www.ohsheglows.com has several fantastic vegan recipes. She just posted one for a vegan lasagna that uses cashew cheeze and it looks very tasty: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/11/07/vegan-lasagna-with-basil-cashew-cheeze/
Other vegan standbys: quesadillas with hummus instead of cheese to hold ingredients together, chickpea, beet & veggie salads, vegan veggie burgers (tons of recipes online with different grains).
You could do a "burger" or quesadilla bar for a dinner party that would allow for all different types of food preferences.
www.fatfreevegan.com also has great recipes. Hope that helps!

This recipe for pumpkin dumplings is seasonal and colorful. I transformed it into a vegan recipe by using an egg replacer and I used all purpose flour since I don't have an aversion to gluten. I've gotten great reviews whenever I've served this dish.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/a-gluten-free-thanksgiving/

You can subsitute mushrooms for most meat dishes or even cauliflower "steaks".

I made this Thanksgiving (Canadian has an earlier Thanksgiving) a veggie Fall style Shepherd's pie. It was very good, very Fall/Winter appropriate and a very colorful dish.

I used at the bottom a mixed wild rice with pine nuts, the middle was green chard and cauliflower florets with garlic with a layer of roasted red peppers on top, then for the top mash, butternut squash pureed. Cook all the ingredients before layering in the baking container, add a bit of bread crumbs on top and bake in the oven for a bit to get the top crispy. You can make a mushroom gravy to serve with it. And this can all be done the day before a dinner party if very busy with other stuff.

You can make a vegetable stew (mushrooms, onions, carrots, gravy) and top it with mashed potatoes (shepherdess pie) or pie crust (pot pie).

I like to roast the veggies with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme in the oven on a big cookie sheet. I spoon the veggies into a casserole dish, and drain the remaining oil and veggie juices into a pan to make something gravy-like with vegetable broth.

101 Cookbooks has great vegetarian holiday dishes -- most can easily be made vegan!

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/vegetarian-thanksgiving-recipes-recipe.html

How about pasta dishes? And Italian in general? Lots of Marcella Hazan's recipe are vegetarian and could be easily made vegan.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/11/03/growing-up-with-marcella-hazan.html

Also, shepherdless pie (har har) is always tasty- vegetable stew topped with mashed potatoes.

I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to vegetarian dishes that are perfect for dinner parties: http://pinterest.com/glamorouswife/cooking-vegetarian-main-dish-and-veggie-side-dishe/

Thanks doll,
The Glamorous Housewife

Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas is a fabulous cookbook with lots of holiday and party themed menus and recipes. Highly recommended!

I often make Daily Garnish's Butternut Squash & Black Bean Enchiladas for large groups.
You can serve it with rice mixed with cilantro and lime, quacamole, chips, corn on the cob, salad, and/or oven roasted broccoli.

It's nice because it doesn't have any "vegan" ingredients. It's just a hearty dish that happens to to be plant-based.

Also, its nice to be able to assemble the whole thing before the guests arrive and just pop it in the oven.

Definitely check out Daily Garnish, as suggested by someone else. Also, seitan is REALLY easy to make and it is so versatile! Also, tacos, quesadillas and other Mexican food is really easy to make vegan with lots of yummy beans. I love the Veganomicon cookbook for its diversity of recipes that often don't include tofu, tempeh, etc. Good luck!

I'm not vegan however I've dabbled in vegan cooking. My all-time favourite recipe is Pumpkin Baked Ziti from the cookbook Veganomicon.

Just got my epicurious vegetarian thanksgiving guide today: http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/thanksgiving/vegetarian-thanksgiving-menu-recipes; http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/thanksgiving/vegetarian?mbid=upd_countdown; http://www.epicurious.com/recipesmenus/slideshows/vegetarian-thanksgiving-52860?mbid=upd_countdown

Hopefully there are enough recipes here to keep you busy. I'm not vegan or even vegetarian but I eat a lot of vegan foods, especially around this time year (and I never use butter except for desserts - always oil). Roasted root vegetables with greens and grains and dried fruits and apples and spices...mm! Mushroom casseroles and pastas are good. Soups - lot of it! Pumpkin, carrot, sweet potato, squash...I even recently discovered how much I love eating a big bowl of roasted brusell sprouts for dinner! Sorry I'm not being very specific. I feel like if you see something that looks good you can work with it and turn it vegan: replace butter with oil, chicken broth with vegetable, meat with roasted veggies. The sky is the limit!

my vegan friend love this Vegetable tajine - http://7th-taste.com/2012/05/04/vegetable-tajine-and-curried-couscous/

I attended an almost-vegan dinner party this weekend. Our host made a pureed squash and apple soup for the first course and roasted acorn squash stuffed with wild rice, cranberries and walnuts for the main course. We had roasted Brussels sprouts tossed with parmesan as a side dish (the only non-vegan element) and cookies and cider for dessert

I've made this twice for Thanksgiving (it now gets requested every year!):
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/wild-mushroom-and-caramelized-onion-shepherd-s-pies/

I've always thought that fall is the time for chili potlucks among friends...and if I were you I'd make Door 16's vegan chili (blast, website isn't loading, she's a NYC blogger, I'll post the recipe but it is all hers). It is seriously wonderful.

You can also do pizza (caramelized onions ftw), or homemade pasta/gnocchi (especially with a butternut squash/sage sauce, yum!). There are a good deal of fancy-ish foods that are vegan that are especially awesome in a more time-consuming sort of way, you know? I've been dealing with a ton of doctor-induced dietary restrictions, and sometimes the dishes that are more challenging are so satisfying I don't feel sorry for myself for not being able to eat this or that.

Vegetarian Chili
serves 6-8

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 large yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 tbsp chili powder
28 oz can crushed tomatoes with basil*
14 oz can black beans*
14 oz can kidney beans*
1 cup corn kernels
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup bulgar wheat
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Heat oil in a large pot. Add onions, carrots and garlic; sauté until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add yellow pepper, jalapenos, celery and chili powder; cook another 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, beans (with liquid), corn, salt and spices. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in bulgar wheat. Cover and simmer at least 30 minutes (I usually let everything simmer for a couple of hours to let the flavors really develop, but it’s okay to take it off when the veggies and bulgar are soft), stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Just as you’re taking the chili off the heat, stir in the balsamic vinegar. I know it might seem weird to put it in, but trust me—it really does make the chili taste extra amazing.

*I take the easy route and use canned beans and tomatoes. You can soak dried beans and use fresh tomatoes if you prefer, of course, but you will want to add water to make up for the liquid in the cans.

Areana that sounds fabulous! I bit it looks beautiful too with all the coloured layers.

Oh my gosh!!! All of you are fabulous! Thank you so much for all the suggestions. I have used Ohsheglows a number of times, as well as My New Roots (who has the best recipe for raw food tacos ever!), but a number of the other sites I have not heard of! I am looking forward to a few weeks of exploring and experimenting. Any other suggestions are more than welcome! Merci mille fois!

Do you have access to tempeh and miso? If so, I recently came up with a lovely vegan recipe for Roasted Peppers with Sicilian Tempeh Stuffing. They are colorful and super satisfying (oh, and the fennel pollen can be subbed with fennel seed).

http://www.braisenwoman.com/2012/10/roasted-peppers-with-sicilian-tempeh.html

Sadly, Tempeh no - and Miso - just the super dark stuff - which is great but some light miso would be lovely. Also no access to soybeans so i couldn't even try to make it if i was feeling super adventurous! I will take a look at the recipe though and see if I can adapt it. Thank you!

We tend to use quinoa a lot- quinoa "risotto," quinoa cakes (like faux crabcakes) and quinoa salad.