I would not serve meat to guests. Part of why I don’t eat it, is I just don’t like preparing it. I don’t mind making something like macaroni and cheese or anything like that.

If I was going somewhere that wouldn’t have veg options, I would bring my own.

I have always made meat dishes for guests – AND plenty of vegetarian and vegan options too – and they are just as well received!

We had a HUGE pool party / BBQ at our house over the summer, with many things made by me AND a large part of it catered by a vegan restaurant… one family LEFT because they thought that was all we had… while Jason was outside grilling all kinds of meat.

oh well – see ya!

HAPPY WEEKEND and GO GO GREAT RACE !!

I don’t see what’s wrong with serving vegetarian food in your house. As a meat eater, I don’t eat meat with every meal, so I wouldn’t care!

I would not make or serve meat to any guests in my house – like some other commenters, I don’t want to prepare meat, and also I don’t really know how! One of the things I love about being a vegetarian is that I don’t have to worry about the nasty bacteria/contamination that can occur when you’re dealing with raw meat products. Also, I’ve never had anyone complain about a veggie meal or request meat. When we’ve had BBQs in the past, my non-veggie friends will bring and prepare their own meat, which is fine by me! Just as long as I don’t have to touch it or clean up after it, I don’t have a problem with it.

My fiance and I just discussed this last night! He’s not a vegetarian, but I am. I totally agree..I do not like to spend money on and touch meat to prepare it. Just the same though, I’d never expect my guest to chock down tofu if they don’t want to. For the most part, I think if guests know you are a vegetarian, they generally assume there won’t be meat at dinner.

Interesting. I’m not vegetarian but I do limit my meat intake and limit it to only organic, local, grass fed, etc. I don’t think I have any vegetarian friends either but if I did, I would be more than happy to accomodate. I think that serving meat eaters a vegetarian meal is perfectly acceptable as long as it isn’t something super weird. Most of the time, if you do it right, they won’t even miss the meat. I serve guests meatless meals all the time and I’m not even veg. My meat-loving husband now has favorite meals that are all veg. I actually think the same goes for vegan foods as well. But like you said, as long as you aren’t force feeding tofu or tempeh or faux meats or something!

I’m really lucky that ALL of our friends in Colorado are very health + food conscious. I’m the only one in the group that doesn’t eat meat at all, but they all eat only properly-sourced meat, and not every day. So, there is always a vegetarian option when going to their houses [which I really appreciate] and they don’t mind getting a veg. meal when they come to mine. However, I think if I had a bigger dinner party at some point..or like a big hor’d. type party, I might make a few meat choices for others to enjoy. My husband is not vegetarian, but he totally does not care that I don’t cook meat anymore. It’s easy to find locally sourced, grass fed beef in the area we live, when dining out and he’s totally fine with that. Once in awhile, I will buy a few slices of bacon at WF at the deli counter to cook and put on his pizza though. 🙂 This is a great topic!

I don’t tend to serve meat at my house unless my non-vegetarian (but VERY vegetarian friendly) boyfriend cooks it up. Like you, I don’t care there’s meat at someone else’s house, I’ll just eat around it so-to-speak, but at my house? No, I don’t cook meat, and for the most part, I’ve never heard a complaint! Besides, my famous veggie shepphards pie made two die-hard meat eaters question whether or not there was actually meat in it they loved it so much!

I eat meat occasionally but I generally do not prepare it in my own home. I always serve vegetarian meals to my guests and family, even when I welcome meat-eaters into my home. I love exposing people to the incredible possibilities of vegetarian cuisine, and I enjoy cooking what I love to eat. I don’t think it’s necessary to make meat–a food that I do not enjoy preparing–just because my guests include it as part of their diet.

If I have a vegetarian or vegan coming over, I do my best to make something we can all enjoy — or I make something “build your own” — pizzas, burritos, etc. That way everyone can choose the ingredients and make it as they see fit.

Jason and I do our best to avoid dairy products, and most of our friends/family know this and they do their best to accomodate our needs.

I’m not vegitarian but if I know I will have a mix of vegitarians and meat-eaters over, I plan on having a variety of side dishes that are meat-free because usually there will be meat at the meal. I tend to take a little more time and effort with the side dishes because I know they may be the “main” dishes for a few people at the meal, or make homemade bread/rolls, something along those lines.
If it were only vegitarians coming over then I wouldn’t serve meat cause I would be the only one eating it! 😉
Pasta works for adults and kids and i have done a pasta bar before w/ different types of pastas and sauces, some including beef or chicken and other veggie based. It works for a good mix and match because there are lots of options.

I agree with Katie. I always go out of my way to make sure my 2 vegan friends have food they’ll eat. Even at my wedding, since they were bridesmaids, I made sure rehearsal dinner, breakfast, and wedding reception all had vegan options for them. I can go a few meals without eating meat, but I’d like to think they’d be as courteous to me and my eating habits as I am to theirs. Something I did do a lot with one of my friends was make meals where meat was an option, like tacos. You can add meat or just as easily go meatless. We also did stir fry and just cooked chicken seperate and you could add it if you wanted, or not. It makes sure everyone can have what they like. An extra few bucks for more veggies or a few pieces of chicken isn’t a big deal when we’re having a dinner party to make sure everyone can have something they’ll enjoy.

I would serve meat if someone specifically requested it, but for the most part, I pretty much serve my guests vegetarian food. I’m more of a flexitarian, but if I go to a nonveggie’s house that is serving meat and I’m not feeling it, I usually just eat the side dishes.

I guess the main issue here is that most veggies don’t want to support the meat industry by buying veggie products…even for guests. At least, I largely feel this way.

My husband is not a vegetarian and I am. When we eat dinner at home I never cook meat, unless it is to heat up a dinner sausage in the microwave or something like that (if I’m planning on eating a meat substitute). When we have people over and I’m cooking I don’t make meat, but if we have people over in the summer my husband will grill hotdogs or something easy. Basically I don’t make meat and my husband is welcome to, but he can’t cook so it is mostly veg around here!

I’m been Pescetarian (occasionally eat fish) for almost 3 years. In that time I have never prepared meat for my friends, but they have included meat if we have a pot luck or something like that, and I have no problem with it. My friends have been very receptive to my vegetarian meals, I am very careful to select something that isn’t too “out there” and so far so good!

In the past, I have had apps with some fish items like shrimp, but as I have decided to cut shrimp out for sustainability reasons I will not be offering that going forward.

If someone HAD to eat meat (like wouldn’t be happy coming over without eating meat), I would prepare it for them. I would just be sure to get the best meat I could. Maybe it’s kind of weird but I feed my dog a raw meat diet, so while I myself don’t eat it, I do have it in the fridge at all times! (Side issue, but I know my dog wouldn’t choose to be vegetarian so I cater to what his requirements are, even if they differ from my own choices.)

I mean, I don’t think you are being un-accomodating by making a vegetarian meal, because even if a person eats meat, they almost always ALSO eat vegetables, so it isn’t like you are asking them to do something they normally wouldn’t. I like this question though… makes you think! 🙂

I am a meat-eater, but I don’t feel like meat is mandatory at every meal. So if a vegetarian serves a vegetarian meal, it’s fine with me, especially if the vegetarian in question is an excellent chef. I do try to avoid soy though, so I appreciate not having to eat it.

As far as cooking for vegetarians – why not? A bonus is that vegetarian meals are usually cheaper to make as well 🙂

I’m in the camp of serving meat to meat eaters if they come to my home and I happen to be a vegetarian.

Sure, one meat-free meal won’t kill them, but I have people in my life that consider a meat-free meal an incomplete one, and don’t want to leave them feeling like their meal was not sufficient when they eat at my home.

I’m a vegetarian but my husband is not! Luckily, my husband isn’t one of those i-have-to-eat-meat-three-times-a-day-or-ill-die types. He’s content with eating a mostly vegetarian diet with only meat on occassion, which I do cook. The meat grosses me out but it makes me happy to cook some of his old favorites. For other guests, I generally make vegetarian fare unless it’s one of those special times for my husband. If I would already be making meat for him, it’s okay but other than that, I agree, no meat eater will die from one vegetarian meal!

I am a meat eater and I would not trust a vegetarian to properly cook meat for me that I’d find edible. Just saying.

Plus I think there are lots of vegetarian options that don’t scream “this is vegetarian” like pasta. I don’t see why food has to have labels. Let’s just call it DINNER instead and be thankful.

I wouldn’t mind if a host made a vegetarian meal for me. I rarely cook meat much, anymore.

I just “liked” you on facebook! I a vegetarian, but I do cook meat for guests. I also make vegetarian food for them too. It really just depends. I would probably not make tofu for them, but I do things like chili or soups/stews. Honestly, I don’t make a big deal out of it either way and when food is good…who cares, right?

I’m a vegetarian and my fiance is not, but he knows that if he wants meat (unless I am feeling very generous), he has to cook it himself. I can’t imagine any of my non-veg friends would be insulted if I didn’t serve them meat – and I would never make anything I didn’t think everyone would like. We have a group with a lot of veg and omni friends, so I think everyone is used to it.

On the other hand, I think it’s very rude to insist on bringing meat into a vegetarian’s home. A friend had a vegetarian thanksgiving last year, where he specifically stated on the printed invitations that the party was meat-free (it was a potluck). One girl, who had been talked down from bringing a turkey, brought a sausage dish and then complained about the lack of meat the entire time – it was really rude and ruined the evening for a lot of us. You would never insist on bringing ham to a Passover, so why insist on bringing meat to a vegetarian dinner?

I am a vegetarian and my fiance is not. I do the grocery shopping and never buy meat, unless she specifically requests it and can tell me exactly what she wants (no browsing at the butcher counter for me!). But usually, she will just buy it herself or go without.

I also do majority of the cooking in our house. I never cook meat. I don’t know how and raw meat is very unpleasant to me. My fiance usually just eats vegetarian with me and eats meat when at work or at a restaurant.

However, if someone would like to bring over something with meat in it or even cook meat in my kitchen to go along with something I’m making, I have no problem with it. I also don’t have a problem ordering a pizza with meat on it or a non-vegetarian Chinese dish if we’re getting take-out.

So I guess I’m saying, if you want to eat it and someone else cooks it, I’ll serve it. 🙂

I think if you could find something people are comfortable with that doesn’t include meat, then its not a bad option (like the lasagna you mentioned). I don’t think it would bother me being served a vegetarian dish, although I do love them and eat more of those meals myself. Or I would likely serve something that is easily adaptable – like a taco buffet, where meat and beans were an option.

Hmmm… that’s something I’ve never thought of. I do eat meat but wouldn’t expect a vegetarian friend to prepare meat for me. I am dairy free and (with a few exceptions) I make dairy-free meals for my family and friends if they are over. One of those exceptions being that I make a mean homemade pizza and I do get mozza for the dairy eaters. I think them having a dairy free (or meat free in your case) meal is an opportunity to try something great and realize that dairy (or meat) doesn’t have to be in everything!

On the flip side… if I’m eating at someone’s house I do expect there to be _something_ I can eat. I’m not saying everything or main course but as long as there is something dairy free.

Interesting topic of discussion though!

I think this is a really interesting topic! For me, I like to try to please everyone, all the time (yes! that one of my weaknesses) so by me not being a vegetarian, i would most definitely accommodate friends eating at my house that were. On the other hand it’s just not in my personality to expect vegetarian friends of mine to prepare meat for me if I’m eating there. Put it this way, we all eat veggies and non-meat products at dinner time so what’s the big deal if we have to skip the meat (but obviously not the protein!) once in a great while? To be honest, it probably does a body good!

My husband and I are very light meat-eaters–we probably eat meat 2-3 times/month, and always buy meat we can feel good about eating (i.e. sustainably/ethically raised/etc). We often do more casual meals when we have people over, but I never really consciously make sure to serve meat. We often do make your own pizzas or something like that so that those who want meat can choose it. I think that serving a vegetarian meal to non-vegetarians is totally ok and often brings up interesting conversation at dinner! Also, I don’t really like cooking with meat…I just feel you have to be so careful about bacteria/cross contamination. I taught myself to cook in college when I was poor and cooked vegetarian to keep my budget under control, so I have little confidence cooking with meat. I totally agree, Caitlin, that as a vegetarian, you shouldn’t feel obligated to bring meat into your house and prepare it. Good conversation topic!

I do not have one vegetarian friend in real life! I eat less and less meat now and think twice about where my meat comes from, but have to have chicken or meat for family or friends. It’s a mindset for them of needing meat for a meal.
However, I’m Jewish, but don’t keep Kosher. If I go to a kosher person’s house, there is 0% chance they would serve me a cheeseburger, or something not kosher. I think if you go to someone’s house, you observe their rules. My simple answer.

I definitely wouldn’t make meat for a normal dinner party (if I were vegetarian, which I’m not). But for a bigger, buffet style party like a barbecue I probably would (depending on the reasons behind my hypothetical vegetarianism). Not sure why the distinction- just cos!

Personally I eat meat. My boyfriend’s mother is a vegetarian and when she comes for dinner I make sure that there is something substantial for her to eat. Alternatively when we go to her house, she makes herself a dinner, but ALWAYS makes us a meat dish as well. We don’t ask, she just extends the same courtesy to us that we do for her.

We are not vegetarians but we eat very little meat so it is not uncommon for us to serve vegetarian meals to guests. It has never occurred to me that I should make sure meat is served and no one has ever complained. I don’t think I know anyone who eats meat with every meal, it’s just not healthy. I do however always accomodate any food restrictions that my guests might have; it’s the only polite thing to do. We have dinner guest frequently because my food intolerances make it difficult to cook for me so it’s usually just easier to have people over.

For the month of October I went on a vegetarian diet. Really to gage how much meat I was eating and to increase my vegetable consumption. For the first part of the month I would cook two meals. One for my boyfriend and one for me. But half way through I made a stand and if he wanted meat it was his responsibility to add it to his meal. It became extremely time consuming to cook two meals.

I will not be continuing with my diet past October but I have a new respect for vegetarians.

Interesting question. My boyfriend is always begging me to make him chicken when we have dinner but it’s been so long since I’ve eaten meat that I honestly forget how!
Also, my family always asks me why I watch food network shows that involve meat and I just tell them I envision the meat as tofu, or some other meat substitute.

For me the difference is that meat eaters are omnivores so they eat meat AND veggies. Serving them a vegetarian meal isn’t serving them something they can’t eat. Plus I think that people eat meatless meals all the time without thinking about it. I can assure you that if we had people over and served my boyfriend’s spinach Alfredo lasagna with a big salad and some crusty bread no one would leave thinking the only thing the meal was missing was meat. I think its important to serve more familiar veggie meals, but it is not essential to serve meat. The only excepting to this might he if your guests were staying for an extended period of time. But hopefuly if someone was staying with you for a few weeks they would assist with groceries and cooking and could cook some meat themselves.

Oh my gosh, I just expressed my frustration over this exact topic. I’ve been vegetarian for a while and it’s really starting to get to me when I go to good friends houses and they still make me bring my own meal. When I was vegan I could understand this, but why can’t you just once leave bacon out of every salad on the table, and not wrap the asparagus in ham!!! When I make dinner for friends it is vegetarian, but I make sure there is enough protein in the dish that everyone is satisfied. If I have a bbq I will have meat, just like if I go to a bbq I bring a portabella, but when it’s an intimate dinner with friends it seems rude to me to ask someone to bring their own food, just because you can’t make some small healthy modifications!!

wow, i honestly think it’s ridiculous that a vegetarian would “have” to cook meat for non-vegetarian guests. a vegetarian cannot eat a dish with meat in it, but that doesn’t mean that an omnivore can’t eat anything without meat in it! is this an american thing? i grew up in an italian household that was far from vegetarian (when we had sunday lunches i had to content myself with salad, bread & cheese) but most nights the main course did not involve meat at all.

there are so many delicious things (pizza, pasta, veggie lasagna… the list could go on forever) that are vegetarian. as long as you’re attentive to people’s likes and dislikes (i would never serve tofu to most of my picky friends) then i don’t see why you should ever feel like you need to go against your morals as a vegetarian to feed your guests.

are there honestly people out there who can’t have a full meal without including meat in it? i am really curious about this because i find that to be kind of a disturbing attitude!

i guess i also have this attitude because when i am a guest i would not expect the host to have to serve a vegetarian main dish just for me! if it’s appropriate i’ll bring my own dish, or just content myself with sides.

I think maybe it depends on your reasons for being vegetarian (or vegan, or whatever). I am vegan, and a big part of that for me is that I don’t support animal consumption with my own hard-earned money. Kind of like a boycott, I guess. So I don’t have a problem with other people bringing animal products into my house, like if someone came to visit and brought a ham sandwich, but I wouldn’t buy it myself.

I make meals for my guests that fit their eating preferences, I have a few vegan friends so I will cook vegan for them just the same as I would for my steak eating friends. They are guests and I serve meals that they would like.

I personally wouldn’t make meat for guests but I would choose a vegetarian dish that I think they would love. I’ve made some dishes that my meat-eater boyfriend thought were delicious, so I would serve something like that 😉 – like my stuffed peppers!

I don’t think vegetarian entrees are that big a deal to most non-vegetarians. When I was growing up, my family wasn’t vegetarian, but my mom usually made pasta or pizza when we had people for dinner and usually there was not meat. It wasn’t vegetarian, it was just dinner. My husband and I rarely eat meat and we don’t serve it to guests. Our friends know where we stand and they know what to expect. Besides, we ought to share how yummy being vegetarian can be!

Just wanted to make sure you checked out the 5 Day Intensive Forrest Yoga Course I’m giving away on my site. You just might need it after your marathon. 🙂 Check it out and good luck (again).

I think people can cope with not eating meat for one day. Indeed, I think its a good idea to not eat meat all the time!

I’m vegetarian and I always cook vegetarian for guests. My food is really nice! So people always enjoy it. I often hear back from people saying they cooked whatever I had made them.

Even my grandparents, who are old fashioned eaters (we live in England, so that’s basically chicken and red meat + veg) have started cooking vegetarian 2 or 3 nights a week. They love veggie lasagne and have started experimenting with east Asian food.

I also often get people asking me for vegetarian recipes because they are finding good quality meat is too expensive to eat all the time.

I don’t think you have to cook meat to ‘accommodate’ meat eaters. I think working hard to produce something tasty is enough!

Caitlin, this is a really good question; one I have thought of before. I think there are two sides of it – in one sense, I get where your mom is coming from in trying to “accomodate” her guests, but I kind of agree more with you. As a vegetarian (well pesci, I eat seafood), I agree with the not wanting to spend the money and time on the animal products. I really don’t care how other people eat either, but do agree with the philosophy of thought that one veg meal won’t kill them – probably even benefit their diet!

That being said, however, there are times I will (feel like I am) going out of my way to prepare meat for meat eaters, when I ‘m not eating it. Like for my dad, I will take the extra time/effort/money to do it, because it’s a very occasional thing… or for a boss or someone you want to impress, then I say, “accomodate” the guest and push your non meat eating aside to make it for thme… just my two cents! 😀

^Love this question on the blog!

I’ve been lurking around your blog for a while, but I wanted to comment on this – it’s an interesting question! We’re not vegetarians (although I used to be), but we only eat meat or fish three or four times a week, so we eat a lot of meatless meals. I always make vegetarian food when we have vegetarians over. Sometimes that’s all I make, even if there are meat eaters invited as well. Sometimes I make both – we had a family chili night and I made a pot of vegetarian and pot of beef chili.

When I was a vegetarian, I was thrilled when someone made me a vegetarian dish, but there was always something to eat if they didn’t. I have a friend who is a vegan and my husband and I were talking with her about how we could never become vegans because he like meat and cheese too much and I love fish, but over the course of the conversation we realized that we probably eat a vegan meal once a week. I think in our house because we do eat meat, we don’t tend to classify things as meat meals, vegetarian meals, or vegan meals, they’re just meals to us, so I don’t think about it when I cook for other meat eaters.

I’m a life-long vegetarian but recently (in the past two years) started cooking meat for my significant others and guests. I like feeding friends, so I focus on that. I find that most of our friends/family put thought into accommodating my dietary restrictions, which I greatly appreciate. Worst case scenario: I know how to get creative. 🙂

I think you can meet in the middle by having a “meaty” vegetarian dish.

Great question! I usually serve a vegetarian meal, because I don’t really bring meat into my home…

PS- Drink plenty of water post olives, you don’t want to dehydrate yourself for tomorrow!

I love having people over for dinner, and I always try to accommodate their preferences and dietary needs (don’t like mushrooms? got it! lactose intolerant? no problem). However – I have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for over 13 years, since I was 15, and I have literally never cooked meat. I wouldn’t know what to do! Though I am totally fine if people eat meat around me or in my home (take-out, pizza, etc). I pride myself on my cooking skills, and I’m just not going to make something that I don’t know how to safely and deliciously prepare.

I’m not a vegetarian, but I eat meatless meals probably half the time. I bet most non-vegetarians eat meals that are technically vegetarian more than they realize. I would definitely not want a vegetarian to prepare me meat if I ate at their house. I’d want them to cook something they normally cook, so I could hopefully try something new and add it to my recipe list!

Besides like chicken nuggets, I dont even think I know how to cook meat. I’ve been a vegetarian since I’ve moved out on my own so I’ve never made it. I have a baby kitchen in a teensy tiny college apartment (I’m only 20) so I don’t have a lot of dinner guests. If I cook a veggie meal for my roommates one of them will usually make chicken for themselves or something but..nope! I wouldn’t lol

I’m not a vegetarian … my best friend is, however, and often goes out of her way to prepare meat for all of us omnivores. However, I find that it’s really not necessary – as I’d be quite happy eating the vegetarian option. Although, I’m not a heavy meat eater anyway so maybe that’s why.

I don’t expect friends or family to cook me non veg food if they are vegetarian. We don’t eat meat all the time and being vegetarian “part time” makes us easy to mingle with our vegetarian counterparts 😉 I think 80% of my meals are often vegetarian. I can’t seem to say goodbye to fish at the moment 🙁

This is such a timely issue for me, especially as the holidays approach. My husband and I have been together for nearly 10 years and during that time I have always been vegetarian (and am now dairy-free also). For whatever reason…and I have my theories, his mother just DOES NOT get it. She’ll make me “vegetarian” lasagna with turkey in it and all her vegetables have fat back or some other meat in them. Then when there is nothing I can eat, she makes a huge production about how I don’t like her cooking. She would be appalled if I ever brought food into her house, since she is the cook. I just don’t understand why it has to be such an issue, every $^*##&* time we go there! Ugh.

In answer to the other question, no, I do not cook meat for guests. However, being that I am the only vegetarian in our social circle, I usually just suggest/pay for a restaurant instead of cooking. Everybody wins.

I think it’s totally crazy that people constantly complain about the “lack of meat” or “missing meat” in one meal. It bothers me that people get weird about their food when the “meat-free” label is put on something, like they suddenly need meat to enjoy the food. Even though I’m a vegetarian now, there were plenty of times in my meat-eating days that I would go a whole day without eating any meat without realizing it! Vegetarian meals are perfectly acceptable then, and I personally would never expect a vegetarian to serve me meat.

First, yay for being on Facebook!

Second, I do not buy meat or cook meat for people who come over to my house! I actually blogged about this once because we had a friend over for dinner and I made Vegetarian Lasagna with fake beef and he couldn’t even tell the difference!! He would have had no idea if I hadn’t told him!

So many of my friends FORGET that I don’t eat meat anymore though (I’ve been pesco-veg for about 6 months now) and I always feel so awkward reminding them that I don’t eat meat if they are having me over for dinner..

Finally, I also don’t like to cook meat anymore but my boyfriend still likes to eat it occasionally so we have burgers and bacon in our freezer. But I refuse to make it for him so he saves it for nights when I’m not home 🙂

Good luck in your marathon Caitlin!

I’m a meat eater myself, but I have several vegetarian and or vegan friends. We usually have several people over at a time for dinner, and I’ll make two main dishes. One meat, and for the veggie eaters, I usually make my homemade version of Sunshine burgers. Then, I keep the dessert vegan which makes everyone happy.

When I had veg friends (I think all my veg friends eat meat now…) I used to just make them something that would fit in with what we were having. Burgers with a vegge patty, veggie kababs at a BBQ etc. I did go out of my way to make them food that they would enjoy because I didn’t want them to leave hungry. If I were to eat a vegetarians house I wouldn’t expect meat unless we were getting takeaways and they didn’t mind me bringing meat in their house (I would take the leftovers home so they wouldn’t have to deal with it though).

One thing I have found is that when I go to someone elses place to eat my dairy intollerance is not catered for and I am usually left with only the meat and maybe a potato that is not covered in cream and cheese.

I agree! I would never expect to be served meat at a vegetarians house. I am an omnivore however, I eat meat only 1-2 times per week.

This summer while at my boyfriends family cottage his neighbors and I cooked a purely vegetarian meal for everyone but didn’t tell teh guests that there wasn’t any meat in their dinner. A few of the guests would have been upset because of their “meat is a necessary component to dinner” mentality. Surprisingly, no one noticed! It was fantastic! An excellent cooking/social experiment!

I have a really restrictive diet (IBS, shellfish and chicken allergy, other undiagnosed issues) so I totally don’t mind accommodating others’ specific diets. My friend and I are having a small Halloween party tomorrow and with her diet and my diet we ran our dishes by each other just to make sure everything was okay.

I’m not a fan of preparing meat either though. BF and I had a talk about this during lunch today and I told him he’d have to prepare the meat in our house when we move in together.

Interesting question! I agree with you on this one – things like meatless pasta and lasagna are things that a meat eater might eat on a regular basis anyways. It’s not like you’re force feeding tempeh or faux meat patties down their throats. 😉

I am of the same philosophy as you – one vegetarian meal won’t kill a meat eater, and that way everyone can partake in it. I do feel bad that people accommodate me and I don’t accommodate them, but once people taste the food they NEVER complain. For me, it’s a matter of not feeling ethical if I spend money on meat. If someone brought meat over and wanted to cook it, I might oblige, but I would be really freaked out about people cooking meat in my house. That might sound crazy, and perhaps it is! But I guess for me it’s a case of ethics trumping etiquette. I certainly wouldn’t feed a guest who eats kosher or halal food non-kosher or non-halal food, but I would serve a meat eater vegetarian food because I’ve never met a meat eater who is ethically opposed to vegetables.

I don’t serve meat to my meat-eating visitors. I keep a pretty good variety of recipes going and most of my friends who join me for dinner are totally happy to do Italian food with me (I make my own marinara — yum!). My boyfriend has really enjoyed just about everything I’ve made for him — e.g. when I made broccoli-cheddar soup from scratch, his words were, “I need to keep you. You feed me good.” Apparently it was so tasty, it affected his ability to form a coherent sentence. 😉 I went vegetarian about a year ago, shortly after moving out of my meat-eating parents’ house — my decision not to even try to serve meat to anyone really just stems from my fear that I’ll accidentally give someone food poisoning in the process — though I have no qualms about someone else bringing it into my apartment.

Ooooo good topic! I tend to make meat eating guests a meat dish, but that’s what I’m used to doing. My mother is a veg (and has been the majority of my life), and she walways (okay, I see this typo but I can’t erase it because I’m laughing too hard saying it outloud – seriously, try it.) cooked meat for our family. I have to cook meat for the husband, and I guess it doesn’t bother me too much.

I’m an omnivore, but most of the time I don’t eat meat. If I was to go to a vegetarian’s house, I’d want to eat what they are most comfortable making. And with that, I am sure it would be vegetarian.

I think we need to say screw being PC and get real. People do not need to eat animals at every meal. People should not be eating animals & animal products at every meal. It is making people really sick (unhealthy & overweight), and it’s going to cripple the healthcare system if things don’t change.

When people come to my house I take it as a chance to show them that a meal IS great without the heart disease.

I am not a vegetarian, however we don’t eat meat with every meal. We typically have 1 to 2 meals per week without meat so I don’t think it would be a big deal at all to eat a vegetarian meal at someone’s house. There are lots of vegetarian foods that we love (beans, pasta, grilled cheese, veggies etc.) In fact when we camp with our vegetarian friends, we choose to eat vegetarian too out of respect for them and our kids never complain. 🙂

Great discussion! I’m a newly declared vegetarian, and my husband, family, and friends are major carviores (we live in Kansas where BBQ is abundant). I’m nervous about serving them vegetarian meals. Most of them eat meat at least twice a day. I don’t think a vegetarian should have to compromise their beliefs to accomodate their guests. You are serving them and as their guests they should be thankful!

So funny that this is a topic, b/c I am having a Halloween party tomorrow and am hosting both meat-eaters and non-meat-eaters. My gut reaction is to not serve meat, because I tend to cook and share my vegetarian recipes with friends (meat-eaters) at work all the time and they enjoy it. However, my husband eats meat and since he would be preparing a meat dish for himself anyways, I thought I would add a meat dish to our dinner party- which is chili with make your own nachos!
Upon deciding my menu, a very opinionated friend of mine said that I SHOULD serve meat, b/c I should accomodate my meat-eating friends and I don’t agree. If you went to an Italian friends house they would serve pasta, if you went to Jewish friends house, they would serve kosher, etc. If you go to a vegetarian’s house, you better believe there will be vegetables! I think hosting meat-eaters is a great way to show them how adventurous and filling a meat-free meal can be!

I wouldn’t serve meat just for non-vegetarian guests. If we go out to eat I don’t care what my companions choose to order, but I’m not going to cook something I won’t eat myself.

Maybe this is a bad comparison, but if I had a deathly peanut allergy I wouldn’t keep peanut butter around because my guest’s favorite breakfast is peanut butter on toast! I’d hope my guest would understand that I didn’t eat peanuts, and would enjoy the other food I had available for the meal.

I haven’t run into this issue a ton, but I do like to cook meat for my boyfriend. I don’t like seeing dissapointed guests and I feel like people just ASSUME vegetarian meals are bad (even though they eat them all the time and don’t realize it!!) I’m working on it though…having them taste my meals, etc, so that one day I can serve them a vegetarian meal no questions asked!

I’m technically a pescatarian and not fully vegetarian, but I eat veg more often than not. So when I have non-veg guests, I’ll either do something veg or with seafood. I would never feel obligated to make meat just because I have meat-eating guests. My guests are usually pleasantly surprised by delicious vegetarian food.

However, I’m now dating a non-vegetarian. And while he loves seafood, I think in the future I will prepare meat for him and veg for me. Some meat things honestly just gross me out (like veal and pork), so he can plan to either make those things himself or have them when we go out, but I won’t have a problem making some meat dishes for him. Still, it’ll be vegetarian more often than not.