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Vegetarian appetizers
oddment
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Hello H&A! I could use some help.
I am having some people from work over for drinks and such in a couple of weeks time (the girls from my office, we're all friends). I've never had them over before, and as I recently moved it is also sort of a house warming thing. One of the girls is a vegetarian, and so to make sure she can eat everything I make, I am wanting to make all of my appetizers vegetarian. I'm going to make a few, as we're not having a meal, but I don't mind if some are quite substantial as I'm sure we'll all be hungry anyway. I really want to make everything myself as it's the first time I've really had people over that aren't people I've known forever or students... can you guys suggest some good recipes for me?
Just a note aswell, I'm in the UK... I've noticed that a lot of recipes online from America have ingredients I've no idea about (mostly manufactured products that we don't have here, like butter flavoured cooking spray?), so if recipes involve things like that, could you suggest an alternative I may be able to get a hold of, please?
Thanks H&A! I'm counting on you!!!
I am having some people from work over for drinks and such in a couple of weeks time (the girls from my office, we're all friends). I've never had them over before, and as I recently moved it is also sort of a house warming thing. One of the girls is a vegetarian, and so to make sure she can eat everything I make, I am wanting to make all of my appetizers vegetarian. I'm going to make a few, as we're not having a meal, but I don't mind if some are quite substantial as I'm sure we'll all be hungry anyway. I really want to make everything myself as it's the first time I've really had people over that aren't people I've known forever or students... can you guys suggest some good recipes for me?
Just a note aswell, I'm in the UK... I've noticed that a lot of recipes online from America have ingredients I've no idea about (mostly manufactured products that we don't have here, like butter flavoured cooking spray?), so if recipes involve things like that, could you suggest an alternative I may be able to get a hold of, please?
Thanks H&A! I'm counting on you!!!
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*Thanks Thanatos!
*Thanks Thanatos!
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cause Quiche are an awesome appetizer food, pretty easy to make, and in this man's opinion, fucking delicious.
however they do contain eggs.
they are primarily eggs.
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A big plate with a lot of fresh veg and some hummus for dipping is always a big hit. Pita bread is a good addition to that as well. And yeah, edamame rules.
-Seconding edamame.
-Pizza rolls, depending on how strict she is. Most cheese has rennet, which is a bacterial enzyme gathered from the stomach of milk-fed calves.
-Spinach and artichoke dip.
-Fruit salad, normal salad, etc.
-Dip made with shredded cheese, black beans, and ground veggie burger (dunno what brands the UK has). Mix and microwave, serve with tortilla chips. Delicious.
-Hummus and pita or other nice bread.
I'm sure I'll think of other ideas, but it's hard to say without knowing how fancy you're trying to be or what she will and will not eat.
As to how fancy I'm trying to be... I want it to look like I've put some effort in, with some of the dishes at least. A tray with mixed veg and dips may be a solid central dish though... no-one can say no to that!
*Thanks Thanatos!
Recipe - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Green-Bean-Fries/Detail.aspx
2 tablespoons finely chopped bell pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro or parsley if desired
8 slices of french bread 1/2 inch thick
1/2 cup shredded colby/monterey jack cheese mix.
Mix everything but the cheese and bread in a small bowl, spread it on the bread and sprinkle with cheese. Cook at 400 F for 5-6 minutes.
Delicious. Most people are happy with 2-3 slices in my experience.
I thought the idea was crazy, but I tried them (not that recipe) and think that they're actually pretty damned good.
and do somethings like spring rolls or samosas
edit: oh yeah my mom makes stuffed mushrooms all the time as a vegetarian thing
those are good
I make a refried black bean dip. You can buy canned refrid black beans or buy 2-3 cans of regular ones (or fresh ones) and do it yourself. Then mix it up with a chopped onion, 2 chopped bell peppers of your choice, corn kernels and cheese and bake at 425 (not sure what the conversion is here) for about 20 minutes.
I also like to top it with lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream after it bakes.
5 or 7 layer dips are quick and easy.
Also, potato skins sans bacon: http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/007113potato_skins.php
And this little pizza thing is great as well (you can top with whatever veggies you want and you can cut it to small sizes.) : http://wegottaeat.com/nicki.scheck/recipes/cold-vegetable-pizza
Chickpea Cakes
INGREDIENTS
Makes 12
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1/4 cup diced green pepper
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp paprika
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- salt and pepper to taste
- oil for frying
METHOD
1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute onion, green pepper, and celery for 5-7 mins, until softened. Remove from heat.
2. Place chickpeas in a food processor along with the onion mixture. Pulse until chickpeas are no longer whole, but dont process them too much. Place chickpeas in a bowl and add spices, hot sauce, and parsley. Mix well. Add flour and cornstarch and mix well. Place in the fridge for 30 mins.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan over med/med-hi heat (around 350 degrees). Shape chickpea mixture into 12 patties and fry in batches, about 2-3 mins per side, or until crispy and browned. Flip a few times if they are browning too quickly. If you have trouble forming the patties, add some more cornstarch to hold it all together.
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Lemon Potato Latkes (tasty little potato things, similar in texture to a hash brown)
Caramelized onion focaccia
Veggie quesadillas
mushroom/tomato bruschetta
Rarebit (kinda a fancy cheese toast thing)
There are also recipes for a regular salsa, and a pickled jalapeno salsa, both of which are dead simple and awesome with any old corn chip (though I find myself preferring blue corn chips).
1/4 cup water
6 tablespoons tahini , stirred well (see note)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil , plus extra for drizzling
1 (14-ounce) can chickpeas , drained and rinsed (see note)
1 small garlic clove , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch cayenne
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro or parsley leaves
Instructions
1. Combine lemon juice and water in small bowl or measuring cup. Whisk together tahini and 2 tablespoons oil in second small bowl or measuring cup. Set aside 2 tablespoons chickpeas for garnish.
2. Process remaining chickpeas, garlic, salt, cumin, and cayenne in food processor until almost fully ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula. With machine running, add lemon juice-water mixture in steady stream through feed tube. Scrape down bowl and continue to process for 1 minute. With machine running, add oil-tahini mixture in steady stream through feed tube; continue to process until hummus is smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.
3. Transfer hummus to serving bowl, sprinkle reserved chickpeas and cilantro over surface, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand until flavors meld, at least 30 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
recipe:
1 1/2 lbs fresh spinach, trimmed and well washed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced scallion (I usually skip this because I'm not a big fan of scallion)
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2lb feta cheese crumbled (400-500g, whatever container you find, is fine)
1/2 lb cottage cheese or ricotta, drained (as above, and I always use ricotta because it's delicious)
1/4 cup fresh minced dill, or 1 tbsp dried dill
1 package of phyllo pastry dough
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (the super crumbled kind, not chunky)
1) steam or parboil spinach until it wilts. Drain, squeeze dry, and chop (I usually omit this and just fry it with the onion in step 2, with some water added to the pan, but it's not what the recipe says per se)
2) place the olive oil in a medium skillet and turn the heat to medium. Add the onion and scallion and cook, stirring, until softened (approx 5 min). Add the spinach, salt, pepper, and nutmeg - stir.
3) Beat the eggs with the cheeses. Stir in the spinach mixture and the dill and parsley. Preheat the oven to 350F
4)Unroll the phyllo sheets and cut them into thirds, the long way. Working with one piece at a time, brush lightly with oil, then sprinkle lightly with the bread crumbs. Place one heaping teaspoon of spinach filling in one corner of the dough and fold the corner over to make a triangle. Continue to fold the phyllo, making triangles - as if you were folding a flag. As each piece is finished, brush its top with oil and place on a baking sheet.
5) When all the triangles are done, bake for about 20 minutes, or until nicely browned. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving
Thanks for all the ideas and recipes so far guys! Will be giving it some more thought over the next week and will decide what to make by the weekend.
Vash, could you post the recipe for the caramelized onion focaccia? I love stuff like that.
*Thanks Thanatos!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falafel
but they're listening to every word I say
My vegan friend uses this site, it has a lot of tasty stuff on it.
ingredients:
Bread:
2.5 cups white flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 oz package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons polenta or cornmeal
Onions:
1lb red onion
2 tablespoon olive oil
large pinch salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup white or red wine
1 cup grated gruyere cheese
mix flour yeast and salt in a large bowl and make a large dent in the center add 1 cup warm water, 2 tablespoons olive oil gradually work together to form soft but not sticky dough if too dry or too sticky, add more flour or water 1 tablespoon at a time.
invert bowl onto a floured surface and kneed thouroughly for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic put in an oiled bowl and turn dough until shiny all over, cover with damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size - about 30 min.
mean while to make the topping cut the onions in half from top to bottom and thickly slice lengthwise, heat the oil in the skillet add the onion and saute until golden add the salt sugar and wine and cook until the onions have carmelized - about 3-5 minutes
sprinkle the polenta or cornmeal onto a baking sheet, this will prevent the focaccia from sticking and will make the base crisp.
punch down the risen dough with your knuckles, then transfer to the prepared baking sheet and flatten into a round, about 1 inch thick top with onions and cheese, cover and let rise about 30 minutes before inserting into oven (no longer or bread will dry)
bake in a preheated oven at 425 F. for 30-40 minutes until golden, let cool slightly then cut into wedges and serve.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/stuffed-mushrooms-recipe/index.html
The Italian parsley is important- curly parsley has no taste. The Italian-style bread crumbs, on the other hand, can easily be swapped for plain (or even better, home-made).
Eastern/Mediterranean theme-
Sweet potato falafel- this is fucking delicious, and you can mix the "dough" ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for a couple of days:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/baked-sweet-potato-falafel-recipe.html
Serve with yogurt sauce. Hummus with veges and pita, fattoush salad, tabbouleh, stuffed grape leaves (this could be difficult, you may be better off buying these pre-made). There's not as much food here as on the other menu, but that's ok because you're all just going to fill up on the falafel.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
This salad was a hit at my last party. I subbed pearled barley for farro cause I've no idea where to get farro. I doubled the vinaigrette as it was too dry if dressed as per recipe. You can make this the day before and put covered in fridge, tastes better when the flavors have time to come together.
These strawberry and cucumber sandwiches are awesome. Make a spread by mashing chopped strawberries into cream cheese (or neufchatel) with mint, lemon zest and some salt and pepper. Spread onto bread and then layer on slices of strawberry, watercress, and cucumber. Next time I'm trying it with chevre.
Cucumber water. Finely slice cucumber and put into a pitcher with ice water. Makes it all fancy and takes little effort.
Use sectioned pieces of a fennel bulb, bake on 425 for a few minutes just to get them crispy, then spread with cream cheese and some diced (good, not crap) green olives.
These are all such easy and fast options too.
1. Hummus Platters
Get some Hummus either home made, or store bought.
Set up a platter of pita bread, baby carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, yellow squash, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, or whatever you like as a dipping vegetable. Non Vegan options include stuff like ranch, spinach dip, or artichoke dip.
2. Fruit Platter
Get fruit. Slice fruit. Display fruit. Eat fruit. Yum.
3. Guacamole or Salsa and Chips.
Can make or buy guac or salsa.
The key thing to keep in mind is all these options are traditionally made as vegan. Depending on your guest, I'd follow the same line and just get party items that are traditionally vegetarian. A cheese and cracker tray may, be nice but is also tricky because of rennet.
Just cut a bunch of pita bread into triangles, toss with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and any herbs and spices you think will taste good (dried oregano and ground cumin are good bets)
Bake them on a cookie sheet at 350 until they're brown and crispy, turning them at least once.
First one that looked good: Vegan Chicken Fingers
*Thanks Thanatos!
Done:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/
Also, everything else on that site is delicious. Just sayin'.
Make some goddamn sangria
Wow, thanks! Those look delicious, and easy to make! I shall be using that recipe me thinks. In lieu of maple flavouring, do you think I could just add maple syrup? I'm not sure where I'd find maple flavouring here...
*Thanks Thanatos!
*Thanks Thanatos!
*Thanks Thanatos!