On 2004-09-21, Nikitta Riber > wrote:

> Thursday next week I'll turn 30, and the following Saturday I've
> invited some friends over to celebrate it, but I can't think of
> something to cook, which omnivores will enjoy too, especially since
> some of the people I've invited aren't too keen on vegetables.

Perhaps they just haven't had the right vegetables. :>

I would personally suggest serving lots of food that's elegant, but also
"comfort" food... soups, stews, pasta, rice dishes (risottos / paellas,
stuffed peppers), polenta.... Keep the weird vegetables to a minimum, or
serve them on the side.

I'm a big fan of mushrooms (especially wild mushrooms) myself - not
likely to freak out non meat-eaters as much as tofu, seitan or tempeh
might, and they have a great texture. However, some people seem to hate
them, so you might want to check to make sure no one is a huge mushroom
hater.

I have a vegan paella recipe in the archives of this ng that's a pretty
good crowd pleaser; the ingredients there are just a suggestion - you
could adapt it as needed. A risotto would probably work well too. I
suggest making your own stock if you have the time.

If you eat dairy, you could serve cheese and maybe some sort of pasta
with a creamy / cheesy sauce.

For hors d'oeuvres, you could serve some bread and / or crackers with
olive tapenade, cheese (if you eat it), hummus, whole olives...

Dessert shouldn't be a problem (though if you're vegan or avoid dairy,
you might have to make your own cake if there aren't any speciality
bakeries near you).

And bottom line - don't worry TOO much about making everyone happy.
After all, it is your birthday - it's the one day where everyone else
should shut the hell up about how they hate vegetables and be happy
that they're there celebrating your birthday with you. So think first
about the things /you/ want to eat on your birthday - then maybe think
about how you can make these things paletable to your guests.

I usually go out for vegetarian Chinese food for my birthday - this is
generally a hit with almost everyone. I feel absolutely fine about
making all my meat eating friends (most of whom have no problem going to
veggie restaurants the rest of the year) go to a veggie restaurant for
my birthday party.

/w