Meat Substitutes In a Catered Event

Hosting an event isn’t a piece of cake. You have to manage from venue to décor and most important of all, food. Everyone wants their catered event to go off without a hitch. And this means catering to every one of your guest’s needs. But when your guests have certain dietary restrictions or preferences, it’s important to create a menu with accommodating necessary adjustments for all of your guests need including vegan and vegetarian diets.

It is important to ensure that vegetarian and vegan food being served at the event must be fulfilling and nutritious. Eating a vegetarian is not difficult but it is just as easy to miss out on essential nutrients. When consuming vegetarian or vegan diet, one should be mindful of your source of iron and Vitamin B12. And it’s also important to know that quality of absorption and not quantity of iron consumed that makes a significant impact.

There are many plants rich in iron but iron absorption increases when consumed with a source high in vitamin C, so keep this in mind when creating vegetarian menus. Vitamin B12 can be found in plant milk, plant yogurts, breakfast cereals, spreads and nutritional yeast fortified with B12. Cheese, beans and soy products are great sources for protein.

One way to tackle the challenge of vegetarian and vegan friendly meals is to create dishes in which animal-based ingredients can easily be switched out with veggie alternatives. Including these elements in your menu choices will ensure that your menu will be balanced and nutritious as well as delicious.

So what are some practical suggestions to make vegetarian and vegan food at your event more accommodating? Fortunately there are plenty of great meat substitutes which won’t compromise the recipe.

Processed vegan proteins like tempeh, seitan and tofu may seem like intimidating ingredients at first, but with practice they can be deliciously source of texture and protein and they can also be prepared in larger chunks, strips or even steaks, making them an easy substitute for meat.

Tofu is a traditional and consistent substitute for animal protein in vegetarian cuisine. Also tofu is gluten-free and low in calories with very few people are allergic making tofu one of the best solutions to meat free cuisine without having to settle in middle ground when it comes to taste.

Though not ideal for those on gluten free diet, seitan is an ingredient many vegetarian prefer over soy thanks to its taste. Also known as gluten meat, seitan is packed with as much protein as most meat, shares the same texture but without all the fat content.

Beans and legumes are packed with protein making them an excellent meat substitutes in salads, wraps, tacos and more. Chickpeas, pinto beans and black beans are just few example of vegetarian meat.

When you have vegan menu means you have to bypass any and all animal products including dairy and eggs and even honey besides meat.

Cheese is very popular in recipes most American dishes. And fortunately for those who prefer a dairy-free lifestyle, there are some worthy replacements. Soy cheese is the most similar to the real thing without the saturated fat from animal proteins. It tastes just like the real thing and even shares a very similar texture.

Plenty of formulas require traditional dairy milk. But fortunately this is one of the easiest, most readily available substitute components to replace. With so many milk-replacement options available on our store shelves, ranging from rice and almond mile to coconut and soy milk, the dairy liquid is simple to switch out. Even honey is easily substituted with agave or maple syrup.

Remember that all of your guests are counting on their meals to satisfy and re-energize them for the next phase of their day, and vegetarian and vegan guests won’t be fulfilled by half-empty plates. Being a host means you do need to understand that though the event is yours like wedding, award ceremony you have to keep in mind the about your guests and their preferences when it comes to food. Because food is what makes a lasting impression on your guests so create a menu that is delectable to both sides of your guest whether they are vegan, vegetarian or non-vegetarian.