As a health-conscious vegetarian, how many times have you gone to a potluck and found little there to eat? Some potluck-goers claim their dishes are suitable for vegetarians, but the food items tend to be high in saturated fat or full of processed white flour and sugar. About the only way a health-conscious vegetarian can ensure there is something healthy to eat at a potluck is to take something he or she can eat. For some healthy vegetarian potluck ideas, read on.
Bean Ideas
Think beans. Make your own chili or purchase canned chili products. These come as just beans in a chili sauce or canned chili beans that include a soy meat alternative. Canned chili is often high in sodium. If you want to monitor sodium content, you might need to make your own chili. Crock pots work great to transport your dish as well as to serve it.
Other bean ideas that work great for potlucks are bean burritos or bean enchiladas. The burritos can be made beforehand and kept warm. Enchiladas can be baked in your oven and taken as a hot dish. You can use nonfat dairy cheese or you can opt for soy, almond, or rice cheese to include in your dish or top your dish. You can also use whole-wheat tortilla shells or ground corn tortilla shells that are low in fat. Canned enchilada sauces are often high in sodium, so if you are watching sodium, you might want to make your own from scratch.
Meat-Alternative Ideas
If you want folks to be able to taste some of the great meat-alternative products available today, you can take dishes made with meat-alternatives. Soy hotdogs go great in baked beans. Soy meat crumbles work well in whole-grain pasta recipes, in place of hamburger. Garden burgers or soy burgers can be dressed up when topped with wonderful sauces. And some of the chicken-less meat-alternatives are great in their lightly breaded presentations or used in casseroles.
One thing often missing from potlucks is a plate of raw vegetables and dip. What a great opportunity to make your favorite hummus (chickpea) recipe or non-fat sour cream dip. Many people have no idea how tasty healthy vegetarian foods can be. So introduce them to what will be a new taste experience for some, hummus. Experiment with a few varieties of hummus, like the usual Mediterranean roasted red pepper, garlic, or black olive. But also try making hummus with Mexican spices, like cumin and cayenne. For non-dairy vegetarians, try making a mock sour cream dip from tofu and lemon juice. Once you add spices, few will be able to tell it’s not dairy.
Marinated vegetables make great potluck additions. Marinated pickles, olives, cherry peppers, asparagus, artichoke, beans, and mushrooms are wonderful treats. Although high in sodium, if used sparingly, these products can add a great amount of taste appeal to meals. Most folks generally don’t buy specialty marinated items because of the cost; so offering them at a potluck will tend to make you popular.
Bread Ideas
If you make your own yeast bread or quick bread, you can gauge the amount of salt and fat that goes into the food. You can also chose to use whole-grain flour rather than white processed flour. If you are dairy conscious, you can substitute soy, rice, oat, or almond milk for the liquids. If you are cholesterol conscious, you can use nonfat dairy products and just the whites of eggs. And if you are vegan, you may be able to use egg-replacer, applesauce, flaxseed, or mashed banana in place of eggs.
A beautiful bowl of fresh fruit always makes a statement. You can do finger food if you use strawberries, bunches of grapes, and sliced watermelon or cantaloupe on the rind. Or you can create a raw fruit salad and sweeten it with a drizzle of agave nectar. If you love to cook, you can create a baked apple dish, sweetened with dates or raisins. But also think puddings. Many pudding recipes can swap out dairy for non-dairy milk and sugar sweeteners with Stevia or agave nectar.
If you’ve been disappointed at potlucks because you end up going away hungry, or all you’ve had to eat is pickles, you should consider taking something you and any other vegetarian can eat. Make plenty to share. Your meat-alternative dish might be so popular, that people will be in line for seconds. Instead of denying yourself or hiding the fact that you eat vegetarian, embrace it. Let others know there are tasty and healthy vegetarian options, some that work wonderfully as potluck dishes.
