O/T Veggie Christmas

[MightyMitre]

Ladies - the time is fast approaching. It's nearly December so I feel I can finally mention the C word. Here in the UK some shops have had the decorations on sale since September!!!

Anyway, what do the veggies / non meat eaters / turkey haters out there have for Christmas dinner?

The last few years in our house we've had smoked tofu and roasted vegetables in a puff pastry platt. It's yummy and lasts for a few days but this year I'm looking for something new.

[fultzie]

Have you checked out the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks? They have one called "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for the Holidays" and they have a bunch of menu suggestions.

In their Thanksgiving section they have a recipe for polenta and roast veggies in place of turkey, or summer squash ravioli (which looked reaaaallly good, but my parents nixed any more food, since we were already set up for a week's worth of leftovers)... and there's a really good recipe for pumpkin pie! (and an apple/pear crisp)

I think they have an actual Christmas dinner section too, but I can't remember what the menu was...

[pedalfaster]

A lot of people have asked what we will be having at our vegetarian household for Thanksgiving. I like to take the traditional ingredients and put a twist to them:

Pumpkin soup --a traditional fall/winter favorite. Many good recipes to be found on-line. Can also be made with butternut squash. I like to throw in a Granny Smith apple for tartness. I season with cummin and curry powder and finish with fresh half-and-half (just a tad lighter than cream). I've done a vegan version with soymilk in the past, but you have to be verrry careful not to curdle. It's not quite as rich.

Potato-Leek pie: super simple and super decadent. Use your favorite pastry-crust recipe. I cheat a bit by under-cooking the new(red) potatoes in the microwave.Slice thinly and sautee in butter. Sautee thinly sliced leeks in butter(or olive oil for the vegans) and Champagne. Toss the veggies in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste and bit of good cheddar for the non-vegan table. Pour into your pie crust and bake until done. Best eaten with the rest of the Champagne!

Lots of veggie side dishes (i.e. blanched and refreshed green beans with olive oil, sea salt and toasted almonds).

Dessert will be a cranberry-apple crumble(topped with rolled oats) and fresh vanilla-bean ice cream.

We keep it simple, but we DO like to eat at our house.

Cheers!

[Veronica]

Post your recipe for dessert please. That sounds good!

V.

[pedalfaster]

MY daughter is home this weekend and is in charge of dessert. I found her battered, sticky recipe in our recipe file. Please note that we are "visual " cooks and measurements are approx.

3-4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped into cubes.

1/2-1 bag cranberries.

1 C brown sugar (more or less to taste)

1/2 C rolled oats

1/2 C flour

1/2 C butter

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

1/4 C water

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Arrange fruit on well-greased baking dish.

Blend all remaining ingredients, except water.

Spread mixture on top of fruit.

Pour water over topping.

Bake 45+ minutes, until fruit is tender and top is crisp.

***********
Just occured to me that that recipe will be *pretty* tart. If you want a sweeter crisp, make cranberry sauce according to package directions, undercooking ever-so-slightly, then ad to mixture. I'd ask my daughter exactly how she does this, but she's out at the movies.

[Veronica]

Thanks!

V.

[MightyMitre]

Yum! Very much like the sound of the leek & potato pie, esp the champers...

Fultzie - turns out I have Moosewood cook book sitting on a shelf in my kitchen. I think my BF bought is a few years ago when he was going through a culinary phase. Might have a flick through and see what I can find. Their website looked good.

I also like to cook with simple ingredients, but good quality. I made a butternut squash soup the other week and added in chick peas for a bit of bite, some red pepper and a bit of carrot too. Don't ask me for the recipe - I made it up as I went along.

If anyone is intertested the Vegetarian Society over here has a website with loads of recipies.http://www.vegsoc.org

There's also stuff about becoming veggie and general info.

[Roadrunner]

Asda do very nice veggie roast. We quite enjoy that with all the Christmas trimming and of course a vegggie gravy

[Roadrunner]

I forgot to mention sometimes we do a buffet style meal and One of the favourite dishes is Black eye bean stew (even the non veggies like it).

You need a packet of dried black eye beans (I get them from a local health food shop)
an onion
2 tins of tomatoes
Tomato puree (optional)
Mixed peppers
1 tablespoon of cooking oil and a little salt.

Boil the black eye beans with most of the onion until soft (approximately 45 mins)

Fry the rest of the onion and add tomatoes, peppers and salt.
Cook until reasonable. You could add the tomato puree to thikien the sauce if desired.
Leave standing for approx. 15 mins.

drain the beans and add to the sauce.

This can be served with rice, salad, potatoes or whatever takes your fancy

It can also be varied with mixed beans, which should idealy be soaked overnight or at the very least 4 hours.

enjoy.

[sburton]

Tofu Turkey at any and all family gatherings...my family eats meat, so my grandmother insists on preparing me my own "faux bird" (as my pop calls it). I have printed out all of the recipes and suggestions and will discretely slip them into her cookbook!--Thanks...looking forward to Christmas Dinner!