Menu suggestions for vegan and FODMAP-avoiding guests

February 22, 2018 9:59 PM

I am going to serve dinner for four including two vegetarians, one vegan, and one of the vegetarians needs to avoid FODMAP-rich food.

Assume I am a competent cook with a decent kitchen and access to a good range of ingredients. I need to come up with a delicious dinner where no one eats meat, someone won't eat any animal products and another person can't eat legumes or things from the onion family or wheat-based baked goods and many other fruits and vegetables. I would like to have a menu that everyone can eat without modification, but I can deal with things that meet three out of four people. Your suggestions please!

I live in New Zealand and so cannot use suggestions involving foods only available in North America. I can get hold of decent tofu, tempeh and various fake meat type things though.

posted by i_am_joe's_spleen to Food & Drink (14 answers total)

Response by poster: (I just realised this doesn't quite add up: I am an omnivore, but I'm not going to cook a meat dish just for me).
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:03 PM on February 22, 2018

Has the person who needs to avoid fodmaps indicated which foods are bothersome (if not, can you ask for clarification)? A blanket ban on all fodmaps would leave a vegetarian with very little to eat. (Usually there are some fodmaps people with issues need to avoid, and some they can tolerate. And it’s different for everyone.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:48 PM on February 22, 2018

I'm an omnivore, but my sister is vegan, so for Christmas, I made us this lentil stew and it was delicious. It does have onions and garlic, so sadly isn't fodmap friendly. That website is also a great resource for other vegan meals. Perhaps you may find others that don't include onions/garlic or can alter a vegan recipe that would be friendly for all parties. Good luck!
posted by pdxhiker at 10:49 PM on February 22, 2018

Vegan lasagna made with thin slices zucchini and eggplant should do well for everyone! There are a ton of recipes but you could use this recipe as a starting point.

As cotton dress sock stated, you will probably want to get clarification from the FODMAP guest about exactly which foods to avoid because everyone has different triggers. If it seems appropriate you could give them an ingredient list to go over beforehand.
posted by shalom at 10:59 PM on February 22, 2018

Do stir-fry over rice so people can load up on the pieces they love, and leave the things they don't.
Sweet potatoes, beets, bamboo shoots, bell peppers, muchrooms, tofu, asparagus, broccoli, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, green beans, spinach, celery, carrots, turnips, parsnips.
posted by at at 11:16 PM on February 22, 2018 [4 favorites]

Mushroom risotto works great vegan and allium-free
posted by aubilenon at 1:52 AM on February 23, 2018

Manjula's Kitchen has all-vegetarian Indian recipes. She does not use onions or garlic. (It looks like there's now also a "user-submitted recipes" category, so the search function may not be your friend.)
posted by hoyland at 4:02 AM on February 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

How about a vegetarian / vegan taco bar? You could have various vegetable toppings cooked without onion and garlic (zucchini, peppers, corn), cheese and non dairy cheese, salsa, guacamole, salad greens, dressing and corn and flour tortillas (which the FODMAP avoiding person could not use and just eat as a salad).
posted by peacheater at 4:24 AM on February 23, 2018 [4 favorites]

You could couple a taco bar with a build your own baked potato side. Bake 8 potatoes. Let your guests slice them open and load them up. Use whatever topping choices make sense to your group. But the key is to have A LOT of choices. Make it decadent.
posted by eisforcool at 5:52 AM on February 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

I agree that a taco bar or potato bar or something similar is probably your best bet. Remember that many of your store-bought sauces, condiments and dressings will contain high fructose corn syrup, which is a FODMAP. So you'll want to make certain that those are served on the side, and you keep the bottles so folks can check the ingredients.
posted by backwards compatible at 7:58 AM on February 23, 2018

So im hardly a fodmap expert but it looks like pressed/regular (non silken) tofu is low fodmap - this vegan palak paneer recipe is so good I make it and we eat dairy. unlear if garlic counts as onion family but you could probably leave it out without too much damage.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:43 AM on February 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Forget regular potatoes, isn't this a job for kumera? Sorry it took me a day to remember this!
posted by jbenben at 9:18 AM on February 23, 2018

Tofu is only low FODMAP in very small amounts. I follow a low FODMAP diet and can't handle it at all, but you will absolutely need to contact the person and talk to them further. FODMAP is an elimination diet, and most folks find that they can successfully add stuff back in once the elimination phase is complete. I'm fine with sweet potatoes and avocados, for example, which both contain FODMAPS.
posted by backwards compatible at 10:56 AM on February 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

As someone who is also following a low-FODMAP diet, I agree with the above that it’s likely easiest to do some kind of rice and veggie stir fry, or rice noodle stir fry, or vegan/veg taco bar. You will definitely need to check with the low FODMAP guest on the veggies or alternatively just make a shitload of different kinds. For example, I have a hard time with broccoli, snap peas, etc. as well as onion and garlic and a bunch of other random things.
posted by FireFountain at 12:06 PM on February 23, 2018