I know it’s been done before, but vegetarian twixmas

[AirborneElephant]

Just after some sense checking really, particularly from vegetarians. Have 14 coming between Christmas and new year. Just found one of the nibling’s girlfriend is coming, and she’s vegetarian. Have checked, she’s happy to eat cheese, dairy, honey and eggs and doesn’t object to meat being on the table. I want to make her feel welcome and included, but turning the whole meal veggie is not an option.

So the menu is a huge pork rib joint with crackling, sausages in bacon, pork and chestnut stuffing, goose fat roasties, Parmesan parsnips, pancetta and chestnut sprouts, red cabbage, glazed carrots with shallots, green beans, gravy. Starters will be nibbles with drinks and will include vegetarian mini sausage rolls and baby mozarella with sun-dried tomatoes as well as crisps and nuts, puddings are all vegetarian already.

The sides are easy to make veggie, although if anyone has a suggestion of what to add to the sprouts instead of pancetta to add a bit of interest please do let me know. Vegetarian sausages, stuffing and gravy will be done. The main question we’re debating is do I need to replace the pork as well, and if so what with? Pies ect would require too much oven space and specific temperature / time. Could buy or make a nut roast, but is it required with sausages and stuffing and sausage rolls, feels like too much of the same? Or I could do something like a cauliflower cheese or some sort of vegetable gratin that everyone can have. Maybe instead of sprouts? But does that still feel she’s missing a main? If you’re vegetarian which would you prefer?

I’m veggie. Often with a roast I just have sides because honestly that’s enough.

if you really want to do something get something pre-made.

Thank you. So you’d be a vote for just a veggie stuffing / sausage and the sides all being veggie then? I Could buy pre-made main, but other than sausages everything else will be 100% home made so I do worry that would stand out and look like an afterthought.

Go to M&S and buy their nut roast! It’s delicious we have it as an extra side with out meat - job done

@AirborneElephant if you’re worried about “buying” an M&S nut roast (which I would consider a treat) you could make one or make a mushroom, spinach and ricotta parcel in puff pastry (dead easy and could be prepped before hand - just glase with egg but honestly I don’t know anyone who’s been disappointed with the M&S nut toast. My friend is veggie she said it’s her favourite.

Do ypu have to cook your roasties in goose fat and put parmesan in your parsnips? That would be 2 quick fixes - all you'd need to add then would be a couple of veggie sausages.

Yep.

i’ve spent literal decades home making Christmas centre dishes that are veggie. They are either never as good as the shop ones or take three fucking days to make.

A nut roast is easy to make and they freeze well. Perfect as a veggie main. Just drop the goose fat, us veggies love roast potatoes too!

We do veggie sides, roasties cooked in oil.

Chestnuts with the sprouts, instead of bacon.
Cauliflower cheese.
Nice to have a veggie main, even if it is pre-made: M&S nut roast for Xmas day, and something from the Aldi veggie frozen range at other times. They usually do something like a festive rosti or cheese/veg/pastry bake.

No, I will change the roasties to oil and butter and the parsnips to a vegetarian hard cheese, and leave the pancetta out of the sprouts. As you say, easy fixes, all the sides will be veggie. My relatives aren’t the sort to complain about not having meat in every dish, even if some of them will expect a meat centrepiece.

Thank you all for the M&S nut roast recommendation. I think I will stop overthinking and get a large one or two of those (in case others pinch a bit!). Together with all the sides it’ll be a nice roast dinner. There will be enough to do for 14 without paranoidly making something by hand that isn’t really in my cooking comfort zone!

AirborneElephant
That's a fair bit of a change to the meal just for one person.
Did you really ask the vegetarian (I think you said it was a she but not certain now) if she minded meat being on the table? What if she had said yes?
I'm not vegetarian but like to have a couple of days a week meat free.

I served this when we had roast chicken, even ate it myself and it was very good.

Your sides sound delicious! As a veggie I’d definitely be happy with what you have planned.

Vegetarian here - I HATE nut roast. Vile things. Try subbing chestnuts for the pancetta in the sprouts - not the same flavour but does make them more interesting.

I’d be fine with one of the posher supermarket ready cook options - M&S do a shallot tarte tatin, for example, or a squash stack thing. Whilst I would be okay with just the veggie bits from a roast, it would be appreciated if you made an effort for a veggie centrepiece.

Also if she’s not vegan, I’d go for a veggie option, some of the vegan stuff is extremely processed or dull.

I asked the nibling’s parent (my SIL). She’s had the gf over a few times so I’m taking her word for it 🤷‍♀️. It was in the context of SIL asking me if it was ok to add her to the invite. If she’d said no meat can be on the table I probably would have said no. Obviously we can manage meat free meals sometimes, but with 14 coming including some fussy eaters (meat and 2 veg PILs) plus some committed carnivores (two of whom are weightlifters so want a lot of protein) it would have made things really difficult on this particular occasion.

Making the sides vegetarian isn’t adding any extra work really, it’s just a tweak. And vegetarian nibbles are replacing some I would have done with meat, so again not a big change. So it’s really buying a nut roast and probably adding a cauliflower cheese, others will also like that and she can help herself to whichever she prefers.

I think I got too hung up about no pancetta with the sprouts. It's my favourite side dish.
I also like roast potatoes cooked in goose fat.

Well, me too! Still, there will be other occasions over Christmas when I can have both 😛 . And there will be pigs in blankets by the bucketload, so I can sneakily add some bacon to my sprouts on my plate 😆

Good thinking! It all sounds delicious.

I have been veggie for over 40 years. My ex-PIL and their close relatives would always panic. So I was served some horrors at Sunday lunch, from various supermarkets. I was always polite and said I hadn't seen that one, lovely, thank you so much. Their thoughtfulness is what i always remember. They tried to include. Genuinely @opsounds as if that is what you are doing. Thank you - alternative diets can be tricky.

I dont eat meat and love a roast dinner- i just have everything but the meat and a cauliflower cheese. can’t stand veggie sausages personally (cardboard) so i dont bother with them and sprouts are fine plain.

Garlic is good with sprouts. Black garlic if you are feeling fancy.

As a veggie of many, many years, an M and S nut roast and making the sides veggie would be fab.

What I came on to say is if you’re putting everything out for people to serve themselves, please consider the spoons. If they’re not used to sharing with a veggie, people take spoons out of meat dishes and use them to help themselves to vegetables. A reminder to people to use the serving spoon in each dish for that dish only to avoid contamination would have been appreciated.

Sprouts- ginger and garlic (Ottolenghi recipe I think)

I think you do need a main for her but the m and s nut roast is fine

I'm veggie and we do the roast veggies separately in their own roasting pans with olive oil. I do adore plain roasted parsnips.

For animal fat roast vegies you can make in a different pan that looks different, and label them a lot.. Even a masking tape on the side if silly people might switch labels. My aunty who does animal fat roast says it can be made in advance and reheated.

For the sprouts, they are nice if you parboil them first, then sauté them to caramelise. Some people chop up pinenuts or walnuts to add to it. I am trying the ginger and garlic suggested here as soon as possible.

Not all cheese and cream are vegetarian. Vegetarian Parmesan is easy to get these days, but traditional versions aren't always veggie-friendly. A vegetarian cousin sometimes quietly brings vegetarian cream for us as this one is difficult.

At my big family things there is bit of a need to keep a few serves of the vegie mains in reserve case they are snapped up.

I want to add my voice to those who enjoy a vegetarian nut roast, though only when my nephew isn't there due to his anaphylactic allergies. I'd much rather see my nephew than have a nut roast. I usually have it after Christmas, as it's just too much extra use of the oven on the day anyway. Oh my I cannot wait for Christmas now.

Thankyou so much.for being such an considerate host.

Thanks @AnotherAnnie . Cheese I’m aware of needing to check, but cream? I’ve never thought to check that, what is it that can make it non-vegetarian? I’ll only be buying plain dairy cream to use in the puddings.