What To Cook For Dinner? Vegetarian Dilema Take Two

[jjhunter]

Hey all--

I had such good recommendations last time that I thought I'd throw this one open to the audience again for suggestions. In the next hour, I need to figure out my menu for thirty plus vegetarians. My friend D- & I need to do two (2) vegetable dishes, one (1) protein dish, and one (1) starch. At least half should be vegan as a rule of thumb. Available ingredients are as follows:

WALK-IN (Fresh produce):
-carrots
-beets
-lots of parsley (yay!)
-a few oranges
-squash
-celery
-cauliflower
-lemons
-a few green bell peppers
-eggplant galore
-tofu (could be convinced; not first impulse)
-eggs (precious shared resource)
-baby spinach (also somewhat precious)
-a little miso (we had miso soup Mon. night...hm)
-gouda (precious shared resource) + cheddar (not quite as precious, also delicious)

IN THE LEFTOVER FRIDGE
- cooked radishes
- cooked pasta with 'shrooms

OUT AND ABOUT
- various specialty flours + rices + stuff like bulgar & quinoa & dried split peas
- various dried beans (need to soak overnight if we want to use)
- sweet potatoes; regular potatoes
- ginger galore
- onions upon onions & garlic
- avocados (precious shared resource)
- sourdough starter
- various lentils (need to soak immediately if use)
- little pears (precious shared resource)
- almonds
- chopped walnuts
- whole shelled peanuts
- dried mango slices
- fresh thyme + fresh rosemary; dried spices galore

Recommendations? We have three to three and a half hours to do the actual cooking.

ETA: forgot to clarify that someone else is making a salad (with parsley!) + a desert (red velvet cake).

ETA2: final menu: pomegranate & walnut stew (fesenjan); roasted beets & onions; baked achari baingan; saffron rice; + cook's assistant's additions (salad + cake). Thank you everyone who contributed suggestions! I'll be cooking again next week & will put some more of them into practice then.

Comments

[norabombay]

Try the sweet potatoes, cut into tiny pieces, roasted. Make salad with the oranges, and maybe some nuts.

Some sort of eggplant/lemon dish

[jjhunter]

Sounds delicious - thank you for the recommendations!