To tell newly vegan guest to bring their own dish on Christmas Day?

[GunpowderGelatine]

I'm hosting Christmas day at my house this year, not something I've done in ages. There's ten of us, including the kids, which is a great number - my plan, like every year I cook, is to order M&S food and pick it up on Christmas Eve then just bung it all in the oven and make some homemade gravy. I usually get a pork joint as I'm not a turkey fan, but will also be getting a turkey joint for my guests. I'm not usually the type to stress about Christmas dinner (it's only a roast after all!) but I also want it to be as simple as possible. One of my guests has declared they are now vegan. Which is a bit of a PITA for dinner if I'm honest as I'll have to sort a vegan main, gravy, dessert etc. I also have a nut allergy sufferer in the group which excludes quite a lot of vegan options as mains.

WIBU to ask the newly vegan guest to bring their own dish on the day or is that really rude? I've kind of planned the food around the size of my oven/hob and could do without the added stuff having to go in it (don't mind warming something up though)?

@Lovesgood can you summarise how veganism isn't healthy or good for the environment? I've not got time to read the book, but am very curious about what you said. I'm not vegan, by the way. I'm not going to 'fight back'!

No I didn’t eat substitutes. But a lot of things use a lot of oil Instead of things and it all just tastes rank. Vegan Yorkshire puddings are probably one of the most awful things I’ve ever tasted.

This comes up every year, but the difficulty with veggie or vegan Christmas isn't cooking a veggie or vegan meal. It's veggie-fying a meatfest, which is much more difficult. If it were an ordinary family get together it would be no big deal to do chana daal instead of chicken curry or whatever. This is something quite different. As an omnivore I'll happily eat vegan food, one of my favourite places to go to is a veggie Indian and I couldn't give less of a fuck about the lack of meat... but this is Christmas dinner.

The best thing though would be for OP to select something vehan and nut free and hope the person doesn't mind it being in the oven with meat. OP will they be ok with that?

@Crunched roast potatoes in coconut oil will be absolutely repulsive. I will never understand why people cook anything with that garbage. It's incredibly unhealthy, as well. Just use olive oil, for god's sake.

make or get some spicy red cabbage with apples everyone will like it &it just gives extra to a roast

No I didn’t eat substitutes. But a lot of things use a lot of oil Instead of things and it all just tastes rank.

That’s just bad cooking. Proper cooked from scratch vegan food is just good food.

I think it's rude to invite someone for dinner and then not cater for them.

I think it is even more rude to accept an invitation for dinner and then, sometime later, present a list of dietary requirements. When offering to cook, it is always best to specify what you are cooking in advance then the guest can choose if they want to come and eat (for example) chicken fajitas or not.

@Monstranceclock Have you tried vegan cheese? Is it worse than the Yorkshire puddings?

I love lots of vegan food, but the cheese... jeez.

About The Vegetarian Myth:

Patrick Nicholson writes that the book misinterprets scientific articles, cherry-picks facts, uses strawman arguments and relies heavily on anecdotes and faulty generalisations.[5] John Sanbonmatsu interprets Keith's rhetoric as apocalyptic and millenarian. He argues that Keith's nutritional arguments are grounded on anecdotes and lacks proper scientific backing.[4]

make or get some spicy red cabbage with apples everyone will like it &it just gives extra to a roast

Ooh yeah that's a plan! Love that stuff.

@Eckhart I have, it’s so disgusting my poor daughter is dairy free and has to eat some vegan substitute things and she’d rather go hungry.

Try and discuss it with them, saying you're not used to cooking vegan meals and could they bring their own. I've done that in the past (though we're vegetarian)

I would cater for the main by asking her to choose something from M&S and buying it. If no room in oven then just cook it beforehand and then microwave (not ideal but needs must). I think that's better than asking her to bring something.

Presumably there are preprepped vegan desserts (using coconut milk or whatever) that don't need prep, again just buy.

I don't think it's too big a deal to just do a few veg with olive oil rather than fat.

But I would ask her to bring anything else she needs for the day (assuming you're doing a tea later) so you don't have to buy loads of vegan canope type stuff that will be gross and expensive.

Actually I'm coming back to this as it's dawned that most of our xmas meal is probably vegan.

Roasties (and roast parsnips with roasty garlic and red onion bits) in olive oil.

Tons of veg, mostly steamed.

Mushroom wellington with port reduction usually. You'd have to find some sort of vegan pastry but that would be pretty much it.

However the bread sauce would be out!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Roasties with olive oil (not too much) and sea salt are the bizz

You'd have to find some sort of vegan pastry but that would be pretty much it.

Most shop bought puff pastry is vegan.

Holland and barrett sell mock duck in gravy that is vegan, could kill two (mock) birds with one stone with that one? www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/granovita-mock-duck-60062253?skuid=062253&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&&gclid=Cj0KCQiAn8nuBRCzARIsAJcdIfOiNQ61TMcJLiOTWZnoXKChX1Yd0dqMGtdTBwkClkIrtGu6dkt4bXEaAgs8EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have not RTFT and don't know what the general opinion is but think that it would be really rude not to cater to the vegan. It isn't that hard.

Why does everything have to come from M&S? THAT seems a bit faddy to me. Last Christmas at my house we had one total dairy-free, one low FODMAP who additionally doesn't eat pork, and one strict keto, as well as three other non-specific diners. My DH, who does all the Christmas food, catered for everyone (and none of this involved the use of a microwave). It just required a little thought, and not to be wedded to getting everything from a single shop. We thought of it like a fun festive puzzle...

@MonstranceClock your daughter has to eat vegan substitutes? Really? Why is that?

The Iceland snowflakes look easy for pudding (just defrost and serve) and this article has a list od what other supermarkets are offering. Tempura vegetables strikes me as something "accidentally" vegan if you need to sort a buffet too www.veganfoodandliving.com/iceland-releases-details-of-its-vegan-christmas-range-for-2019/

Why do dome people have to make such a fuss about nothing?

So you can cater for the non-pork eaters by serving turkey, and you can cater for the nut allergy by serving something without nuts, but you can't be bothered to cater for the person who is vegan? That doesn't seem fair. It's one thing if they offer to bring their own food, but I think it would be rude to cater for everyone but one person.

I'm vegetarian, but I have dozens of easy vegan recipes, without nuts, that can be made on the hob (lentil stew/soup with veg is extremely easy - you can get tinned lentils for 35p). Can even be made a day in advance and then just reheated on the hob.

It all depends on how special (or not) you want this friend to feel.

If I was the guest I'd offer to bring something but if not it's really rude to not cater for them.

I would make the effort, like you say the traditional one is just a roast, it's not rocket science unless you want to go to town so you can order a few ready to roll vegan options without it being too much of a pain. If they bring their own it may contain nuts too remember, even if you ask them to check. At least DIY you have control of what's on the table.