My buddy Tricia is expecting two vegetarian guests at her wedding. Being a bit of a foodie herself, Tricia is not liking the traditional wedding vegetarian fare of pasta and steamed veggies. As a vegetarian, I’ve been subjected to all kinds of “veggie” options, from steamed vegetables with parmesan cheese sprinkled over the cold florets, to a weird last minute “you don’t eat steak?” meal of “squash parmesan” (layers of sauteed squash and tomato sauce covered in cheese).
For some reason I’ve always considered the vegetarian meal for our wedding as something hopefully better than what I have had. As of right now we haven’t tasted/looked into any options because the tasting is months away. All I know is, if I have to have another meal of 4 mashed potato stuffed tomatoes I have scavenged off the plates of family and friends, I’m going to cry.
Any help for my friend Tricia? She wants to know of any good vegetarian dishes you would love to get at a wedding.
Any ideas?
I brought my veggie bridesmaid to my first meeting with the caterer as the designated veggie consultant. She chose stuffed portabellas as the vegetarian option.
We were at a wedding last October and still talk about our vegetarian meal! It was amazing. We had an enchilada stuffed with veggies rice and cheese, topped with this amazing sauce. We had a side of roasted tomatoes and a spicy cheese!
I like getting risotto . They usually accent it with parmesan or some yummy seasoning. Another option would be ravioli. These options probably would not work if you’re vegan. Although you could get butternut squash ravioli.
I went to a wedding on 7/7/07, and their vegetarian option was a roasted vegetable tartlett with goat cheese. It was sooo good, perfect for a summer wedding!
Our vegetarian option is a zucchinis cake. It is served with a Harrisa yogurt sauce and pita bread.
grilled portabello mushroom sprinkled with feta resting on the ziti pasta.
We’re serving ratatouille.
My venue’s default vegetarian meal is a vegetable napolean (layered vegetable terrine in puff pastry). It sounds much better than any of the meals I got when I was a vegetarian. I might even get it at my wedding even though I’m no longer vegetarian.
For our vegetarian option - it’s a portabella mushroom over eggplant - yum 
Our venue tried something new for us based on a veg. meal I had at an event recently. We had quite a few vegetarians and didn’t want to do the cold pasta and veggie stuff. They did something along the lines of a “teryaki stacker”: a grilled grouping of portabello mushroom, green beans, zucchini, red pepper, and mozzeralla drizzled with teryaki sauce and toasted sesame seeds. When I had it, it was delicious and everyone there seemed to love our venue’s take on it!
Our caterer makes this vegetarian pie called Torta Milanese that was my favorite thing from out tasting. I think there was a puff pastry shell, and layers of mushrooms and peppers and spinach and I don’t know what else, and lots of melty cheese. It was delish, and I’m looking forward to eating it at our wedding. We’re doing a buffet, so everyone can have some!
We have a couple of vegetarian options from our caterer — I just haven’t decided which one. We’ll probably just ask two of our veggie bridal party members what they’d prefer:
Grilled Vegetable Napoleon
Red Pepper, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Portabella Mushroom and Asparagus over Barley Pilaf with Balsamic Gastrique
Vegetable Ratatouille
Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Peppers, Red Onion and Mushroom in Garlic and Herb Tomato Broth
Wild Mushroom Risotto Cakes
Pan Fried & Served over Red Pepper Coulis and Topped with Julienne Fried Leeks
we’re doing a buffet, so vegetarians can pick from the following:
Salads:
*Tossed Waimea Field Greens, Fresh Pear, Local Goat Cheese and Jicama with Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
*Haricot Vert, Grilled Vegetables, Waimea Tomatoes with Tossed Waimea Field Greens and Basil Vinaigrette (vegan!)
Sides:
*Decadent Layered Potatoes with Waimea Corn, Scallions and Cheese
*Fragrant Jasmine Rice (vegan!)
*Big Island Vegetable Medley with Taro (vegan!)
*Grilled Waimea Tomatoes with Parmesan and Fresh Herbs
When I was a pescetarian (water dwelling meat only!) I would have loved our fish option - in fact, I’ll probably go straight for this during the reception:
Fresh Island Fish (Mahi Mahi preferred) with Macadamia Nut Ginger Sauce
Our veggie option are veggies in a “cream” sauce baked in a round puff pastry.
We also intentionally chose a non-meat/seafood appetizer. It’s wild mushroms, sauce also baked in a puff pastry.
Salad of course. Then our other sides are also really good…seasonal veggies (the good stuff, I promise), scalloped potatoes and summer squash that tastes just like sweet potatoes! YUMM
Mr. Radish and I are both vegetarians (he’s vegan actually) so we are having a buffet with only one meat dish — GASP! Everything else is vegan.
Here’s a few things from our menu. I can’t remember the exact ingredients, but at some point I’ll make a post about this. All of the things on our menu (except the polenta which will have a cream sauce) are vegan.
* Portabello stuffed mushrooms
* Wildberry polenta
* Wild rice with cranberries and pecans
* Roasted red potatoes
* Penne marinara for the kids meals
* Minnestrone soup
* Salad
* Steamed vegetables
* Hummus and veggie tray, crudite, and fresh fruit tray (with some kind of dip) for the cocktail hour
Our reception is in the afternoon, so our dishes aren’t particulary heavy. You could always draw inspiration from the menu of your favorite vegetarian restaurant. Mine is called Green Zebra and they have an amazing menu. You should take a look at it for ideas –
http://www.greenzebrachicago.com/index.html
I think the folowing options would be great:
Vegetable lasagna, moussaka, potato and chickpea curry, eggplant parmesean, baked squash in a sesame mozzarella sauce, vegatable quiche, quesadillas (spinach and feta; or black bean, goat cheese, and mushroom), crepes (tomato and cheddar; or tomato, asparagus, and brie).
I would choose any of these happily, and I’m not even vegetarian!
Mushroom raviolis with truffle sauce
or stuffed red peppers (with mozarella, corn, basil, scallions, and paprika)
grilled portabella mushrooms with balsamic.
for appetizers, a nice crisp salad, berry pastries, stuffed mushroom caps with a nice mild creamy cheese, etc…
For our wedding (I’m a vegetarian, too), we had grilled portobello mushroom slices in chantrelle mushroom sauce, baby vegetables, and a roasted tomato stuffed with risotto. It was great!
We had grilled tempeh kabobs for our wedding, with sauteed little squash and tomatoes and collards as a side, for our vegetarian meal. Although no longer veg, I remember what it was like, and I appreciate a nice tempeh!
I served Eggplant Parmagiana at our wedding. Easily became vegan for one guest when she requested no cheese. It was great. For me, being vegetarian and having tons of food allergies (like soy-so no tofu!), my choices are limited. The eggplant parm went over very well. My backup was a pasta primavera. And, depending on what kind of cuisine, a vegetable enchilada is always yummy.
i’m not a vegetarian but i did have this awesome portobello mushroom risotto [like lori suggested] once that was killer even for a voracious meat eater as myself. most reputable caterers have a decent vegetarian selection besides the leftover castoffs. there sounds like a lot of great suggestions here too!
I am so saving this post for ideas for my next five thousand meals.
Anyway… I was going to say I’m a big fan of eggplant parmesan, it can be done elegantly and it is so yummy!
i was drooling over the vegetarian selections from our caterer, although i do like my meat. we picked vegetable cannelloni with a tomato basil cream sauce - i LOVE cannelloni.
We had a vegetable phyllo turnover with roasted red pepper, zucchini, aparagus, gruyere cheese. It was so tasty (I ordered it for my meal)
We are doing veggie pierogies (sp?). My family is polish…yum.
We’re doing a vegetarian cocktail and appetizer reception, because my FI and I are both veggie. The entree is roasted vegetables, including asparagus and portabellos (sp?), wrapped in a strudel pastry. I hope it’s good–the wedding’s tomorrow!
The best thing I ever had at a wedding was a sort of rolled-up veggie lasagna with tomato cream sauce. The meat-eaters were jealous!
we’re serving some sort of mexican-spanish veggie dish- thinly sliced eggplant wrapped around some beans, other random veggies, cilantro, and cheese in a cilantro cream sauce.
creamy vegetable risotto stuffed in giant tomatoes - delish!
i don’t know how you feel about asian food (or how you think your guests would feel), but it can be refreshing to go against the traditional wedding menu and serve ethnic food. for example, my veggie friends love Thai food because there are vast vegetarian menus at Thai restaurants. it’s also a lot cheaper if you get it catered by your favorite asian restaurant and just have it nicely presented/plated.
For our wedding, we had several options (including the aforementioned mushroom risotto). We chose to do portobello mushroom ravioli. It was served with a tarragon white wine sauce and layered over a fricasee of asparagus and other assorted veggies. We had people who liked that entree who weren’t vegetarians.
Mrs. Kiwi, Los Angeles
Age and Occupation in 06: 27, Bookkeeper
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, P.E. Teach/Coach @ private schools in LA
Engagement Date: March 31, 2006
Wedding Date: November 3, 2007
Venue: Radisson Hotel
About Me: I'm a bookkeeper who failed high school algebra. I'm currently living in Los Angeles, literally a street over from where I grew up with Mr. Kiwi, my honey of three years. We have a jumbo mini-dachshund (seriously, he's huuuuge), and we're planning an autumn themed wedding on a shoestring, paid for by ourselves. The wedding date is my late grandma's birthday, I needed her there somehow, and that seemed like the best way for us. I can't believe I'm a Bee! I couldn't be more proud!
So far only one of my guests have requested vegetarian. The standard my venue offers is mushroom risotto.