Dinner Party, have vegetarian guest, need main dish ideas?!

Dinner Party, have vegetarian guest, need main dish ideas?

I am having several guests over for dinner in a few days and one of them is a vegetarian (no meat, eats dairy and eggs). I want to make her feel comfortable and have plenty of things to eat. I know the obvious, such as salad and vegetable side dishes.

I would like some ideas for a main dish as well. However, it's very confusing. She says she can't eat cheese (rennet sp?) or gelatin.

Since it's more confusing than just not serving her a meat main dish, I would like help from other vegetarians on ideas. I want to fix her something she can eat, but I am not entirely clear on what is and is not vegetarian. I thought Jello was vegetarian.

I would appreciate any ideas or links to ideas or resources so that she does not feel left out. Thanks.

You might want to ask your friend about what sorts of things she likes and double check on what is and isn't okay with her.

You can also make a vegan chili with tempeh (a cake made out of fermented soybeans that has a nutty, chewy texture). Just crumble the tempeh into the pot with beans and spices--use just like you would ground beef. You can also make a vegetarian stew. I agree that pasta is always good, but do check the label to make sure the sauce is vegetarian. Amy's (www.amys.com) is a lacto-vegetarian company, and I know they make pasta sauces. All of their cheese is rennet-free. Many of their items are vegan.

Tofurkey makes vegan sausages that you can saute to go with the pasta, or you can use veggie crumbles (Lightlife is another vegetarian foods company) in the sauce.

And don't feel too terrible about the Jello thing; a lot of people don't realize what gelatin is.

www.vegweb.com has wonderful vegan recipes
www.recipezaar.com also has some veg*an recipes, but they do not vet as carefully as VegWeb.