Dear Ruby,
My boyfriend and I are hosting our first dinner party this weekend, and he just told me that two of the guests are vegans. This is a surprise to both of us and I’ve already bought the chicken to grill and most of the other dishes have butter or milk or cheese. I’m almost panicking! It’s not a payday weekend and I really don’t have another $50 to spend for a second meal. Please help!

The Flesh-Eating Hostess

Dear Feh,
Here’s what people expect from someone’s first dinner party: food. Not Martha-level cuisine, just enough food to soak up all the wine they’re bringing. So, don’t panic.

Vegans, by necessity, eat a lot of side dishes. It’s not necessary to come up with an entree-worthy alternative, especially since there are only two of them coming. It’s sufficient to add a few nice sides to fill up the hole on their plates where the chicken isn’t. You will have to go to the grocery store again, but it shouldn’t break the bank.

Some relatively inexpensive add-ons:

• An acorn squash, cut in half and microwaved in about 10 minutes. (Recipe)
• Grilled corn on the cob (Recipe). Buy margarine!
• Way more salad than you were already making, and make sure a non-dairy dressing is available. Any animal product toppings (hardboiled eggs, buttered croutons, etc.) should be on the side.
• A pasta salad would be nice and substantial made with things like olives, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach leaves & olive oil (+salt, pepper, garlic, onions, dill, other nice spices)
• Beans! Vegans love them some beans. Just not the baked with bacon varieties.
• Serve tortillas on the side–they’re cheap and people can make their own chicken fajitas.
• If you weren’t going to serve potatoes before, you are now. Again, buy margarine and maybe a soy sour cream. Here’s a nice recipe.
• If you weren’t going to serve rice, that’s another cheap add-on. Goes well with the fajita concept.

It also can’t hurt to fill people up on appetizers like:

• Dips, baby! Hummus is good and perfectly vegan with a pile of pita.
• A tub of pre-made pesto mixed with a tub of whipped soy cream cheese for a really good cracker spread. Sliced avocadoes would be a nice touch.
• Bowls of nuts.
• Chunks of melon, water or otherwise.
• Bruschetta – french bread slices brushed with olive oil, piled with cut tomatoes and some basil and broiled. Serve grated cheese on the side.
• A relish tray with olives, pickles, veggies.

Good luck and don’t worry. Just pile a whole bunch of food on the table and your friends will take care of themselves. They may have already had a little nosh before they left home, because smart people with special dietary needs don’t accept dinner invites unless they’re fully prepared to work around the meal.

What (or who) are you working around this week? Tell Ruby.

Advice for the rest of us appears here every Friday on a full stomach.

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