Christmas dinner and vegan and vegetarian guest?!
Christmas dinner and vegan and vegetarian guest?
what kind of dish can I do for these two fellows so they will not starve and yet have something tasty. The vegetarian does eat dairy.The vegan worries me.
Answers:
Their are many options go to http://www.veganmeat.com/recipie.html... as a good host having a lovely salad with garbanzo beans, mandarin oranges and raspberry vinaigrette, then a lovely squash or legume side and some nice rich bread (egg and milk free) try peasant or pumpernickel. Don't over stress or specify that the vegetable dishes are vegan specific to the house just letting your specific guests know will suffice people tend to react oddly to what might be considered vegan. The Vegetarian will probably not mind cheese/ milk and egg it's the Vegan that has the no food from a face rule.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=v...
Stuffed Squash.
There are LOT'S of things you can make for them! Look through the resolved questions here regarding vegan thanksgiving. You can also use that search box to search for vegan thanksgiving for lots of ideas. Lastly here are some vegan recipe sources.
All right let us come up with other ideas. The best thing you can do is to try to work around your own menu.
Stuffing is usually vegetarian friendly. If you use butter, put some aside and use margarine to accommodate the Vegan guest. You can buy plain firm tofu, cut it into 1 cm. small cubes. Suate the tofu cubes some olive oil, add spike seasoning and add it to the stuffing for the vegetarian guests. Vegetarians eat stuffing as main course.
If you make mashed potatoes. Put some aside and add margarine instead of butter and add plain soya milk instead of milk.
I guess you will have vegetable, salad. Just keep in mind the no butter and egg factor and you will be all right.
Hope this helps.
My friend makes a cashew loaf that is to die for!
Not sure what she does but it is really good!
Vegetables are always a good idea. I'm not much for traditional foods, so pastas can be a neat alternative as well.
Leek Croustade, with soft creamy Leeks on top of a nutty bsicuit base. For your vegan friend you might replace the cheese and milk with non-dairy alternatives.
Dont forget the veggy gravy, and yu should be okay with all the vgetables and roast potatoes if you keep them clear of meat stock.
Re. "Tofurkey products are the best Christmas option if you are not familiar with Vegetarian/Vegan cooking. It is really delicious so everybody can eat some.."
Please, no. I've never eaten meat in my life, but wouldn't touch that stuff.
Re. "The vegan worries me."
I am amused.
Fairly basic vegetable and pasta dishes are probably the safest. I suppose you could make a cheese-free pesto to throw on some fettucine; toss in a few artichoke hearts and plum tomato slices. Roast some potatoes in a separate pan from the turkey; have another vegetarian vegetable side, and I'm happy.
But, for heavens' sakes, why doesn't anybody ask us to BRING something? I usually enjoy bringing a dish or two a lot more than I do risking somebody's luke-warm lentil-n-tofu bake with steamed celery, etc, that they got off of "1002-untested-vegan-recipes.c... Run your menu by them, suggest some veg stuff you can make, and ask if they'd like to go with what you're already happy and comfortable with cooking, or if they'd enjoy bringing something. If you feel weird about asking somebody to tote their own food to a Christmas dinner, you could always ask them for a shopping list, buy the ingredients, and invite them over to cook it at your house. Depending, of course, on how much you like them.
Fruit and veg curry. Chop onion, carrot, sweet potato, squash, zuc, and saute. Add to big cooking pot on med/lo with some olive oil. Saute mushrooms, cauliflower, apples and add to pot. Add your favorite curry, and be fairly heavy handed, some folks like the paste, some like the powder. To the cookpot add chunks of pineapple, peeled chopped orange (largish chunks), dried cherries, raisins and two really large scoops of peanut butter. Add vegetable broth and one or two cans of coconut milk. Dry saute one of the following as a topper- shredded coconut, sliced almonds, chopped peanuts, toasted walnuts. Serve over rice. You can also spray a baking dish, lay down the rice, scoop curry over the top, top with nuts and baked in a low oven til caserole like.
The vegan will thank you for a very tasty, nutritious meal that should help keep him going.
Vegan food should be acceptable to both. Chili with polenta squares can be made ahead of time to make things easy for you. Chili can be assembled with onions, canned beans, corn, and tomatoes and add spices. It can sit in a crock pot all day. Recipes can be found online. I don't use garlic or garlic powder in chili so any gas resulting from the beans won't make antisocial smells. Polenta doesn't need cheese in it. There are some slice and heat ready to use polenta products out there. Other than that you can make acorn squash stuffed with stuffing, pecans, dried cranberries, etc. The problem with that is it looks festive, but isn't very filling. The Accidental Vegan is a good cookbook to use if you have all the basic cooking skills.