Vegetarian New Year's Eve Party Food Ideas

As a vegetarian, you almost certainly already know the disappointment involved in trying to find delicious food to eat at any parties you attend. You probably usually offer to bring something for the host so you know there will be at lesat ONE thing at the party that you can eat. This year, why not take matters into your own hands and host your own New Year's Eve party - with vegetarian food all around. Your dieting buddies might be pleased to be eating a littler lighter and the majority of your visitors doubtless will not spot the difference.

If you're a good cook, be prepared for your visitors to ask some of the new recipes they try out at your place. You could even prepare cards labeling some of your more exotic dishes on the smorgasboard ( this is particularly helpful for ethnic foods ) so folks know what they're going to be eating. As a party favor, you could print a little recipe book or recipe cards with instructions on the best way to prepare a couple of your favorite dishes. ( Who knows, perhaps they will make it next time they invite you over to their house!

Another nice advantage of serving vegetarian food is that it can be cheaper. Though, if you go all out for fresh berries and fruit ( which is not in season around New Year's Eve ) or a lot of fancy wines and cheeses, your party might not be too economical. A technique to cut down on the pricetag of the party is to substitute hearty vegetarian dishes in the place of the more expensive meat dishes. If nicely prepared, most guests will not even miss the presence of the beef.

One way to do this is to consult vegetarian cookery books to look for recipes which will make a good edition to the party menu. When selecting these recipes, it is critical to follow each recipe carefully and not make any substitutions. This is vital because items you may substitute into the recipes may contain animal products. Making these substitutions will end up in your dishes not being completely vegetarian.

Alternately an alternative way to offer a diverse vegetarian menu is to make the event a potluck. This is especially an excellent idea if the bulk of the guests are also salad munchers because they likely already have a number of vegetarian recipes to share. However, if almost all of the guests are not vegetarians, they could have difficulty deciding what to bring and could also accidentally include ingredients with animal products in the food. In this situation, suggest what you'd like your visitors to bring -'Jim, you are making a mean guacamole, would you mind whipping that up and bring it along with some salsa and chips?''Erin, I loved that hummus and peta bread you served last summer...
Another significant thing to bear in mind when planning a vegetarian New Years Eve party is that it's important to ensure the guests are conscious of your intentions. This is especially critical if the event is going to be a potluck. Some meat-eaters are extraordinarily wary about trying new dishes, so be certain to have some staples out that everybody will adore. Bread, fruit, pretzels, chips and nuts are great vegetarian options that are very popular among'main stream' dieters also.

Remember, as the host of your party, the most important role you can play is to be certain your guests are comfy and having a great time. Inspire them to get to grasp one another by helping set up new conversational partners, plan some fun pastimes (like toasting in the New Year'around the world' every time the clock strikes a new hour), and confirm everybody driving home is fit to do so.