Vegetarian Feast for 40

[Carolyn Tillie]

I've been catering a 16-course vegetarian Middle Eastern feast for 20 for several years now. However, next month I have been asked to prepare and serve dinner for approximately 40 people. It will be after an evening's lecture at being held a Masonic Lodge, I will have access to a decent kitchen plus service ware. Many of the folks attending have already had my Middle Eastern food and besides, it is mostly a seated dinner, family-style thing anyway.

I need to come up with some ideas that I can A) prepare mostly ahead of time, B) stand up to my *usual* fabulous reputation, C) be reasonably economical, and D) not take days and days to prep.

Current thoughts -- I REALLY don't want to do platters of Vegetarian Lasagne with a side salad. That has been SO overdone. I will be able to attend the lecture, so I am hoping to come up with things that I can heat-up at the last minute (or start heating up during one of the breaks) vs. having to be in the kitchen for the last hour before service.

I am not objecting to Middle Eastern and am considering the Musa Lentil & Eggplant Stew that Paula Wolfert recently published in Food and Wine (it is amazing, if any of you haven't tried it). But I'd like other ideas...

Thanks all!

[StudentChefEclipse]

Many of the Native American students at school used to do vegetarian dishes from either their own tribal cook books and traditions (a nifty idea in itself) or from one of several cook books on Native American cuisine commercially available. I never had anything I didn't like, and that included some of the most fiery food I have ever downed. *whew!*

Because today is brain-gas day, I can't think of the names of any of the cook books.

[Toasted]

A couple of weeks ago I had a party and served black bean and corn enchiladas, mexican rice, sauteed summer squash with roasted red pepper and a watermellon and mint salad. Sour cream, quacamole and green onions were served on the side. Even the non-vegetarians enjoyed the meal. The good thing about the meal was that everything excepted for the squash was prepared ahead of time so I got to enjoy the party too. We had a couple of vegans so I prepared some of the enchiladas without cheese which worked out well.

[bloviatrix]

What about tossing cubes of butternut squash, sweet potato, red peppers, and shallots in a spice mixture of cumin, corriander, cinnamon, and clove and then roasting?

Some vegetable tagines are better when prepared in advance and re-heated. What about that?

Is fish acceptable in this case? Because chilled salmon that's been rubbed with charmoula is very flavorful.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Is fish acceptable in this case?  Because chilled salmon that's been rubbed with charmoula is very flavorful.

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You know, I do think these vegetarians have gotten used to eating fish (a lot of world travel necessitated the eating of fish in many countries, I believe). There will be the question of expense, however. Salmon for 40 could get expensive, but I might be able to counter it with all the other Middle Eastern dishes that are vegetarian.

I gotta see when my brother-in-law is going fishing... so often he just shows up on my doorstep with whole salmon!

[Carolyn Tillie]

A couple of weeks ago I had a party and served black bean and corn enchiladas, mexican rice, sauteed summer squash with roasted red pepper and a watermellon and mint salad.  Sour cream, quacamole and green onions were served on the side.  Even the non-vegetarians enjoyed the meal.  The good thing about the meal was that everything excepted for the squash was prepared ahead of time so I got to enjoy the party too.  We had a couple of vegans so I prepared some of the enchiladas without cheese which worked out well.

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Here's the rub about making anything remotely Mexican here in California... we all eat it way too often. There are so many local taco joints that end up being our fast food, that it wouldn't appear very special at an event like this.

I DO like the squash idea, though - I might do that for our upcoming Harvest Party (which is ALL Mexican and so it would be really different!)

[Susan G]

Stuffed grapeleaves? Sides of babaganoush and hummus? Cucumber salad? Carrot salad? Mint and honey teas?

[Geetha]

How about trial Indian cuisine like cutlets of vegetables with a hint of potatoes all steamed together.. recipe follows with your likingthe idea of course, how about steamed rice-lentil cakes called idlies, with chutneys galore from indian cooking chest of recipes.. ;> glad to help anytime you need it.

Regards

Geetha

I thought it would be better to give you the cutlet site so might be able to decide if you want it or not http://appetizer.allrecipes.com/az/71245.asp

Edited September 9, 2004 by Geetha (log)

[Behemoth]

I once made vegan dim sum for a party of 30 (on my own, in tiny tiny apartment kitchen). It went smoothly since I could freeze all the dumplings ahead of time, store the fillings in the fridge, make the pastry types a day in advance, & yeast bread varieties in the morning. I basically adapted recipes from the Wei-Chuan "Chinese Snacks" book, and reverse engineered some items that we'd been served at a veg chinese place we used to frequent in philly. (I used to knead a mean seitan, back in the day...). It was a lot of fun, and went over very well.

[chow guy]

Current thoughts -- I REALLY don't want to do platters of Vegetarian Lasagne with a side salad. That has been SO overdone.I am not objecting to Middle Eastern and am considering the Musa Lentil & Eggplant Stew that Paula Wolfert recently published in Food and Wine (it is amazing, if any of you haven't tried it). But I'd like other ideas...

Except if that Lasagna is Julia Childs' version. It has fresh spinach noodles, artichokes, wild mushrooms and three cheeses with a saffron scented orange peel laced fresh tomato sauce. It always gets raves. An herb salad with fresh nastursum flowers and a lemony dressing might go well with it and be just different enough.

Tonight I'm catering a similar affair that I want to participate in. I'm going to do a Thai green curry with eggplant, tofu and mushrooms with soft Thai spring rolls and jasmine rice.

An Indian style curry with lots of sides (chutneys,raita, dal, paneer and breads) would be a labor intensive option as well. The trouble with these vegetarian feasts is the huge amount of prep time.

Keep us posted on what you came up with. I'm always doing vegeatarian feasts and I'm always looking for new ideas.

[bloviatrix]

What about a big tureen of a chilled soup? (You don't say whether this is a sit-down meal)

[Geetha]

I mind if I may add in here, if you are having a sit-in version I'd like t oadd other dishes but if well it is more like a buffet where there are so many choices that people really do a lot of pick and choose at the same time like to have a lot of variety, visual delights included, then there can be an easier solution to you problem of inventing a good list for dining.

I'm suggesting a lot of south india like side of sets of dishes, chutney and idlies are more convenient to prepare, because chutneys are prepared by us here in US without much techniques much like dofferent pestos but with a lot of other flavours from India, you name it there are so many individualistic flavours in chutney. Like the peanut chutney or coconut chutney, coriander chutney.. a lot of others are there.. all of these are dippings, if you will, for our idlies (mini or medium sized).

Best part is of storage, if you can prepare them a day in advance of the event you can keep all of your chutney in cold storage, and they will keep fresh for the day if you add not tempering with hot oil to them, also idlies can be prepared in advance for the day and stored cold.

Just before the party all you need do is steam idlies and keep the chutneys out of cold storage to come to semi-room temp or cool.

More over the Indian dishes you described are all of North India these are more labour intensive than the dishes I've described here.

Ofcourse to a practiced Indian cooks all will seem like a flourish of hand and easy, but for really newcomers it is frazzling to match all the spices together, I do understand it there.

But I have enlisted those dishes only that are easy for any level of cook with ingredients on hand.

[tanabutler]

Carolyn, what about spanakopita? I've done that for huge groups before.

[Swisskaese]

You could make Paula's Seven Vegetable Couscous or I have a recipe I could PM you for Fall Ragout over Polenta. You could serve the ragout over rice instead of polenta or make the polenta a day before and cut them into squares instead of trying to cook polenta for 40 at the last minute .

[babka]

I've riffed off of Deborah Madison's tarts and galettes for 25-person dinners: they look impressive, and they take little last-minute work (besides assembling and throwing in the oven.) My standards are one mushroom, one leek/goatcheese/mustard, and one butternut squash with lots of blue cheese, sage, and other goodies added.

Edited September 11, 2004 by babka (log)

[dumplin]

I made the Potted Mushrooms from The New Basics by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins. I made it to go in a Beef Wellington, but the recipe is also an appetiser to be served with toast points. The recipe states that it doesn't keep for more than a day. It did turn a little black the next day, but it was so good cold. My husband and I were eating the leftovers out the fridge with out fingers. I could see this topping a nice piece of roasted eggplant in a phyllo triangle. I could eat my weight in those. oh, wait, add a bit of goat cheese, or boursin, its cheaper.

You could do a pasta bar with ususual sauces. People love those.

[Kapuliperson]

You could also make calzones, ravioli, quiche and or some pea/barley soups with croutons.. :/

[chow guy]

Carolyn,

I'm curious, what did you wind up cooking for the aformentioned vegetarian feast?