Good finger foods to make for non veg's?
Next Thursday I will play host to five faculty members for an hour or so at my preliminary qualifier meeting. It is custom for the student to provide some refreshments, and I am looking for some easy and small scale crowd pleasing items. I think I will feel good for feeding them quality stuff; it's like the Hippocratic oath: "First do no harm."
I am planning on making some hummus and baked pita wedges. I would like to do a small scale veggie platter, but would love to present it with some sort of vegan dip.
I am also intrigued by KissMeKate's accidental eggplant chips - would those be good the next day? (I thought of kale chips, but those don't seem to have much "curb appeal")
Beverage suggestions are also welcome. My thoughts so far are sparkling mineral water and a selection of natural fruit juices (papaya, apricot, etc). Any other good vegan choices w/o HFCS?
Oh yeah, I'm doing this at 2pm, so people will have had lunch. I'm looking for lighter stuff that will look appetizing and leave them feeling good about eating it.
I bet KMK's chips would be fine the next day,if you keep them well sealed, just make sure they are totally cooled before you put them in an airtight container. you could also make sweet potato and other veggie chips.
for your pita chips, you could season them before you make them...i have made tortilla chips by brushing them w/ warmoil, seasoning w/ blk pepper,salt, oregano and cheese (but you could omit or try nut.yeast) then bake until crisp. You could do your pitas like this, w/ whatever spices you like.
various brushettas...slice and toast baguette and have a bunch of toppings like tomato/ basil,mushroom or spinach tapenade, olives, white beans, etc
celery stuffed w/ chickpea salad sandwich filling.
you could do some sort of quickbread...like banana or apple spice cake.
a hearty oatmeal cookie? or something lighter since it will be after lunch?
Good luck! You're nice--my diss. committee just got big fruit plates :)
Read on only if you find yourself in the mood for a(n easy) project:
How tofu-phobic are your faculty? (If they're anything like my colleagues and me, they'll be pretty open!) Given your current menu some vegan spanikopita triangles would be a nice compliment. You could take the spanikopita recipe from this site (or another), but instead of making a big pie roll the filling into individual phyllo sheets. The general procedure can be found here: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1041879.
(Sorry for the link to the non-vegan recipe--but if you sub the cream cheese in this recipe for tofutti cream cheese it's excellent!
This is considerably more labor-intensive than some of the other suggestions--it helps to get a friend to help you fold the triangles--but overall it really is pretty easy. Additionally, maybe it'll help keep your mind off of prelims for awhile :) Also if you make a big batch they freeze well, and you'll have them ready for your next party!
And for drinks, you really can't go wrong with water... boring but true. Jazz it up with some lemon/lime slices.
Or how about an unsweetened iced tea in an intriguing flavor?
Stuffed mushrooms always are the first appetizer I think of, but then I love mushrooms. haha
I really like chickpea salad; mashed or ground into crumbs cooked chickpeas, onion, celery, bell pepper and carrot minced pieces with veganaise, mustard, dill relish, spices to taste like paprika and garlic. You could put spoonfuls in tomato shells or small peppers.
You could also stuff articokes but that is quite labor intensive even with the mini ones. Getting the coke out of a raw artichoke is hard!
Maybe some kind of healthier cookie, mini-muffins, or something else on the sweet side to go along with the veggies and dip...I go to a lot of "research defense" sessions and the Ph.D's usually bring something like that (never vegan, of course!)
Good omni-friendly finger foods:
Mini-muffins are great - easy to make and serve well the next day (no need for heating).
Biscotti.
Chips & salsa.
Chex -type party mix made with margarine and vegan worchestershire.
Baby carrots.
Mixed nuts.
Hope it goes well for you!
ooh i like the biscotti idea!
for drinks, i forgot to mention teas (hot or cold) and lemonade!! I once had it made w/ maple syrup...OMG it was sooo good. You could also sweeten the teas w/ fruit juice for a change.
if you want to do a less labor intensive version of the spanikopita like caroleena suggested,they do make phyllo shells, or you could make your own my laying them in muffin tins, to create a "cup", then fill em. Phyllo is always impressive. ;)b
now that its spring and the sun is out, ive been making sun tea like crazy!!! take a plastic or glass container with a lid, fill it with water, slices from a whole lemon or lime, a couple tea bags of any type, doesnt have to be for iced tea, i like to put mint in mine, but its not necessary, i make mine unsweetened but its good with a bunch of sugar too, you could even add in some fruit. the skys the limit for sun tea. anyways. jsut fill it up with whatever you want, leave it outside for a couple hours in the sun and voila. sun tea. yum tea.
Fresh fruit. Cut up some fresh pineapples or even some fresh watermelons if you can get them. I always bring fresh fruit to potlucks and gatherings and it always goes. Pineapple especially.
2 pm is a weird time of day and I would think that some fruit and some light cookies and maybe a bowl of popcorn would be sufficient (I've found adults also really like popcorn).