A cole slaw or green salad would be great.

(eta... just saw cawaps response... we think alike...)

I haven't tried any recipes for vegan pasta salad (only veggie). I've had great success with this vegan chili, in an InstantPot (don't cook as long as indicated). This could be a side for some people or the main for the vegan. Instead of cheese for the vegan, provide diced avocado. Others can add cheese on their serving.

Not a pasta salad, but this quinoa works well as well: Sub Veggie Stock for the Chicken Stock

Vegan chocolate chip cookies made with almond milk and coconut oil are terrific, btw. Here's a recipe, although it is not exactly the one I've made before. Caution, make
sure the chips are vegan (not all pass the test). But, I must add, the ice cream and fruit
salad should be enough You could also macerate some berries with sugar or agave as a
topping for the cream.

I also do a vegan chili in the crockpot so it's prepared ahead of time and stays warm as long as it needs to. Would be great with the cornbread for sure. Mine has cocoa powder in it so it tastes very meaty...almost like a molé.

I like ice cream too much to have a vegan version. But there are vegan gelatos. Macerated fruit sounds great served over some shortbread biscuits which the nephew can skip.

I'd also not bother making cole slaw since there are so many tasty ones available at the deli. If you have a whole foods or italian deli you could look and see what other kinds of vegan dishes they might have. Since you're willing to bring something from the store, make it easy on yourself and buy what you can. Maybe some hummus with tortilla chips too for appetizer. The chips also go well with the chili.

I am in a hurry before work so can't type out my recipe, but google "southwestern black bean salad" I think it is a Cooking Light recipe. Delish. Add pasta to that. Make cornbread with soy or almond milk.

I like this Quinoa salad and it will go well as a side dish with the grilled meats. You can serve it room temp or warmed up.

I have a few recipes that I use for my two vegetarian daughters. One was vegan for a few years. (That for me was a nightmare.)

Any recipe can be adapted. I have a few quinoa recipes.

The nephew will not eat the cornbread if it's made with eggs.

I would ask the nephew to bring his favorite dessert!

It is great that you want to make sure all needs are attended.

Side story: Just my personal feelings about vegan/vegetarians. When youngest turned vegetarian in middle school I talked to her about how she would handle social activities, like dinners at a friend, BBQs. My feeling is that although the host can certainly know about your diet, there are sometimes occasions where it's not appropriate to alert the host. (For example when DD was invited to a large party that was really a gathering for the parent's friends.)

You can offer to bring something or make due. For a vegan, this is certainly harder. But as a vegetarian DD once made a grilled cheese over the grill while other had the usual fare.

I think we all are aware of all the diet restrictions and most of us ask when extending invites.

One of the reasons I am thinking pasta salad is that it is easy logistically. The in laws live about 45 minutes away. And to smoke stuff we have to get there a few hours before the actual meal. So I can make a cold pasta salad the day before and just take it up in a cooler then transfer it to her refrigerator. I’d rather not “cook” in MILs kitchen—that’s just me being weird because everything is set up differently in her space (even washing my hands confuses me in her kitchen because she uses paper towels to dry hands???). Something that I have to cook the day of or heat up isn’t ideal.

The quinoa salad sounds good I will have to think about whether anyone would eat it—I would and dh would at least try it, but the rest of the crew is a little, umm, staid about food choices. Definitely keeping that in mind as an option for future meals if I don’t use it this time.

I think the cornbread will just not be vegan. Substituting for dairy is easy but for egg isn’t as easy. And since I’m thinking my 14 year old will make it, it really should be from a mix. He can cook but still messes things up sometimes so for an “event” it needs to be easy.

Buying coleslaw might be a good choice. I was thinking I would have to make it to be vegan, but maybe Whole Foods would sell vegan. I might have time to stop there today and see what they have.

I like fruit desserts a lot. And they are easy to make vegan (ds used to be allergic to milk so I’m pretty good at substituting for dairy). But I do not want to have to make one for this event because I don’t want to end up feeling like I did a ton of work for my Mother’s Day. So I was thinking I would just buy all of the dessert items. Oh and coconut milk ice cream is delicious (soy and rice milk are terrible though).

Chips and hummus are a great idea. Maybe also carrots and celery and some salsa?

Thanks!

Got you about not wanting to cook in MIL's kitchen. Though if you have a slow cooker, you can make chili ahead, bring the whole slow cooker, and plug it in any old place when you get there.

When Gooster mentioned avocado, it reminded me of a Tex-Mex bean salad I've done that is similar to what I pinkmountain suggested (was this the recipe? https://www.skinnytaste.com/southwestern-black-bean-salad/). I've never had a recipe (I was imitating something I had at a potluck), but I don't put in cilantro or jalapeno, and I do flavor the dressing with cumin and garlic. Otherwise it is very similar to the linked recipe. I'd probably wait on adding the avocado until you got to your MIL's, but everything else could be done ahead.

For coleslaw, just buy it shredded in a bag, and then add your own dressing. One easy one is a raspberry vinagrette or some other store bought kind of vinagrette. If you want to be vegan. I also make a cilantro-lime coleslaw dressing, that is good but a little "out there." I love it. Not traditional though. Can add canned pineapple bits to coleslaw if you think the vinagrette is too sharp.

I forgot about the eggs in cornbread. I would probably not mention it to the vegan unless asked . . . We just happen to use soy and almond milk a lot because SO and I are mildly lactose intolerant and we have it on hand to use up. My favorite cornbread is with buttermilk!

Brownies are my "go to" with Tex Mex. Wonder if you could get some vegan ones? The closest easy vegan brownies I could find near me would be a mix. I end up buying fruit salad a lot because it is such a pain to make! I'll bet you could even find some vegan ice cream bars. They sound gross but I bet they make them. Ice cream is one of my weaknesses!!

Coconut based vegan ice cream is delicious - I like Coconut Bliss. And do check for a vegan brownie mix. Maybe your son could make those, too. Probably not enough time to get this from Amazon, but a local health food store might have it - or a food co-op.

If you want easy, I can vouch for this: Amy's canned black bean chili. It's vegan, very good and sooo easy! Put it in a casserole to transport and heat it up; no one will be the wiser! Amy's Black Bean Chili

You may be an experience vegan cook, but if not, just be sure to use organic sugar, no honey. Sugar uses something in the processing that vegans won't eat. I believe it is missing in organic sugar, but check labels. Agave is a good sub.

Good luck and make it as easy on yourself as you can. I think asking your nephew to bring a vegan dessert is also a great idea.

These two are to die for and I don't have to have dairy free (my grandson does).

https://www.haagendazs.us/products/non-dairy/chocolate-salted-fudge-truffle-non-dairy/

https://www.haagendazs.us/products/coconut-caramel-non-dairy/

This is a delicious salad that is better the next day. You would have to omit the honey and maybe add some sugar. It's great as a side salad or a dip with chips.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Beet sugar is considered vegan as it's not processed with bone char.

I checked today and Whole Foods always has a vegan green salad option and they have vegan coconut milk ice cream so we will stop there on our way for those items.

Thank you for all the suggestions and help!

Nannygoat, thank you for that information about beet sugar. I think I knew it long ago, but had forgotten. I buy organic, so it's not a concern, but good to know anyway.

Oly, it's tricky because not all cane sugar is processed with bone char--some use granular carbon, which does not contain animal products. Beet sugar is the best option to avoid confusion.

Or organic which isn’t allowed bone char. And better for farm workers and the planet :)

I just want to thank you all again.

I made this vegan macaroni salad: https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-macaroni-salad/. A vegan twist on a fairly classic southern dish, which fits in nicely with smoked ribs, I think. Even the non-vegans agreed it was good.

We bought a superfoods vegan salad from Whole Foods, which several people liked.

And our nephew seemed particularly pleased that we had gotten the coconut milk ice cream, which he could eat and mentioned specifically that he likes.

Also, on a side note, my eight year old made the fruit salad. I was really pleased to have her help and she was very proud of herself, especially because it was the first time she got to use a sharp knife independently. And my fourteen year old made yummy cornbread for us all.