Help! Vegetarian coming for Christmas dinner

[Allaboutthegirliguess]

So we planned to have a quiet Christmas this year, but my son is now coming with his vegetarian girlfriend.

Can anyone help with what we can make her please.
We will be having a roast, meat, and our potatoes are cooked in goose fat.
Ideally I need something that wont create an issue as we are cooking our meal!
So maybe can be done before or done in the airfyer.

Hoping someone can come up with an idea
Tia

😂Awww Liz Smith, I loved her.

My son is vegan, and when we had a roast the other day, I got him the "Melting Centre Nut Roast" from Aldi (frozen). I think it is part of their Christmas range, as it had cranberry sauce in it.

I just popped it on a baking sheet in the oven, and he said it was lovely.

I do our roast potatoes in the air fryer. Goose fat in one drawer, oil in the other.

I do that, but with chestnuts in too, then I top it with puff pastry. It’s yummy!

I’m veggie. I am not a fan of Quorn or fake meats personally. I like nut roasts generally. Over the years I’ve found that most tarts and things don’t go well with Xmas dinner and I’ve come to the conclusion that as long as I cook the roasties in veg oil and I have bisto gravy I’m happy to just have cauliflower cheese and all the other trimmings for Xmas dinner.

Ask her what she'd like? If she likes fake meat stuff?
If you do the potatoes in oil rather than fat, she could have pretty much everything you guys are having and a lot less effort.

Par boil floury spuds, shake em about, roast them in oil and they are just gorgeous! Don't need goose fat. Am veggie and I literally have a pile of veggies, spuds and it's lovely on xmas day.

… as well as a character in the Royle Family …

@RubberyChicken knows that - it's a quote from the Royle Family

AWW Nana😀

As a vegetarian of 3 decades I encourage you to not over think it. I have the veg, potatoes just not in goose fat, and a Yorkshire pudding and I’m super happy with that. I honestly know no other vegetarian’s who like a nut roast. They sound horrendous! As others suggested if you want to, the quorn roast log, or M&S do a lovely cheese and squash small pie at Christmas. But honestly don’t overthink it. Just do some potatoes that are suitable. And then maybe one item as listed above.

Oh sorry @RubberyChicken and thanks for the correction @Mulledjuice 😂

We had a nut roast one January cos my husband wanted to do Veganuary. Have a look in the frozen veggie section in your local supermarket, there should be a few options. Do separate potatoes for her or just do all your potatoes in vegetable fat.

You buy a tub of veggie gravy and cook the roasties in rape or olive oil.
M&S have lots of veggie options but I usually make DIL a mushroom stoganoff pie. Be careful with quorn as a significant minoroty are allergic to an enzyme in oit.

Please check that she likes fake meat before offering that 🤢.

Vegetarian haggis is lovely with roast veg and gravy, also easy to cook and delicious so get enough that everyone can have some.

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/vegetarian-recipes/cheese-and-parsnip-roulade-with-sage-and-onion-stuffing

If you want to make an effort, this Delia parsnip roulade is absolutely delicious and feels Christmassy. You can make it the day before.

It goes perfectly with roast potatoes (cooked in olive oil, scrap the goose fat) and all the veg. Just have some veggie gravy as well as your turkey gravy.

I would so love this! Yum.

Oh wow so many amazing ideas!! My other half does our roasts and os always stressed by change.

I will look through these and will definitely try these ideas.

I will also tell him to just do the spuds in olive oil!!

Thank you all so much. I will teat a few out.

I knew this was the best place to ask 😁

Could you send her a link to the M and S vegetarian options and ask her which ones she would like?

You can then just add them to an Ocado delivery.

They look so good that you may find other guests want some too!

https://christmasfood.marksandspencer.com/l/view-all-food/vegetarian-and-vegan

https://www.ocado.com/categories/christmas/m-s-christmas/vegetarian-vegan/7780968f-1625-4afd-9bbf-983ab64fb80a

I would so not love this 😁

@Allaboutthegirliguess it's great that you have taken the suggestions on board. It really isn't that much of a change to use oil instead of goose fat, but please don't use rapeseed oil. Lots of people don't like it (I think it tastes disgusting).

Indeed!

NRTFT but last year I dedicated an air fryer drawer for our veggie guest and will do so this year.
Quorn ‘chicken’ breast, veggie pigs in blankets, roasties cooked in veg oil. All roast potatoes were pressure cooked and frozen a few days beforehand, a few put aside for guest.
I have a buffet tray for keeping food warm so did roasties first, one tray dedicated to veggie guest.
Gravy granules are ok, no animal products in but check label.
I cooked for 11 carnivores and one vegetarian and my veggie guest was very happy with her dinner. Obviously there was plenty of veg.
As I do a sausage meat stuffing I bought some frozen stuffing balls without meat.

DS is veggie. We buy him a veggie wellington from Waitrose which he loves. And veggie pigs in blankets, just so he doesn't miss out. You can separate out a few potatoes after parboiling and fluffing them, and cook them in oil in a small tray. Or just cook your roasties in oil this year. All other veg should be fine.

Lots of helpful tips here. It may also be worth knowing that some Bisto chicken gravy granules are suitable for vegetarians - my son insists on gravy on our veggie roasts but it's too much faff to make veggie gravy just for one, so Bisto is a very handy option! You want to get the bog standard one in the orange pot as the more pricey ones have actual chicken in. We eat lots of Quorn as we all like it but appreciate it's not for everyone.

If DH is doing the cooking, just talk it through & lay things out on the day so gravy/spuds are separate & habits like draining the roasting tin don't accidentally go into veggie stuff at the last minute.

Easy options - yorkies with veggie sausage & onion gravy. Any pre-made veggie main from the supermarket.

More show-offy options if he actually enjoys cooking & just needs some ideas to think about include meatless loaf (can go lentil/tempeh/quorn/mushroom led depending on her favourites), the stroganoff pie someone suggested earlier, or Riverford have a recipe for a lush mushroom wellington with puy lentils, I think we might have crumbled a bit of feta into it too. We made that on Christmas eve a few years ago & it went down a treat with everyone. Could absolutely make before & keep a generous slice back for veggie on Christmas day.

https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/mushroom-lentil-wellington

Lidl normally do a lovely spinach & cheese pastry tart type thing at Christmas. Vegetarian guests have previously had that with all the other trimmings and enjoyed their dinner.
Just obviously make sure she's definitely only vegetarian and not vegan.