Vegan / vegetarian Christmas

[Darker]

Any thoughts for the main meal? I’ve got so guests who are vegan / veggie. I’m still waiting for the final details of what the dietary requirements are but want to get some ideas together in advance.

Mushroom Wellington !

Dust……..

Sage n onion stuffing is normally vegan. Many gravies are vegan. Just do the roast potatoes in oil.

You can get some very good vegan deserts ready made - see BOSH as one example.

They might want vegan / vegetarian wine.

I made a nut roast from the Bosh cook book along with their gravy last Christmas which was so easy to do and really nice.
I roasted the Brussel sprouts with chestnuts and made my own version of pigs in blankets.

This year I'm making a squash and cranberry roast.

Not the Linda McCartney chicken roast . I bought one for Sunday dinner and it was vile . Too sweet and a funny texture .

Quorn roast is nicer , don't overcook and let it stand a while .
(Though I don't like Quorn mince and Linda McCartney mince is ace . Go figure )

I sometimes make a Nut Roast from a GH recipe ( white nuts, onions , breadcrumbs, cooked chestnuts lemon thyme . There's egg and cheese in it but you could omit that . It freezes well .

Do you mean something you can buy ready made or do you want recipe ideas?

I’m vegan and make lots myself but to be honest there’s so much good stuff ready made now that if you’re cooking for various requirements, I’d probably buy ready made. M&S and Waitrose do some good stuff. Also Tesco Wicked Kitchen range do a No turkey crown which I’ve seen good reviews of although not tried. I’m not a fan of the meat substitutes myself but some people like them if you want a direct turkey replacement.

For recipe ideas I usually use some of the ideas from bbc, Jamie Oliver and Waitrose.

I'd buy in something readymade as I wouldn't trust my vegan celebratory culinary skills.

Or Pre make something experimental and freeze it till the day.

Internally I'd be thinking 'can't they just bring their own bloody food as I have no idea what to make and it's stressing me out'.

My DH swears by the M&S vegan nut roast that comes with cranberry jelly sauce. He loves it.

I have made for him in the past;

• cauliflower cheese wellington

-mushroom and chestnut wellington (made with a red wine sort of gravy then wrapped in pastry) -stuffing balls with morello cherry sauce (just morello cherry jam heated up and mixed with a little red wine and reduced). -butternut squash roasted and stuffed with rice, sultanas, pomegranate seeds and flaked almonds. (actually, I might make this for him tomorrow as we have a orast planned)

Sometimes though he is happy with the sides making up the main meal.

Oh, and in case you don't know, jus roll puff pastry is (usually-unless there has been a recent change) vegan, so it's great for tarts and wellingtons.

ThatsWhatI

You just follow a recipe, same as any other cooking. But if you find that difficult or aren’t a great cook then there’s nothing wrong with asking them to bring their own main. I certainly wouldn’t mind.

Here you go! Rose Elliot's Mushroom and Chestnut EnCroute

We have had this for Christmas lunch for about 15 years!
It's really nice, I make two now, one with GF pastry.
We have it reheated with fry up on Boxing Day.
We also serve Quorn roast alongside, and maybe a nut roast too.

I love my Christmas lunch so much.

Delia Smith has a recipe for parsnip roulade. It has stuffing in it. It is absolutely delicious, and the meat eaters ask for some alongside their turkey.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/jewelled-squash-chestnut-mushroom-wreath

I made this last year and it was delicious!

Internally I'd be thinking 'can't they just bring their own bloody food as I have no idea what to make and it's stressing me out'

So much for it being the season of goodwill!
Most of the suggestions are to make something a bit special but a no effort veggie is easier and quicker than messing about with a Turkey crown or whatever. A nut roast bought from a supermarket a few days in advance is all that is needed
Cook the roasties in sunflower or rapeseed and everyone can have them and a small saucepan of gravy with no juices from the meat. Its not hard or stressful.

Thanks for all the ideas. I need to pin down exactly what can/can’t be eaten.

I’m thinking the whole thing is in the balance anyway because of covid.

I'd just ask what they'd like. Sainsbury's sell veggie pigs in blankets which are lovely.

We're veggie and used to buy pre-made frozen Wellington etc. as we used to spend Christmas with family who didn't have room to let us make something.

Now we have Christmas in our own home we've become lazy and usual do quorn chicken fillets and focus on the sides - lots of roast potatoes, roast sweet potatoes, roast carrots, roast parsnips, peas, pigs in blankets etc.

They are not in the UK so they won’t know what’s on offer. I’ve never even met them!

Darker
There are many fabulous suggestions on here. The beauty of a nut roast is that it can be made in advance so that you are not stressing about it on Christmas day. Nearly all of them are variations of the same thing so are dead easy to make.
If you dont want to do that just replicate the meal similar to everyone elses but with a shop bought nut or quorn roast ( buy in advance, sometimes I've struggled to get one if Ive left it too close to Christmas and this leads to stress)
The gravy can be done separately if you prefer a more meaty one. I like a veggie port gravy.
Dont forget roasted sprouts and chestnuts are veggie! Most stuffings are also veggie as well as well as the relishes such as cranberry sauce.

Whether Yorkshire puddings should be on a Christmas dinner is always controversial ( absolutely yes!) But again as long as you use a veg oil they are veggie as well.

Just a heads up to those suggesting a Quorn roast as it is not vegan. DD vegan and I have been checking foods recently.

Huge mushrooms roasted stuffed with sage and onion stuffing and goats cheese in a bistro and red wine gravy is what my husband loves. He then has all the same veg as us.

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/vegan_wellington_28288

We made this last year and it was lovely

My brother & SiL are vegan, you are so lucky to be able to host them now rather than a few years ago when choice was not quite so varied!

If you want to go all out rather than buy a ready to cook main, Gaz Oakley’s Vegan Christmas is around £10 on Amazon and is absolutely brilliant.

Just be aware that not all Quorn is suitable for Vegans. Paxo is the only vegan stuffing I’m aware of, which obviously can’t have butter added to it. Vegan mayo is pretty good and vegan spread (butter) is always good to have for sandwiches.

For snacks and sweets, unless it’s specifically vegan, they can’t eat most crisps because they have milk in them. BBQ Pringles are vegan though. Lots of bags of slightly posher vegan crisps in Sainsbury’s, lots made from chick peas. Sainsbury’s are also doing some lovely vegan cookies atm too. Asda’s do lots of Vegan chocolate in their Free From range and Sainsbury’s do vegan Kit Kat’s (green and red packaging with a big red V on a white background, can’t miss them, although they’re £1 each!). Galaxy do a vegan hot chocolate but I’ve only found it on Amazon. Hotel Chocolat do a vegan range and lots of the darker chocolates are vegan (I think Bourneville is, but don’t rely on that!). Skittles are Vegan, along with Rowntrees Fruit Pastilles, jelly tots and tutti fruit is, anything made by Candy Kittens (although they aren’t the cheapest). Lots of Swizzels sweets are vegan (love hearts etc).

Whether Yorkshire puddings should be on a Christmas dinner is always controversial
But even with veg oil they won’t be vegan because of the egg and milk.

Veggie is easy, vegan needs planning. Our DS1’s partner is vegan and will be staying over Christmas so probably a nut roast will appear at some stage . She is such a sweet person and so appreciative of the trouble we take to give her food she can eat that neither I nor head cook DH mind making a big effort for her.

Whether Yorkshire puddings should be on a Christmas dinner is always controversial
But even with veg oil they won’t be vegan because of the egg and milk

No one said they were vegan.🤷‍♀️

The Op asked for vegan/ vegetarian ideas.
Yorkshires clearly come in the vegetarian section obviously.