Menu ideas: Main courses
With main course dishes it’s often very easy to change just one or two key ingredients and make your existing customers’ favourite dish suitable for everyone to enjoy. Almost any dish can be made into a vegan version e.g. burritos, enchiladas, spaghetti bolognese, pizza, Thai curry, shepherd’s pie, mezze plate, burgers, risotto and flans. See the useful ingredients and recipe sections for ideas.
There are more than a few establishments that serve lasagne, moussaka or spaghetti with a rich sauce and vegetable mince or a mushroom and nut combination. Suited business professionals gobble it up daily, often oblivious of the fact they are enjoying vegan food.
As with any food, presentation is the key. Here we list some ideas to keep yours looking appetising and delicious.
Stuffed vegetables
Curries, stroganoff, stir-fries and stew-like dishes can all be stuffed into vegetables that have been baked as required and hollowed out. Choose from marrow, courgette, butternut squash, peppers, beefsteak tomato, aubergine and many others.
Pots and crocks
Ceramic pots and ramekins are another way of giving your meal a nicely presented centrepiece.
Pastry, pies, tarts and dumplings
It’s easy to make delicious vegan pastry using hard vegan margarine instead of butter or non-vegan marg. Your imagination is the only limit to the different shapes and presentations.
Most stews and casseroles can be encased in pastry if the sauce is thickened with lentils, potatoes or cornflour. Use beans, chickpeas, smoky tofu or seitan to replace the meat in pasties and pies.
Breads and doughs
You can use hollowed-out bread rolls or small loaves to serve chilli non carne or stews and casseroles.
A basic pizza can be used creatively to house all sorts of different fillings.