Vegan Menu Thoughts

luckofthe_irish

Hello wonderful knowledgeable people

I am having some lovely vegan friends over for dinner this weekend so am currently menu planning and would love your advice! I am gluten free so it will have to be both GF and vegan, plus MSE as I am on a very tight grocery budget! As easy as possible is key as I don't want to stress myself out - this the first time I will have people over for a proper dinner at my new place:D!

What do you guys think of the below:

Snacky bits for when they arrive:
Hummous with tortilla chips, carrot and cucumber for dipping

Main:
Tofu Shashlik (from Cooking on a Bootstrap) with either spicy rice or crispy sweet potatoes (which do you think goes best)

Dessert:
Rice pudding with raspberry coulis

Is there too much rice if I have it in main & dessert? I don't really want to bake a big 'cake' type thing for dessert as there will only be four of us max.

All suggestions are appreciated - want to make sure they enjoy the food and the evening!

-taff

tofu is squishy so I'd go crispy potatoes because then you get the texture interest.
looks good. gluten free tortillas? you could put some lemon and chopped up coriander in half the hummous. or lemn and mint if you can find some mint in a neighbours garden

alfsmum

If you want to avoid too much rice, how about a fruit-based dessert such as pears poached in (vegan) red wine with non-dairy ice cream?

Spendless

Am guessing the rice pudding is a vegan version because otherwise it will be made with milk/cream?

If you are doing rice pudding for dessert I'd go with the sweet potatoes for main course accompaniment.

timehastoldme

Vegan gluten free chocolate mousse? https://m.youtube.com/watch?ebc=ANyPxKqDjIG_XdracemfA03En1lppupA-bf2mjn6UziZfDBDmmxYLHZTH7L4r5h_cUyL1-bXk-NecsAbml3tQ8S8OPusOz-sTw&v=KGf4sB9gLi4&time_continue=42

JIL

I think it sounds lovely. I also love sweet potatoes, what about some bhagees made with gram flour?

I had a look to see if bundobust did any recipes online, they have the best vegan food I have ever tasted.

-taff

tempura vegetables with mango chutney and sweet chilli dip....ooooo....

BrassicWoman

I'd do rice with the kebabs and get a Mrs Crimble apple bar cake and serve it with vanilla Swedish Glace.

luckofthe_irish

Thank you so much for the replies everyone they are SO helpful. Not doing the grocery shop until tonight so I can change the ideas up before then.

Yes to GF tortilla chips, you can get them in Aldi for an OK price compared to some of the other big ones! Deffo going to add some lemon and herbs to the hummous, thank you @-taff! Going to look on Cooking on a Bootstrap to see if she has a nice one with no tahini as I realised last night I have run out.

@spendless yes I usually use almond milk day to day so I was going to make the rice pudding with that but maybe I need to change my dessert as you all pointed out it may be a little too much rice. Hmmm. Finding an easy to make gluten free and vegan dessert is HARD! I thought rice pudding would be nice and easy but maybe I need to be more creative. Dairy free ice-cream is such a good idea (and so yummy) but my grocery budget is only £30 for the whole week including this dinner and free from ice-cream can be £5+ so that is why I discounted it! Maybe I need to up my budget this week seeing as I am hosting.

@JIL that is such a good idea and I already have gram flour at home - going to make some gram flour pancakes as well to have with the main course I think!

Thanks everyone for contributing - I will get my thinking cap on!

-taff

I'm not sure whether the biscuit things are gluten fre, but I'm sure they can be found or made...How about adapting this to make a cheeskecake? Or leave it as it is...
https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-peanut-butter-banana-pudding/

alfsmum

luckofthe_irish Swedish glace non dairy vanilla is usually £2.50 so may suit your budget?