So, you're expecting vegetarian guests and you haven't a clue what that really involves.

Well, firstly, don't panic - even meat eaters eat plenty of things which are not meat don't they? You won't find it too different to cater for vegetarians.

There are 2 main groups of vegetarians, those that don't eat meat or fish, but do eat eggs and dairy produce, and vegans, who don't eat animal products at all. If you don't know which kind your guests are, it is as well to assume they are vegan, and cater accordingly.

How you cater of course depends on the occasion and who else will be eating with you.

I'm going to outline how you can adapt common family meals to accomodate a vegetarian / vegan guest.

Staple foods

Margerine - most contain milk or whey, but Pure brand soya or sunflower margerine does not.

Baked Beans - most do not contain milk, but some do

Soya substitutes for bacon are easily obtainable in supermarkets or Holland and Barret, as are vege sausages and burgers. Some contain egg white, so read the labels. There are also plenty of ready meals available.

Breads are usually fine, and some, but not all pies, fruit tarts, jam tarts, mince pies etc. Some doughnuts are OK, as are lots of different kinds of biscuits. Just check the labels first.

Tinned vegetables and fruit are fine, as are lots of tinned soups, but some soups contain milk or meat products

Sunday Lunch

If you know your guest will eat dairy foods and eggs, nothing could be easier to adapt than the traditional roast beef and Yorkshire pud. Provide houmous and melba toast as a starter, plenty of Yorkshire puddings with the beef, maybe a cheese or egg sauce with the vegetables, a sweet containing some sort of nuts and you have covered all the nutritional requirements without the need for your guest to actually eat any of the meat, and a tasty and filling meal into the bargain. The gravy is the one area where you would need to take care - although most proprietry gravy powders contain no animal products, you can't use the dripping etc from the bottom of the meat tin in vegetarian gravy.

If you are not sure whether your guest eats dairy products or eggs, then its better to play safe and serve the family a poultry or pork based Sunday dinner. In this case, its the seasoning [made in a separate dish] which will contain the additional nutrients for your guest's meal. Make your seasoning in the usual way, but add sunflower seeds or pine nut kernals, extra fried onions and extra herbs. Add an onion sauce made with soya milk [unsweetened] and either serve custard made with soya milk or Provomel natural soya yoghourt with the sweet and once again, you have covered the nutritional requirements. Soya milk is indistinguishable from cows milk in custard or in white sauces - you don't need to tell the family its any different from usual. [Its fine in porage too.] However, its awful in rice pudding. If you wish to make a rice pudding use coconut milk + water instead of cows milk, and add sultanas to sweeten it. You probably won't need to add sugar, and this makes a delicious pudding in its own right - even better when served with stewed fruit.

If you prefer to add something in place of meat for your guest there is a wide range of commercial products obtainable in most supermarkets that you could include, made from Quorn [contains egg white] or soya. You need to read the labels as some soya products also contain egg white. I find Quorn fillets or Quorn pieces [substitute for chicken in recipes] or soya mince by Realeat or Linda McCartney especially useful. There are also a very wide range of cookery books with vegetarian dishes if you feel you would like to try different recipes.

Salad meal or Buffet

There is a huge range of proprietry soya or Quorn slices and even cheese substitutes that you can find in any supermarket, plus frozen sausage rolls [Linda McCartney], and quiches, but it is very easy to provide a range of delicious salads that will satisfy everyone. To be nutritionally complete, you need to combine any 2 from the following groups:

Grains - rice, pasta, bread, bulgar wheat etc

Beans - any sort, and all available in tins ready to use. The days of soaking and long cooking are over.

Nuts and seeds - Nutritionally peanuts are beans, so choose from any other nuts and seeds such as sunflower, linseed, pumpkin, pine nut kernal.

Combining your choices with vegetables and fruits, together with interesting dressings is quick and easy and popular with everyone.

Home made quiches are another good standby. Traditional ones made using eggs and cheese are always delicious, but non dairy ones can be made using a thick well flavoured white sauce made from soya milk to hold the vegetables together and are equally delicious. I use marmite to flavour the sauce sometimes.

Taking your guest out for a meal

English, Italian or French restaurants can be difficult for vegetarians, and nearly impossible for vegans, unless you ring in advance to talk to the chef about your needs. If a vegetarian choice is on offer it will almost invariably contain cheese, cream or eggs, and often all three. However, as many parts of Asia follow a vegetarian and often vegan diet, it is usually easy to walk into an Indian, Thai or Chinese restaurant and find satisfctory choices on the menu.

I hope this helps to allay some of your fears. There are plenty of cookery books etc out there, plus useful websites if you want to be more adventurous. Eating vegetarian food need not be boring or tasteless, and you'll usually find the meat eaters eating and enjoying the dishes you've put out for the vegetarians.

Robbie Beechey