UKC

Hello all

My daughter has become a vegetarian/pescaterian over the last few months and my wife and I have followed suit, though I am not committed and don't call myself a vegetarian.

I am going to cook Xmas dinner for us, usually I'd do rib of beef, which is out now, but I'm looking for something really special to cook but I'm finding most of the dishes I find on the internet fairly uninspiring, often just the usual nut roast or for some reason lots of curries.

Does anyone have any good (show stoppers) recipes? Only caveat is that none of us like mushrooms and that I have an allotment with lots of winter vegetables (parsnips, swedes, leeks, brussels) that I'd like to use.

Any help appreciated.

Jason

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Can’t offer you a show stopper I’m afraid, but baked whole celeriac or cauliflower works well as a centrepiece.

You could also do something good with a massive baked cheese.

I’m pescatarian and I’m more than happy with wads of roasted veg on Christmas Day.

Worth trying different glazes for roasted veg like carrots and brussels; soy sauce works well.

I’m sure some of the foodies on here will come up with something good.

Can I come to you for Christmas dinner!

In reply to jasonC abroad:

A friend once did this butternut squash and caramelized onion galette as the centrepiece of a "veggie roast":
https://smittenkitchen.com/2007/10/butternut-squash-and-caramelized-onion-g...

Very nice, looks good, goes well with normal Christmassy veg and sides, and relatively easy, particularly if you cheat and use pre-rolled pastry.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Honey roast parsnips are amazing. You could do Yorkshire puddings with veg oil. Other than that I've no idea.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

A large piece of salmon makes a centerpiece in just the same way as a joint of meat.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Make a massive pie with short crust pastry. Make a thick veggie stew, line the pie dish with short crust, fill it and either top with more, or top with mashed potatoes. Maybe some chopped up quorn burgers or sausages to add bulk and texture.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

My sister and her family are vegan.
They eat a very nice nut roast.
You can have it with the usual mix of oven roasted vegetables, roasters, carrots, celeriac, parsnip, halved onion, whole garlic etc. Instead of gravy she makes a very good sauce made from a red wine and port reduction mixed with vegetable stock or bouillon.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://a...

In reply to Ramblin dave:

That looks good my daughter loves onions so it would go down well.

Thanks

In reply to jonnie3430:

Yea, that would probably work as well, possibly with some cheese

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Veggie Wellington goes down a treat.

Grated parsnip, grated carrot, shredded leek, onion, garlic, herbs, finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, cheese(s), chopped up hazelnuts. Sauteed all the veg, add the cheese, herbs and nuts until the cheese melts. Wait until cool, beat an egg through it, roll into a tube shape and stick it in the fridge to firm up. Wrap in puff pastry, egg wash and bake in th'oven. Slice thickly and drown in veggie gravy.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

My mash nearly always has cheese in it, usually stilton, caramelised onions too, when I feel fancy.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

If fish is OK why not go for a Czech Xmas and do carp.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Someone posted a link to this on here before:
https://www.bosh.tv/recipes/mezze-cake

We've made it a couple of times, and I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Roasted veg (esp potatoes and roots) are always complemented with chutney in our household.

Vegetable crumble can make a nice change for the main dish.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

All sorts of options. You could do a lot worse than look at Ottolenghi's recipes in Plenty, and also in Jerusalem. Since my wife went (kind of) vegan a few months ago, we have used these books time and again, especially Plenty. The best recipe, I think, is the ratatouille in Plenty. It is a pile of aubergine, pepper, onion, garlic, chilli, parsnip, potato , squash, french beans , courgette and tomato and is simply wonderful. Well worth a place at a Christmas meal. If it were my choice, I'd have his vegetable paella too, (and stick some sea food in it if no-one minded). The Maqluba in Jerusalem is amazing, too, but is best done with more nerve than I had the only time I've done it. To serve, you need to flip it over, tart Tatin like. I didn't dare, and regretted it.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

• Vegetable stroganoff can be very good - mini corn of the cobs and some cashew nuts can be good additions if you are not fussy about air miles!
• If you want something disgustingly cheesy then Tartiflette (without any lardons) using Reblochon is amazing on a cold day or in smaller amounts as a starter for a celebratory meal
• If you are willing to do fish then a more traditional trout or salmon/other with veg and hollandaise might feel more Christmassy

HTH S

In reply to Gone for good:

Just to be awkward, I'm not even vegetarian but absolutely adore nut roast. No idea why it's got such a bad reputation.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Not a vegetarian but was served this by a friend. Was so good I didn’t bother with the turkey after and went back for this. Can’t recomend enough and is pretty easy to make.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chestnut-spinach-blue-cheese-en-croute

In reply to jasonC abroad:

I hope its a taste thing and not ethics, didn't understand veggie bacon.

Why not just have an Xmas dinner minus the Turkey and supplement it with extra veg?

Obviously you need to turn a blind eye to the arthropods killed in the farming process (organic or not)

Problem sorted.

In reply to Alex Slipchuk:


u r confusing this request with vegan ethics

if there's no meat in a meal then another protein-rich dish will add both nutrients and taste/interest

In reply to jasonC abroad:

If you gave me a choice between just turkey or just trimmings I'd go for the latter every time. There's enough in a christmas dinner as it is although as a centre piece my vote would go for the nut roast also.

In reply to pebbles:


Because its often made really badly by a put-out host/chef as a bit of an afterthought for the token veggie, and as a result is often criminally dry. Has generally improved a lot over the past few years, perhaps something to do with the rising numbers of vegetarians and vegans?

In reply to jasonC abroad:

A very simple but impressive dish is Salmon En Croute/ Wellington. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/salmon_en_croute

In reply to jasonC abroad:

well we always do a nut wellington, with lemon or orange sauce, pan fried brussel sprouts (the only way my family will eat them), with honey glazed parsnips and carrots in butter and caraway seed, plus roasted potatoes. We did a stuffed bread one year but went back to the wellington the next.

With the leeks you could do a lovely leek and mustard quiche/tart.

In reply to Pete Pozman:

Carp is totally grim. The worst fish I've ever had

In reply to jasonC abroad:

http://www.naturalcookeryschool.com/root-vegetable-cobbler/

In reply to J1234:

I suggested that but my wife and daughter were not impressed for some reason.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Thanks for all the replies, some great suggestions, I will definitely make a couple of them.

Jason

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Same here, welcome to the club!

I will try the following recipe for my daughter, while the rest of us will enjoy the traditional goose. By coincidence I just saw it in todays edition of the Spiegel.

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/rezept-fuer-veggie-weihnachtsbraten-fotos...

It is a fake roast made mainly from almonds and mushrooms.

I know you said that you dislike mushrooms, but if you are converted by the pictures I would be happy translate the recipe.

CB

In reply to jasonC abroad:
Friends of mine have recently become vegan, for rather convoluted reasons which probably are more to do with clean eating than animal welfare, but as a consequence, I have discovered Christmas pudding is essentially vegan, if you use a veg suet. Although the recipe I use is delia’s, the eggs are completely redundant and it holds together just fine without them.

Ps. What do you feed a vegan teenager that doesn’t really like vegetables. All my middle eastern type fall backs are met with contempt!

In reply to toad:

I met a vegan once, she seemed to only eat chips.

In reply to marsbar:

I taught a vegan once. She put on two stone in two years and blamed my course.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Well you could always try Bacon Butties, test out the commitment to veggism.

In reply to cb294:

Thanks but I think mushrooms are out.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

I had a veggie come to our new years party, in fact a vegan most of the time, and she very kindly said veggies love vegetables and was happy to have the main course minus meat.

There yeah we have someone else whos veggie, and I'm doing roast pork. The squash and onion combo above sounds great, going to make some kid of lattice or vol au vent stuffed with that. As I know he's a environmental vegetarian rather than an ethical one (reduce meat use not anti slaughter), I'll check first but I should be able to share a cider gravy base on the pork residues.

If not, miso paste can be used to make a rich gravy.

I'll probably make some interesting vegetables, like honey roasted parsnips and cauliflower cheese.

In reply to marsbar:


Proper ones made in beef dripping?

In reply to marsbar:

I don't get the joke.

In reply to J1234:

So funny..

In reply to aln:

I don't think it was a joke. I think it was an anecdote.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

The secret with nutroast is to cook it, let it rest, cut into slices then fry the slices. Much tastier, serve like roast meat with sauce, gravy or chutney etc. plus trimmings. 

In reply to aln:

It wasn't a joke as such, its true and more an observation that being vegan and healthy eating don't always go together.

In reply to mbh:

Was it a cookery course?

In reply to marsbar:

No, it was a joke from her that there was so much work to do that she never got out. For my part, I saw her eat a lot of junk food.

In reply to toad:


You have to disguise them; my 13yr old lad doesn't like beetroot - except when concealed in a chocolate cake !

In reply to jasonC abroad:

The answer is and will always be curry with the trimmings

In reply to Gone for good:


that looks wrong with all that soyamilk.
i've been given some chestnuts so may try something like this: youtube.com/watch?v=llv-Jutv7zs&

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Some suggestions from the Guardian. If nothing else you can laugh at the comments.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/18/purple-pickled-cabbage...