Vegan Christmas Dinner

Eriopis

Hi, so this Christmas will be my first as a vegan - I'll be at my mother's house at Christmas, so will need to go well armed with vegan Christmas dinner ideas!
What do you have for Christmas??
I've seen some nice looking recipes for vital wheat gluten/ seitan based roasts, and I can order some of that from the UK (I could also wash it out of flour but I've found that can be a bit unpredictable - one roast is fabulous, the next not so great, etc.). Totally ridiculous that we can't get it here by the way - Ireland actually is a major producer of vital wheat gluten, it's just not sold on the domestic market.. apparently you can only buy it here by the tonne :rolleyes:
Anyway, what are your favourite Christmas meals, Veggies?

Zombienosh

This will be my first christmas as a veggie, and it'll be at the in-laws, I dunno if I should bring something and make my own sort of thing or make the most of whats there, There's some veggie roast thingies in health food shops, dunno if they stock any vegan ones.

zyanya

I'm not a vegan, vegetarian, veggie or anything, but I reckon if I had vegan/ie/etarian guests over, I'd find out whether they eat cheese, and offer them:

- vegetarian Lasagna, half of it could have four cheese sauce, and the other half with creamy tomato sauce. It could be regular tomato sauce if they do not eat cheese.

- for a side dish, slices of potato cooked with cream and cheese (again, if they eat it, if not, with some nice sauce)

- palmitos (heart of palm, lots of my Mexican folks think a Christmas is not christmas without them), served in salad, usually with cherry tomato, olives, spinach, sometimes apple, etc.

blatantrereg

Lentil loaf can be good, and goes well with traditional xmas vegetables etc in place of turkey.

Personally I had a lentil curry for xmas dinner before and was most happy with it, but it's not very christmassy really.

madrabui

Have a google for Mushroom Wellington. It looks like a proper feast suitable for the Christmas table.

Eriopis

madrabui wrote: »

Have a google for Mushroom Wellington. It looks like a proper feast suitable for the Christmas table.

Wow, brilliant!

nervous_twitch

zyanya wrote: »

- vegetarian Lasagna, half of it could have four cheese sauce, and the other half with creamy tomato sauce. It could be regular tomato sauce if they do not eat cheese.
.

If someone gave me a lasagne at Christmas they'd have it on their head

I've done nut roast for the past 10 years (I know it's a tad archaic, but the tradition had made it very Christmassy for me. Plus I make Cornucopia's recipe, which is wicked) but this season I'm going to do a veggie wellington. I kind of want to have a few practice runs, but then at the same time I don't want to taste it before the big day, otherwise it becomes less special..

Unfortunately OP I'm using egg to bind, but asides from that it's vegan!

zyanya

nervous_twitch wrote: »

If someone gave me a lasagne at Christmas they'd have it on their head
QUOTE]

awww i love lasagne, anytime! :pac: i like it way better than turkey anyway!

nervous_twitch

zyanya wrote: »

nervous_twitch wrote: »

If someone gave me a lasagne at Christmas they'd have it on their head
QUOTE]

awww i love lasagne, anytime! :pac: i like it way better than turkey anyway!

:pac: I love lasagne too, I have it once a week, but Christmas is meant to be special and that!

nervous_twitch

Also, lasagne and mash and sprouts etc is a disastrous combination.

Raminahobbin

I'm planning on making this, which is completely vegan if you get the JusRoll pastry and Linda McCartney sausages.

It's delicious, and so so easy to make, but much better if you can make it fresh and serve it straight from the oven. It's still lovely for the next day, but a bit drier.

Mary-Ellen

Last year I made mushroom and cashew nut roast and it was yummy.

A few weeks ago I trialed a cranberry and macadamia nut roast and it was great too.

Still can't decide which to have on the day

I like having something to go with the veg and potatoes sides and gravy on the day.

Zombienosh: Two years ago I bought a nut roast from M&S that was gorgeous. You could offer to bring something like that to the inlaws. I think the roasts can be a bit of an aquired taste.

SilverLiningOK

The last few years I have had various thali type combinations - vegetable curry, aloo gobi, chickpea dish, and spinach dish. Some of these were made the day before and keep very well. I have even once brought it to my inlaws and resorted to the microwave to heat it up. Some ideas on that here - Veggie thali

It goes without saying that christmas can be a tricky time to be vegan or vegetarian without some planning and advance preparations. Cornacopia used to do meals packed up in take-away containers a number of years ago which were handy when eating away from home or in an omnivore situation.

henryporter

This year it's going to be Cashew Loaf with Squash Stuffing and Chocolate-Chili Gravy for me and the Mrs. - a Denis Cotter recipe - it has one egg for binding but could be replaced with either that vegan egg replacer stuff or some ground flax seed whisked in water.

zyanya

nervous_twitch wrote: »

Also, lasagne and mash and sprouts etc is a disastrous combination.

(not mashed, sliced, mister!)

Not for me! I'd have that combo anytime! I'm not much of the ruley sort. 'sides turkey is "special" because we made it so, prolly because it's a pain in the bum to cook. If it was available anywhere anytime, it would not be so overrated!

Serendipity99

http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/408014_Redwood_Cheatin__Meat_Free_Turkey_Roast_390g.html

Shenshen

I would usually make lentil roasts or wellingtons, and they are lovely indeed to have on christmas.
This year, I'm going to invite some friends over and I'm planning on something a little more refined. I'm going to make mushroom mousse (if you've seen Masterchef UK recently, Michel Roux Jr made chicken mousse lined with sliced mushrooms, I plan for mine to look similar), pommes dauphine, spiced red cabbage and honey-roasted carrots.

I've yet to find a really good recipe for the mousse, but I hope to have it perfected by christmas.

An Ri rua

I'm veggie / vegan since 20 and I'm 39 now.

We've always gone the nut loaf route or more recently the M&S route. They have fantastic centrepieces that fit nicely with the classic Christmas dinner.

Vegetable stock for gravy or more recently I'm using a Swiss vegetable bouillon powder that I got in Holland & Barrett. Its from www.marigoldhealthfoods.com. In fact, I drink it daily as a broth.

Or there's always carrot crush. Everyone loves carrot crush. Especially with David senior's organic carrots!

Benny_Cake

An Ri rua wrote: »

I'm veggie / vegan since 20 and I'm 39 now.

We've always gone the nut loaf route or more recently the M&S route. They have fantastic centrepieces that fit nicely with the classic Christmas dinner.

Vegetable stock for gravy or more recently I'm using a Swiss vegetable bouillon powder that I got in Holland & Barrett. Its from www.marigoldhealthfoods.com. In fact, I drink it daily as a broth.

Or there's always carrot crush. Everyone loves carrot crush. Especially with David senior's organic carrots!

Don't forget the fruit punch! Banana..check, Blue WKD...check!

My first vegetarian Christmas, and the first with the in-laws so it will have to be something that can be prepared in advance and heated up on the day. A lentil and nut roast, or I may go the M&S route.

kainzed

Well done & I hope you have a successful Christmas dinner. If you want to cheat a bit & not stress out over prepping & cooking on the day, try a product from the redwood cheatin range. http://shop.redwoodfoods.eu/miscellaneous/christmas.html. My healthshop in Clare get me anything I want.
Im Vegan for many years & have 2 Vegetarian Brothers & 2 Vegetarian sisters . They usually have Quorn but have also had Vegan Mushroom wellington.
For starters in the past I have made fried Polenta rounds with creamy home made vegan mushroom sauce. Gorgeous. Also we have had Vol-au-vents lined with lettuce & filled with a mixed of fried cubed tofu, ripe avocado cubes & covered in a blend of egg free mayo & ketchup.. (like Marie rose sauce) .
Main course this year will be the usual sides of Croquettes ( I think Green Isle still do them vegan), Pureed potato ( soya milk & marg), Tomato stuffed with breadcrumbs, Asparagus, carrots & .... Tofu, waterchestnut, walnut & spinach filo triangles. There will be an emergency packet of nut roast mix in the press in case it all goes wrong.
Good Luck :-)

An Ri rua

kainzed wrote: »

Well done & I hope you have a successful Christmas dinner. If you want to cheat a bit & not stress out over prepping & cooking on the day, try a product from the redwood cheatin range. http://shop.redwoodfoods.eu/miscellaneous/christmas.html. My healthshop in Clare get me anything I want.
Im Vegan for many years & have 2 Vegetarian Brothers & 2 Vegetarian sisters . They usually have Quorn but have also had Vegan Mushroom wellington.
For starters in the past I have made fried Polenta rounds with creamy home made vegan mushroom sauce. Gorgeous. Also we have had Vol-au-vents lined with lettuce & filled with a mixed of fried cubed tofu, ripe avocado cubes & covered in a blend of egg free mayo & ketchup.. (like Marie rose sauce) .
Main course this year will be the usual sides of Croquettes ( I think Green Isle still do them vegan), Pureed potato ( soya milk & marg), Tomato stuffed with breadcrumbs, Asparagus, carrots & .... Tofu, waterchestnut, walnut & spinach filo triangles. There will be an emergency packet of nut roast mix in the press in case it all goes wrong.
Good Luck :-)

Right, that's that settled. I'd be as quick driving to yours on Christmas Day as driving to M&S in advance.

We can't wait to see you and catch up !! Your long-lost cousins :pac:

Tar.Aldarion

OP if you like fake meats and are in dublin, we got the cheatin turkey roast in down to earth, 8.70 though!


from that redwood site, it has a flat shipping of £5.50 and only delivers to UK, however you could use parcel motel for E3.50 on top of that to get it delivered here. (first two parcel motel parcels are free). SO if you order a lot it would be well worth it, as long as it didn't spoil.

Tar.Aldarion

kainzed wrote: »

Well done & I hope you have a successful Christmas dinner. If you want to cheat a bit & not stress out over prepping & cooking on the day, try a product from the redwood cheatin range. http://shop.redwoodfoods.eu/miscellaneous/christmas.html. My healthshop in Clare get me anything I want.
Im Vegan for many years & have 2 Vegetarian Brothers & 2 Vegetarian sisters . They usually have Quorn but have also had Vegan Mushroom wellington.
For starters in the past I have made fried Polenta rounds with creamy home made vegan mushroom sauce. Gorgeous. Also we have had Vol-au-vents lined with lettuce & filled with a mixed of fried cubed tofu, ripe avocado cubes & covered in a blend of egg free mayo & ketchup.. (like Marie rose sauce) .
Main course this year will be the usual sides of Croquettes ( I think Green Isle still do them vegan), Pureed potato ( soya milk & marg), Tomato stuffed with breadcrumbs, Asparagus, carrots & .... Tofu, waterchestnut, walnut & spinach filo triangles. There will be an emergency packet of nut roast mix in the press in case it all goes wrong.
Good Luck :-)

Actually when you order int eh different foods from redwood, how much more do the shop add on, what price do you get these things at compared to the redwood site?

kainzed

ha ha !!!Love it !! Thank you Red King :-)
We are around the same age... around :-) ! I went Vegetarian at 14, Vegan at 18-ish. Things have really changed haven't they ! For the best too .

kainzed

Att Tar Aldarion... ( its easily known Im not used to Boards :-)
I think its best to get your nearby/local health shop to get in the products for you, they wont pass on the shipping charge. Hopefully

flikflak

Planning to make something this year - anyone got any tried and tested recipes they might care to share? Have done some researching but cant seem to find anything that takes my fancy!

Thinking along the lines of nut roast but fancier - does that make sense?!

Shenshen

flikflak wrote: »

Planning to make something this year - anyone got any tried and tested recipes they might care to share? Have done some researching but cant seem to find anything that takes my fancy!

Thinking along the lines of nut roast but fancier - does that make sense?!

Try a nut roast Wellinton.
I've done it with a lentil loaf filling before, so there's no reason it shouldn't work with nut roast. You can get vegan puff pastry (made with margerine), so all you'd need to do is wrap the nut roast filling up in it, decorate it nicely, and bake.

flikflak

^ thanks

I have some puff pastry in the freezer so could make use of that. Now just to find a decent tried and tested NR recipe.

schemingbohemia

Nigel Slater had a nice nut roast recipe in the Observer a few weeks ago, see here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/nov/18/nigel-slater-meat-free-christmas

There is egg in it, but a vegan substitute would be easy - also cream for the parsely sauce but again easily replaceable.

edit - sorry honey also.

flikflak

http://www.squidoo.com/parsnip-cashew-nut-roast-recipe

Going to make that as it seems quick and easy and wont cost me a fortune in nuts!!

Already used my pastry to make mince pies!!

lotar

i would make a chocolate cake with choc icing in the middle and dusted with icing sugar so it looks christmassy