The Vegetarian Dinner Party Menu

Recently, I had some friends over for a small get-together/dinner party. However, one of them was vegetarian, which posed a few conundrums. Whenever I've had vegetarian friends over, it's been informal and I've cooked egg noodles, or pasta, or a quick pizza. This was meant to be more like a dinner party though, so I wasn't sure what to cook.

Then inspiration struck. CHEESE. Well, not quite. But by happy coincidence I did manage to have cheese in every course. Entirely unintentional, I assure you.

Anyway, in this post I'm going to tell you the menu and the 'recipes' (ingredient lists, really) for dessert and the entrée, since the main and sides will require separate posts (lest you lapse into a coma trying to get through the entire thing).

Serves 4 (we had enough Parmigiana leftovers for 2 people).

Starter/Entrée

Turkish pide (bread)

Olive oil

Dukkah

Fried sliced haloumi

Main & Sides

Eggplant Parmigiana

Saffron Potato Stew

Steamed Green Beans

Dessert

Fresh fruit (plums, grapes, cherries)

'Fondue' (fresh passionfruit pulp for dipping fruit)

Triple cream brie

Plain cheese crackers

The entrée and dessert are crazy easy to prepare and take about 10 minutes max. each. My guests ate the entrée while I prepared the main.

Entree:

1 x Turkish pide (mine was 30cm x 15cm)

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of dukkah (I bought mine at the local market)

200g of haloumi cheese, thinly sliced

1. Slice the Turkish pide lengthways and from there into widths of 1.5-2cm - nice sizes for finger food.
2. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add half of the haloumi. Fry for 1.5 minutes or until lightly browned, then flip over and fry for a further minute. Repeat with the rest of the haloumi.

To serve:

Put the olive oil and dukkah into small, decorative dishes (I used two small ramekins). Place the pide pieces on a small serving platter and arrange the haloumi in front of/around them. Eat :)

Dessert

400g Crimson Seedless grapes

4 Black Diamond Plums

200g x cherries

10 x small dark Passionfruit

250g triple cream brie

1 packet of plain cheese crackers

1. Soak the grapes in a bowl of water. While you are doing this, wash the plums and slice them into eighths*. Drain the grapes, rinse once more and then place on a plate. Arrange the plum slices around them.
2. Wash and rinse the cherries. Place on the plate with the other fruit.
3. Rinse the passionfruit. Slice them in half one at a time, using a small spoon to scoop the pulp and seeds into a small bowl. When you have done this to all the passionfruit, place the small bowl on the fruit platter with the requisite number of forks for your guests.
4. Unwrap your cheese and place on a separate plate with cheese knives and the crackers.
5. Serve and eat to your heart's content.

Ideas:

• Add olives or miscellaneous antipasto to the entrée (marinated mushrooms, roasted peppers, etc)
• Use marinated feta in place of the fried haloumi
• Add different fruits to the dessert - berries, sliced apples, etc
• Use Camembert cheese in place of the Brie
• Add quince paste or similar accoutrements for cheese-eating.