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Wedding Cakes & Food Forum
thompsontct
member
Vegetarian Entree Ideas for Veg Bride & Groom
My fiance and I have been vegetarian for a few years. We are going to offer a chicken and a veg option for our reception. We are wondering if anyone has some ideas for a great vegetarian entree? We dont want to have the same thing that is always offered at restaurants for vegetarians: alfredo, lasagna, spaghetti. How boring! We want it to be a special and delicious meal.
Also, it will be in July, and there is going to be salad and appetizer served also. ~170 peole expected.
Any ideas would be great! Also, to make it more difficult my fiance doesnt like mushrooms!
Also, it will be in July, and there is going to be salad and appetizer served also. ~170 peole expected.
Any ideas would be great! Also, to make it more difficult my fiance doesnt like mushrooms!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Vegetarian Entree Ideas for Veg Bride & Groom
Our appetizers for cocktail hour are all vegetarian too: butternut raviolies, stuffed mushrooms, and bruschetta.
[QUOTE]We're having a vegetarian strudel option...it's kind of a thin pastry filled with veggies, tofu, cheese...and there is a vegan option without the cheese. Our appetizers for cocktail hour are all vegetarian too: butternut raviolies, stuffed mushrooms, and bruschetta.
Posted by yjdkiy[/QUOTE]
We are looking for a vegan option, and that streudel sounds awesome. Was it a big deal to get the pastry itself to be vegan?
[QUOTE]It's sort of a phyllo dough pastry, I think, so it's made with water flour and oil. Not sure, but the caterer assured me she could accomodate vegan requests with that.
Posted by yjdkiy[/QUOTE]
Great. Thanks for the reply (and the idea).
the vegan entree is a fancied up, homemade black bean veggie burger with mango-lime salsa.
We had a vegetarian wedding, but did pasta for the main course - penne primavera and mushroom ravioli. So I'm no help.
But I would keep to whatever theme you're doing with the chicken. If it's more southwest/Mexican, you could do bean and cheese enchiladas. If it's an asian chicken, maybe go with a stirfry. You could do something middle eastern, with falafel, which might be nice on a hot day.
We had a fall wedding, but our passed apps were: vegetable croquettes with pesto, brie and apple quesadillas with chipotle crema, peanut tofu satay, and eggplant and feta-stuffed piquillo peppers. We also had a salad, a soup (butternut squash) and the pasta, plus cake.
40/112
I had a tofu stir-fry at the last reception I attended. Make sure you try any tofu dishes before making it your entree though. Not everyone knows how to cook tofu well.
Our vegan option is ratatouille over jasmine rice with a bean relish. I'm not sure what exactly the bean relish is yet.
jessica said: You said you didn't want lasagna, but what about a more elegant version? We are planning to have lasagna with bechamel sauce and artichoke and spinach as one of our vegetarian options. I think ravioli can look nice, too. For a July wedding, maybe roast summer vegetable ravioli with pesto?
i love those ideas!
also the risoto option. i did have that at a wedding once and i looooved it.
we're probably doing eggplant rollatini for ours. unless the caterer tells us they can whip up something more "different" this was the best veg "entree" (there's a pasta, veg, and potato dish also)
The chef says that it always gets rave reviews from vegetarians and meat eaters alike! Good luck!
-Veggie potstickers with noodles and some dipping sauces.
-Mini-quiche or veggie pot pie.
-Veggie burrito or enchiladas.
[QUOTE]We're having "Southern caprese" with fried green tomatoes, mozz. cheese and greens drizzles with balsamic vinaigrette. We're also offering for vegetarians: vegan gazpacho, crudités with a guacamole, Vietnamese spring rolls, sheep's cheese/ apple on brioche toasts, mustard greens tarts, mushroom risotto bites, a watermelon/shaved fennel in tarragon vinaigrette salad and a spring pea soup. Hoping that between the passed canapes (accounting approx. 9pp), salad, soup, fried green tomatoes and wedding cake/dessert station, NONE of the vegetarians in the group will leave the reception hungry!
Posted by BlueBoxBride[/QUOTE]
I WANT TO GO TO YOUR WEDDING!! I obviously don't go to a wedding just for the food, but obviously as a vegetarian, you get excited when you don't get the "after thought" plate that the catering company threw together. But WOW you are fancy! I worried that MY guests should've had doggy bags...but boy yours will really need them!! =)~
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Vegetarian Entree Ideas for Veg Bride & Groom : I WANT TO GO TO YOUR WEDDING!! I obviously don't go to a wedding just for the food, but obviously as a vegetarian, you get excited when you don't get the "after thought" plate that the catering company threw together. But WOW you are fancy! I worried that MY guests should've had doggy bags...but boy yours will really need them!! =)~
Posted by RoMy215[/QUOTE]
I was a vegetarian for almost twenty years and one of my bridesmaids is vegetarian, so I was VERY conscious about making sure there was plenty of options for everyone. My FI's family has some members that keep "kosher" (our caterer is NOT a kosher kitchen) and will not eat any shellfish items. We also have a few important guests that won't eat red meat... So lots of veggie options! We're still serving meat/seafood entrees and canapes so the carnivores can pick and choose what they want.
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Vegetarian Entree Ideas for Veg Bride & Groom : I was a vegetarian for almost twenty years and one of my bridesmaids is vegetarian, so I was VERY conscious about making sure there was plenty of options for everyone. My FI's family has some members that keep "kosher" (our caterer is NOT a kosher kitchen) and will not eat any shellfish items. We also have a few important guests that won't eat red meat... So lots of veggie options! We're still serving meat/seafood entrees and canapes so the carnivores can pick and choose what they want.
Posted by BlueBoxBride[/QUOTE]
Sounds like my family!!! After a long time being veg, I broke down and started eating fish again (but no meat), one sis does the same. Mom and other sis plus several other people in my family are vegetarians. We grew up kosher (but since most of us are veg in part or full now it doesn't really matter) but Grandmother is still kosher. Some cousins go back and forth being vegan...and then there's the uncle who is raw vegan. Although DH and his family all eat meat, it was important that we had enough food for our vegetarians and that the main entree be really delicious and not an after thought. My first choice was the portobello mushroom ravioli with a cheese sauce that was so delicious, I wanted to bathe in it (now I can't even remember what it was though). We ended up with a penne primavera though because we thought it might be too much to have the ravioli (with a cheese sauce) and a baked brie appetizer.
I'm not much help unfortunatly. Even though my FI and I are vegan, the food is pretty much for everyone else. Fried chicken(our venue's very well known in our area for it) , polish sausage and kraut and then a very basic vegan pasta that is just noodles and sauce. Our place doesn't really know what to do for vegans, so we're just letting it go. I should just make something kick ass for us to eat and bring it with, lol.
I do agree with PPs that the risotto would be awesome, I think people would be very pleased with it!
I would definitely go with something that's served with some sort of starch - a risotto or pasta is always a good bet, or maybe something with farro, or something in a phyllo / puff pastry or pie crust type shell (mini veggie "pot pie"?).
I know beet salads have been done to death, but I love a beet "tartare" with some chopped candied nuts and chopped dried cherries -- like this sort of thing, with the additions I mentioned, and minus the goat cheese.
http://www.artisanalcheese.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NP1014
You could try to take some inspiration from ethnic cuisine if the caterer / restaurant can pull it off... a Moroccan tangine with a hearty tomato / bulghur wheat soup as the appetizer?
I'm always a fan of some dark leafy greens or roasted cauliflower on the side too.