noodles mixed with the pesto is So good and veggie friendly. I haven't tried it yet, but the Cream of broccoli soup looks great.
Roasted veggies and a big salad are always good. You could make a Tabbouleh with quinoa instead of couscous.

[SerialSinner]

When I had a vegetarian gf, I used to serve 3 things: Meat, Vegetables (cooked and/or a salad) and some sort of starch. I had the meat and we only shared the vegetables. Worked pretty well most of the times

[Minxxa]

I agree with the above that you should go ahead and cook some meat for yourself. While it's great to respect others' choices by providing options they can eat, mutual respect of dietary choices should be expected... especially in your own home!

That said, there are TONS of awesome dishes you can make that are vegetarian. My daughter is a veggie (she's almost 18, can't make her change!), and we used to do mexican a lot. I'd do a bowl, with ground beef and no beans, and she'd do a tortilla with beans and no meat. Both had cheese and avocado, tomato, onion, sour cream, etc. Mockafoni and cheese.... steamed cauliflower mixed with cheddar cheese, cream cheese and cream, green onions and salt and pepper, baked for 20 minutes at 350.

Multiple dishes or buffet style works the best.

[StoneAgeQueen]

Corn oil and frosted flakes. To fatten them up. Mmm.

No, no- grass fed only please. Then we can fire it up on the BBQ.