veggie christmas dinner?

Question

lots of family coming for dinner christmas day.my son in law is vegetarian and would like to make him something special.because when he comes here for a meal i just give him same as everyone only replace meat with a couple of veggie burgers or such like.not very adventurous . i would be grateful for some ideas. thanks

Answer 1

Definately use chestnuts, they're a festive treat. Here is a recipe which is like a Beef Wellington - normally meat & veg in a pastry case. It looks impressive, and can be sliced, like the turkey. Everyone can have a slice. I used this recipe several times for Christmas & it was great.

10 oz packet cooked chestnuts
2 sticks celery
large onion
garlic, fresh parsley, thyme, or packet of stuffing mix
grated rind & juice of a lemon
black pepper

150ml veg stock

1lb Brussels sprouts

Pastry:
8oz wholemeal flour, 4oz marg, cold water to mix, egg to glaze.

Use a 6in deep cake tin, greased & lined. Oven Gas mark 6, 200.
Make the pastry & put in fridge.
Chop the chestnuts & put in a large mixing bowl. Mix in all the dry ingredients except the sprouts. Knead together on a board.
Back in bowl, add the stock.

Cook the sprouts well, drain & mash.

Roll out the pastry, line the tin with two thirds.

Place in half the chestnut mixture - firm it down so you get a nice texture when it's cut. Add the pureed sprouts, then the rest of the chestnuts.
Cover pie, seal edges, decorate with pastry leaves & glaze well.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 mins, then lower heat to 150, Gas 4 to finish. Annoyingly, my recipe card does not state total cooking time!! I haven't got a recipe for Beef Wellington, perhaps you could find one & compare. Will be cooked when pastry is golden.

Can be made on Christmas Eve to serve cold.
Good luck!

Answer 2

As Micheal H points out, it is a very vegetarian friendly meal with all the veggies and potatoes, and I'm always more than happy to just eat it minus the meat. But my family always give me some quorn fillets as well, and that's more than special enough for me. Quorn make chicken style escalopes with goats cheese and cranberry, I think these would be delicious with a Christmas dinner. But they also have a huge range of other ones, like garlic mushroom or gruyere cheese. My ex boyfriend's family used to have me round every Sunday for a roast, and his mother would put a Linda McCartney country pie with mine- it was delicious!!!

I am sure your son in law wouldn't want a whole seperate meal, so getting him a nice Quorn or Linda McCartney thing would be more than enough. Just have a look at the whole range and see what you think would best complement the things you're putting in the meal, just a little thought will go a long way and I'm sure he'll be very grateful.

Answer 3

Christmas dinner is the easiest in the year for veggies.

I don't know why there is an obsession with providing a "centre piece" to the meal, I guess thats the meat-centric way of thinking.

Think of all the types of veggies you have on a christmas plate, some boiled, steamed or roasted. What could be simpler or more tastier that a plate of our finiest veggies ?

Don't fall into the trap of offering him veggies that have been contaminated with meat stock or fat. Keep the veggies away from spitting meat etc, and use seperate cutlery to serve.

Also, veggie stuffing shoudl be served.

Answer 4

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Answer 5

Quorn do a roast, which is kind of like a turkey roast. Also, tesco have just brought in a nut roast which is very similar but made with soya. I am veggie and they are both very nice. This is what I'll be having for xmas dinner this year!

Answer 6

I'm a veggie and for Christmas I always get a nut roast. Marks and Spencer do the best I've found so far. They're soooo good.

Answer 7

There are loads of Christmas recipes available through the Vegetarian Society....have a hunt through this link and you will see what I mean...

http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/christmas.html

Good for you for trying to be accommodating to your son in law!

MISTAKE!
I just looked at all the recipes on that link....now my mouth is watering and I'm HUNGRY!!!

Answer 8

One year, for a vegatarian friend, I went chestnut picking, collected loads of them, roasted them in the oven, and then extracted all the chestnut. Add some salt, pepper, mix together and roast in a bread tin or something similar.
It's not as fiddly as it sounds and it was so tasty...better than the meat!

Answer 9

Pasta primavera or pasta with marinara is always good. Although if he's vegan, the primavera won't work since it's got cream and cheese in it. I'm assuming that he doesn't eat fish or seafood since you're looking for vegetarian recipes. However shrimp is always good if he eats it. Quinoa stuffed peppers really look like an entree, are packed with protein, and are vegan, so they'll work for any vegetarian, also they actually taste good.

Answer 10

Quorn do a 'roast' which is really nice (I usually take one to my Mum's for xmas dinner as hubby and I are veggie and M&D are not). You can find them at Tescos and Sainsburys. They take about 40 minutes to cook.

Make sure you give him veggie gravy too!