This doesn't offer a new suggestion, but I've made the artichoke baragoule pictured above multiple times for my family. Everyone loves it, with or without meat! We usually serve it over pasta; if you have a veggi/omni mix coming, I'd maybe offer some shredded roast chicken as a mix-in - it's delish!

Spaghetti with vodka sauce, baked artichoke hearts, garlic bread/salad

Vegetarian chili, toppings, cornbread

Stuffed shells are always good if you're going for showy.

I'm a vegetarian and I always struggle with what to serve my meat-loving friends when they come over. I usually end up making a couple pizzas or flat breads and a couple different salads. It's not crazy creative, but everyone seems to like it. And it's easy for us.

Butternut squash lasagna! It's rich and amazing--and different enough that no one feels like they're "missing" the meat. I'm a vegetarian, as are a few of my friends. A hearty chili with cornbread is also good ... Or pretty much anything from 101 Cookbooks. :)

i am trying not to rely so heavily on meat (only chicken once or twice a week), but i struggle with finding filling recipes that arent so carb based

Roasted aubergine (smeared with harissa or charmoula or something) with a beautiful jewelled pilaf in the summer, lasagne or pizza in the winter.. pasta and risotto at any time (flavours depending on the season).. Tapas/meze is a really nice casual summer vegetarian meal which people don't even notice the absence of meat in (I'm not vegetarian).

Any macaroni and cheese - this ricotta and dill mac and cheese is a favorite of mine, and can be baked in individual serving dishes for a nice, crunchy-topped presentation: http://kelseyincleveland.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/ricotta-dill-mac-and-cheese/.

Some bean enchiladas are great because they can be prepared ahead of time and thrown in the oven to heat: http://kelseyincleveland.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/lemon-mashed-great-northern-bean-enchiladas-with-homemade-tortillas/.

Going along with the Southwest theme, this stubbed poblano peppers are really delicious and also do-ahead friendly: http://kelseyincleveland.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/vegetarian-stuffed-poblano-peppers/.

Finally, this mujaddara with spiced yogurt is to die for: http://kelseyincleveland.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/mujaddara-with-spiced-yogurt/.

The carnivores and omnivores won't miss their meat one bit with any of the above dishes (I know I don't when I make them).

I find that when serving omnivores, they are often concerned that they won't get enough protein (I usually don't engage them on the merit of that concern). In fact, the last time I served a meal to guests, the secretly brought their own taco bell because they thought they would be hungry (needless to say, I will not be feeding them again).

Because of this, I usually don't serve traditional "entree, side dishes" style meals because it makes the absence of meat glaringly obvious to the diners.

So, I go with veg chili, mac and cheese, grilled cheeses, soup, nachos, chilaquiles with beans, lasagna with tofu mashed into ricotta, biryani rice, or pasta with beans.

Indian food is also a seamless way to serve veg food to omi guests!

some of my vegetarian dinner favorites are: chili or some kind of bean stew with lots of toppings and different salsas; a paella made with chickpeas, roasted red peppers, peas, saffron, and tomato served with a green salad; sushi with filings like tamago, asparagus, cucumber, avocado, carrots, daikon, sweet potato, green beans; veggie pot pie; frittata or quiche; baked potato or french fry bar with lots of condiments.

I have made the Vegetable Lasagna with Butternut Béchamel above and it's yummy. I would recommend though, at least for my tastes, upping the amount of filling some. I found it a bit too noodle-y without enough veggies. I think adding sauted onions to the filling would be good, too.

Eggplant Parmesan is always a good selection in my mind. It's hearty, easy to make a lot of it, and for the non-vegetarians, if they try it they will probably find out how good it really is.

It also makes it easy to make chicken parm alongside it for the meat eaters.

Perfect timing. Just made a variation on this classic from the original Moosewood Cookbook last week. You can make ahead AND enjoy your company

A nostalgic veggie cheesecake inspired by Moosewood Restaurant cookbook. http://bit.ly/mFv3GP

Any risotto (love this Creamy Corn and Mushroom Risotto one) ... very satisfying and tastes richer than it is so you really don't miss the meat.

Pizza - Roasted Butternut Squash, Caramelized Onion, Pepitas and Arugula Pizza

Lasagna - love butternut squash lasagna just like many other readers seem to, especially this one with a basil bechamel: Butternut Squash and Basil Bechamel Lasagna

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salads - full of different veggies, noodles, and complex/spicy flavors; love this one, and is easy to omit shrimp to make it vegetarian: Vietnamese Noodle Salad

Any kind of curry (especially Thai curries) served over rice - omit chicken in this one: Thai Pumpkin Curry

pizza, salads both green and otherwise - potato/bean etc, risotto, fancy dips or hummus, veggie lasagana, soup.

For my vegan brother in law, I made asparagus & artichoke risotto on Easter - everyone else dug in too, along with their ham.

My boyfriend is a vegetarian so all of our dinners end up being vegetarian and I don't miss the meat out of any of them!! Here are a few of our favorites:

http://fiveandspice.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/broccoli-ginger-dumplings/ (makes a TON!!)

http://thesepeasarehollow.blogspot.com/2010/09/its-fall-somewhere.html (definitely my favorite)

http://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2008/08/ultimate-veggie-burger.html (we top these with carmelized onions, mushrooms, avocado, sprouts, bbq sauce.. whatever we have around)

http://www.maameemoomoo.com/blog/2011/02/21/spinach-ricotta-dumplings-with-prawns-mushrooms-in-cream/ (without the shrimp)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/turkey-and-artichoke-stuffed-shells-with-arrabbiata-sauce-recipe/index.html (we use spinach instead of turkey)

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Tube-Shaped-Pasta-with-Wild-Mushrooms (so simple and so yummy!! we ended up using a mixture of shitake, chanterelle, and crimini because the chanterelles were so expensive)

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/quick-weeknight-meals-2009/taylors-roasted-potato-tacos-with-creamy-dressing-quick-weeknight-meals-recipe-contest-2009-096504 (quick and easy! and so yummy with some pico and avocado on top)

I think its important to remember there are differences between omnivores and ignorami. Just because someone isn't a vegetarian doesn't mean they live in fear of meals that don't have meat. I would think the best tip would be to know your audience. It seems like an unnecessary excess to prepare a vegetarian main dish and then go out of your way to include some kind of meat add-in.

If your guests are terrified they can drop dead of a protein deficiency within hours, and your goal is to share food and expand horizons, start simple and mainstream like eggplant parm, veggie chili, penne ala vodka - I bet a lot of these supposed 'meat at all times' people eat vegetarian meals often enough, they just don't think of them that way.

For pete's sake, Kraft Mac&Cheese is vegetarian. Cheese pizza is vegetarian.

The underlying assumption that non-vegetarians never EAT vegetarian kind of drives me crazy.

I am not vegetarian but like to eat that way periodically and i find that lentils are very hearty. slap an egg on top and you have a tasty dinner:

http://theripetomato.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/lentil-and-brown-rice-bowl-with-poached-egg/

My standby for lacto-ovos is an old Laurel's Kitchen recipe for Tennessee Corn Pone: some lightly spiced (cumin seed is good) pink or pinto beans (I like to have a little onion & celery in there too) on the bottom of a casserole dish with a layer of buttermilk cornbread poured on top and baked together. This makes everyone happy and goes with meat, with salad, with picnic food, with Thanksgiving, everything.

Pasta options are endless. Risotto is equally endless (don't use chicken broth!). I boil parmesan rinds and celery for a fast vegetarian broth.

If I had to go vegan I'd look to ratatouille over rice.

The Barefoot Contessa's mushroom lasagna. decadent and easy to make ahead http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/portobello-mushroom-lasagna-recipe/index.html

Besides lasgna,already mentioned here, I like to make gnocci and tarts ingeneral, including quiches. For a show stopper, I like tgis fried rice in the pinneaple shell: http://www.pinkbites.com/2009/04/minty-pineapple-fried-rice.html

I love Deborah Madison's wine braised lentils covered with puff pastry. Lentil recipe here:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/02/recipe_of_the_w_5.php

I spoon into four oven-proof bowls, top with circles of puff pastry, and bake in a 400F oven until the pastry is done. Not really the season for it, though.

I love making (from scratch!) felafel with all the fixings. I use this flatbread recipe:http://littlebluehen.com/?p=1220 and this felafel recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Falafel-109010 and provide fillers--pickled red onions, yoghurt, tahini, feta, etc. A salad makes it a meal.

Crepes can be a simple yet elegant veggie dinner too. I love to do savory buckwheat crepes with sauteed spinach, gruyere, and a fried egg, coupled with a tart salad. This recipe is similar to the one I use: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Buckwheat-Batter-14192

@karen2980--

Unless you're on a low-carb diet under doctor's orders, you really don't want to avoid carbs-- just bad carbs that have been refined to the point of losing most of their nutrients (like standard flours, pastas, white rices and most packaged goods). Anything labeled "whole grain," not to mention actual whole grains (brown rice, millet and quinoa, to name a few) are very good for you. Vegetables and fruits are primarily carbs as well, and you need much more of them than you do fat and protein. They're what your brain and body use as fuel. As a general rule, the fewer ingredients (and the fewer unrecognizable/unpronounceable ingredients), the better.

I'm OBSESSED with Jamaican jerk tofu with coconut black bean rice and a side of sweet potatoes. It's got iron, protein, vitamins, beta carotene = a complete vegetarian meal.

http://smultronsoul.blogspot.com/2011/02/fiery-heat-with-bright-tang.html

I know you're asking for entrees, and I'm listing lots (lots!) of my favorites below, but I think it's key to balance the menu, to provide lots of different flavors, textures, and colors: something rich or hearty, something crisp or crunchy, something fresh or tart.

Lots of people assume "vegetarian dinner" is going to be a bowl of brown glop. Surprise them by serving an irresistible array of flavors and textures.

But you asked for entrees, so here are my favorites:
- Frittata or quiche a la anything-at-all
- four-cheese pasta gratin (that's just grown-up mac & cheese) with greens and mushrooms baked in
- spanikopita
- mushroom & sherry turnovers in puff pastry. These can be made ahead and frozen, then brushed with egg washed and baked at the last minute. They look so glamorous, all puffed and flaky!
- like pinkbites says above, I like to make tarts for guests, using whatever vegetables are in season, usually with plenty of onions and maybe some cheese and an egg to bind them. A well-seasoned filling, a beautiful pastry or yeast crust --- guests love these. Every time I serve one, someone asks for the recipe, but I don't really have a recipe, just a template.
- black bean soup [self-link]. Okay, this one is a bowl of brown glop, just like I warned against, so I make sure to serve it with a garnish: chopped parsley or grated Parmesan or diced avocado or diced tomato or a spoon of sour cream or toasted pepitas. Any one (or more!) makes a great addition to the soup. I also serve it with plenty of sides: maybe roasted sweet potatoes, a spinach salad (or other flavorful green) with a tart lemon dressing, and plenty of bread. (There's a lickety-split recipe for beer bread at that link. It's fabulous.)
- stuffed squash [self-link], a vegetarian variation on a recipe I found right her at the Kitchn. The trick The Kitchn taught me: bake it stuffing-side down for a crispy crust. What a difference! This is a marvelous cold-weather dish, and festive enough for a holiday! We might just have it next Thanksgiving.
- zucchini fritters [self-link w/bonus recipes: pan-roasted potato spears, which are crazy-good, and herb sauce, ditto]
- lasagna is always great, and for some reason guests do love butternut squash lasagna (I make mine with caramelized onions and roasted garlic). Last time I served it to meat-eaters, I also made a big pan of (frankly delicious) sausage lasagna. They scraped the pan of the butternut lasagna, but left me a few pieces of the sausage dish. Hmm.
- spicy peanut noodle salad, or warm peanut noodles
- grilled vegetables (peppers, onions, zucchini brushed with garlic oil, asparagus grilled and dressed with lemon, balsamic-marinated mushrooms) and bread (French, Italian, or pita) brushed lightly with oil and grilled. Summertime is coming!
- mezze plate: hummus, baba ghanoush, feta, olives, dolma, cucumbers, tomatoes, pita bread. This is a summer favorite!

It doesn't look too pretty, but I have a vegan crockpot red beans and rice that is pretty darn tasty:

http://theactorsdiet.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/soaked/

Yotam Ottolenghi has been a huge inspiration for me in my part-time vegetarian kitchen. This is one of my favourites: http://limecake.net/2010/11/12/fried-rice-cakes-with-creamed-leeks-and-mushrooms/

I didn't write my exact recipe down, but I once wrapped a cashew roast in layers of phyllo dough lightly brushed with olive oil, like a nut Wellington. It was a HUGE hit. (I prepped it the day before and baked it right before the big dinner - less stress.) Nut roasts are popular in the UK, so recipes abound. (Just make sure none of the guests are allergic to nuts.)

Imam bayildi! A Turkish stuffed aubergine dish that is so good that according to the name the Imam fainted when trying it. I haven't tried any online recipes, but there are lots out there.

My two current vegetarian favorites:

Brussels sprouts + whole wheat pasta gratin: http://professionalbakist.blogspot.com/2011/04/hunger.html

giant popover with rosemary mushrooms: http://professionalbakist.blogspot.com/2011/01/girls-just-want-to-have-lunch.html

Best Vegetarian dinner party dish at our house is Vegetarian Cassoulet in the Fall and Winter. Served with Bread and a salad. Always a guest favorite, carnivore and vegan love it.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Vegetarian-Cassoulet-241753