Christmas dinner option for health conscious vegan guest

[Coffeehouse22]

Hi, hope u can help. My brother is bringing his girlfriend over on Christmas day for the first time. She's vegan and initially I was going to buy a Quorn roast or ready made nut roast from m&s but brother says that she's also very very health conscious and doesn't eat any processed food. So I'm stuck for ideas now. Is Quorn roast processed? What else could I serve? A pie or Wellington might be out of the question because of the pastry. Could I make anything with tofu? Any ideas would be so helpful.
P.s. I'm not a great cook and have small DC including a 10 month old so need something as simple as poss to make. x

People giving you complex recipes for you to cook on top of the normal coming you are already doing are feeding into the narrative that women must slave over Christmas to please everyone

Let your brother cook and bring a vegan dish that passes muster, that you can just reheat

We’re having macsween veggie haggis (it’s also vegan) this year. A very easy option-it just needs microwaving for a couple of minutes. It’s also a good stuffing for butternut squash.

I think nut roast mixes are a lot less processed than quorn; just breadcrumbs, dry veg and nuts. Mix with water and oil and bake . Or a ready made nut roast. I would be wary of fake meats .

[quote BeastOfBODMAS]If you can, I would get her an artisan grains nut roast. They stock them in Holland and Barrett, Lidl, Morrisons that I know of, as well as most health food stores.

Dead easy to make, comes in its own baking tray and you add water and make up like a stuffing mix.
You can do a wide eyed “I asked in the health food store so hope you like it” if she’s a tricky character!

www.artisangrains.co.uk/our-range/nut-roasts/[/quote]

This is what I was thinking of !

Thanks guys - all great ideas. I am leaning towards the easiest option....the roasted cauliflower. Not going to spend ages on making a bit roast...lovely as that sounds. If the cauliflowers not good enough then they can bring their own or just eat the vegetables x

I've made various vegan-friendly wellingtons in the past, which can be made the day before and then cooked on the day.

But if ready-made pastry wasn't acceptable I'd go to Cook and buy the butternut squash nut roast stacks.

I agree with pp- ask her.

I’m veggie and quite happy to eat whatever. I’ve been places and had salad and bread and butter if the roast veg etc are cooked in animal fat. My inlaws really don’t get the vegetarian thing and thing roast potatoes and veg cooked in lard are fine, fish is fine, maybe a bit of chicken?

Quick message if a/b/c would be best- i’d probably admit I’m a shite cook and point out at least the ready made stuff has more of a chance of being edible, and say she’s welcome to bring her own if needed.

Otherwise have a load of salad, bread, and flora spread in so at least she won’t starve :)

DB created this problem, DB then should sort it out. He should bring it with him

A quick cheat way (she won't know) is a packet of stuffing made up, finely chopped onion, can of chestnuts and handful of cranberries with a tsp cinnamon- bake for 25 mins. Alternatively grate stale bread and add herbs then it's truly from scratch but I would ask them to bring her main

I’d just buy a nut roast, they are almost always vegan and quite minimally processed,

I'd do something simple, a variety of mushrooms with garlic, quickly cooked in olive oil, served with lentils. Some of the vegetables the family were having could be offered also depending on how they had been cooked.
If you had time, you could put together a selection of beans, with chickpeas & tomatoes warmed through, served with cous-cous with some chopped olives, capers etc stirred through.

@MrsWooster

I would be telling my brother to sort this out. Admittedly I am in a state of general simmering rage and resentment, but to A. spring this on you at this stage and B. have such extreme requirements on Christmas Day? Bollocks.

That's exactly how I feel! If I was given a few weeks' notice that would be completely different but springing it on you like that? She needs to bring her own dinner. Or maybe your brother should, OP?

I'd do something simple, a variety of mushrooms with garlic, quickly cooked in olive oil, served with lentils. Some of the vegetables the family were having could be offered also depending on how they had been cooked.
If you had time, you could put together a selection of beans, with chickpeas & tomatoes warmed through, served with cous-cous with some chopped olives, capers etc stirred through

Yeah. You say this is “simple”. If you aren’t a natural cook, it isn’t.

I wouldn’t have the first clue how to serve lentils with fried garlic mushrooms. I’d need some sort of recipe to follow. Same with the second suggestion.

Believe me I’ve tried. The cous cous would be a solid block of blandness, the beans and lentils wouldn’t be much better.

Unless it’s toast, for me cooking isn’t simple.

Does she really not eat anything processed, ever?! That is quite extreme. As a pp said, even elite athletes will have the very rare treat, esp when in someone else's home and when you have cooked.

Maybe your brother is making her out to be fussier than she is. I wod have thought a vegan nut roast or pie would be fine (pre-bought).

If not, a nice big plate of sprouts is about as unprocessed as you can get!

Tesco have loads of lovely vegan options!

No quorn or processed meat substitutes. I would make a simple veg pot pie for one, use puff pastry to make a lid, but don’t have a pastry base so it’s not as heavy on the carbs if she is fairly health conscious and it’s easy to remove / leave the lid if she really won’t eat pastry at all (jus-rol pre rolled pastry is vegan). My DD is vegan and has had this for Christmas dinner for the last 2 years as it’s her favourite! This year she has opted for a pea protein steak thing instead

This is the nicest nut roast I’ve made and dead easy - blog.wefifo.com/2019/12/jack-monroes-festive-nut-roast/

Roasted cauliflower is vile. Id rather eat dirt.

Vegan haggis is a good shout, but do whatever is easiest, @Brava you may not like cauliflower but would you have rejected all the other easy to cook ready made options ?

Keep us updated OP, hopefully it's your DB not recognising that if someone is vegan and they don't eat processed food and they've let you know 3 days before the meal without offering to bring their own main course , then that's actually a very rude thing to do.

@gogohm

A quick cheat way (she won't know) is a packet of stuffing made up, finely chopped onion, can of chestnuts and handful of cranberries with a tsp cinnamon- bake for 25 mins. Alternatively grate stale bread and add herbs then it's truly from scratch but I would ask them to bring her main

This is pretty much what I make for my Christmas dinner as I'm normally the only one not eating Turkey!

Can you speak to her direct @Coffeehouse22? I bet she wouldn't want you to go to any trouble.

I hope your DB will sort it out! I'm a complicated vegan (allergies too) and I'd never expect a host to cater to me, even on a normal day - let alone at Christmas. I think she and DB should have already offered, tbh, but maybe she doesn't know how he's describing her.

The problem with a slice of roasted cauliflower is that there’s no / very little protein in the vegan meal, so she’ll probably be starving after an hour. I would recommend the artisan grains nut loaf - what could be easier than adding water, stirring and bunging in the oven?

(The cauliflower suggestion reminds me of the “mushroom burger” sold in some restaurants, which is not a burger at all, just a bloody mushroom!)

Premade nut roast

Am sure she wouldn’t want a fuss made but think this is better than quorn

My best friend is a vegan who avoids as much processed food as possible. She would be happy with a plate of veg and a vegan pudding. I know asda mince pies were vegan and may still be.