What delicious thing should I make for dinner?

[Virginia Plain]

My friend and her family are coming for dinner on Saturday.  I cook.  I cook well.  It's common knowledge and people LOVE me for it.  It's what I'm known for. 

We've hosted this familly a few times and I've knocked it out of the park each time.  Unfortunatly, I'm running out of ideas. 
There are dietary issues with this family.  One's a vegetarian (no problem, we're vegetarians), one's a meat eating vegan (due to allergies), one has nut allergies. 

I've been able to use vegan/vegetarian cheese opitions (some of which contain casein) with this family w/out any problems.  So, i got that going for me. 

[Run Amok]

What have you made in the past that has been a hit?

Homemade falafel is one of those things that really seems to knock people's socks off... because they've probably never had falafel that is that amazing. Even if they thing they don't like it. But... if nuts includes legumes, this might not work.

[diablita]

Asian food is always a great bet for vegan meals.  (I'm a little confused about the meat eating + vegan part but I'll assume this is someone who doesn't eat dairy and/or eggs?)

You could do fabulous sesame noodles, teetime's carrot cabbage slaw, she's also posted a fabulous miso-glazed eggplant recipe plus some delicious tofu.
Moroccan food would also be great, full of flavor and impressive.  A tagine of vegetables would be good, maybe some delicious hummus and pita and little Moroccan salads.
And as another thought, I've made really good mushroom stroganoff in the past with tofu sour cream.  Even the meat eaters LOVED it.  If that sounds up your alley, I can look for the recipe.  Add dumplings or noodles and a tasty salad with plenty of acid (so that it balances the creaminess of the stroganoff).

[merigayle]

How about a shepards pie?. Or visit my pinterest
http://pinterest.com/pin/229754018459782196/ is the shepards pie

[merigayle]

I have an awesome dal kofta recipe but it does have cashews in it. Fat free vegan blog has some amazing roasted beet tofu burgers.

[Run Amok]

That reminds me- this is a ridiculously good recipe for lentil kofte which I serve with this also ridiculously good beet & feta salad (you could serve the feta on the side for the dairy/egg free person).

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/red-lentil-salad-with-feta-and-beets

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/red-lentil-kofte-with-tomato-cucumber-salad

I think this recipe is also crazy good... but not sure what you'd serve it with to make it a full meal. I usually serve with salad: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/jamaican-veggie-patties-recipe.html

[caito]

one's a meat eating vegan (due to allergies),

What in sam hill is a "meat eating vegan?"


 

[teetime]

^^ I was guessing someone who eats meat but not eggs or dairy?  But CE needs to come tell us.  Also, I want to know what you usually cook so I can offer some different suggestions.  We have close vegan/veg friends so I've worked on this a lot (esp. since our own choices usually involve pork loin)

[caribougrrl]

I was guessing either a vegan with so many allergies he's forced to eat some meat for nutritional balance OR a meat eater with meat allergies thus following a vegan diet... but I'm also baffled, I just made up an answer in my head to make sense of it so I could move on.


CE - what did you make?

[Virginia Plain]

Meat eating vegan=dairy allergy but still eats meat

Dinner party postponed but will be making the shepard's pie.  Thanx guys!

[moroccangirl]

Meat eating vegan=dairy allergy but still eats meat

Dinner party postponed but will be making the shepard's pie.  Thanx guys!

Why do they call themselves a meat eating vegan? Why not just "I'm allergic to dairy"? Just curious. Sounds to me like too much to explain when someone says meat eating vegan.