Meat lovers may frown at vegetarians, and even have a panic attack at the thought of one coming dinner. Whether someone decides to give up beef, lamb, pork and poultry, for health, moral or religious reasons, its their right. Nowadays, we have become very tolerant of many things, so why not accept that there are people who don't eat meat?

The problem lies in deciding what to cook for those who are either vegan (won't eat any product from an animal, including the milk), or vegetarian (won't eat the flesh of an animal). Some of the latter will eat seafood.

It can be daunting to be faced with this prospect, and annoying if you feel that you are preparing something special for one person, after having spent hours cooking for the rest of your guests. I suggest making the entire meal vegan, perhaps throwing in one dish with a little fish, and if your dessert contains dairy (let's face it, the best do) then that will have to do.

Indian cuisine

For no other reason than to get the experience, I did this a month ago to see if all the meat lovers I'd invited (everyone there!) would feel like they were missing out. I'm not against serving up a lentil loaf with steamed vegetables, but let's face it, not many people would be happy coming to dinner for that! So I decided that Trinidad's Indian cuisine would be a good compromise.

In a time when there's a credit crisis,(www.reasoningthereasons.blogspot.com), it's imperative that we cut back on everything, including expensive culinary ingredients. Although you might not want to hear this, meat is one of them. Unbelievably, all the carnivores that night agreed that vegetarian cooking may just be a step towards dealing with the financial gloom.

Bara, the fried dough part of doubles, which goes with curried chick peas.

Curried chick peas that go with the fried 'bara' dough for doubles.

Emma's Menu:

Doubles

Phoulourie with dip

Dhal

Green fig curry

Cauliflower, pea and potato Curry

Rice

Banana spice ice cream

Coffee ice cream

Green Fig Curry

Serves many and freezes well

2 tbsps vegetable oil

3 ¹/² tbsps madras curry powder

2 onions, finely sliced

¹/⁴ scotch bonnet, chopped

1 cup water

¹/² lb salt fish (cooked and picked weight) - optional

4 lbs green bananas, peeled and sliced ¹/⁴ inch thick

3-4 cups of coconut milk

6 sprigs curry leaves

Black pepper

Method

1. Heat oil in a large pot, add the curry and cook for two minutes.

2. Add the onions and scotch bonnet, and cook for five minutes until softened.

3. Stir in water and salt fish. Cook for 2 minutes.

4. Add the green bananas, coconut milk, curry leaves and black pepper.

5. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring every five minutes.

Potato, Cauliflower and Green Pea Curry

1-2 tbsps vegetable oil

1tsp fennel seeds

1tsp ground fenugreek

¹/² tsp cumin seeds

¹/² tsp ground cinnamon

1tsp madras curry powder

1 scotch bonnet, finely chopped

1 inch ginger, chopped

6 scallion, finely sliced

4 large Irish potatoes, cut into cubes

3 cups frozen peas

1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets

Water to barely cover vegetables

Method

1. Heat oil in a large pot, add the spices and fry for two minutes.

2. Add a little water to prevent it from burning, and stir well.

3. Add the scotch bonnet, ginger and scallion, and cook for another two minutes.

4. Stir in the potatoes, just cover with water cover pot and cook for 15 minutes until softened.

5. Stir in the peas and cauliflower, and continue cooking for another five minutes or so until some of the water has boiled off.

6. Season with salt and pepper if needed.