I need food ideas for a vegetarian Christmas dinner.?

Question

No meaty dishes . This year I am entertaining guests who are vegetarians and besides veg salads, fruit pies and X'mas cakes, I am having difficulties coming up with something vegetarian which is appropriate for a X'mas dinner.

Answer 1

Vegetable Pie is a good entrée.
http://www.feastandfamine.com/vegetable_pie.html

Curried Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup is a great meal with a nice salad and some crusty bread.
http://eflorence.wordpress.com/2006/10/24/angelfood-owens-curried-creme-of-pumpkin-soup/

This site has lots of suggestions for a vegetarian Christmas
http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/christmas.html

Answer 2

Chunky Vegetable Stew - Crockpot

6 New Potatoes, Quartered
1/2 bag baby carrots
1 onion, cut into chunks
1 can vegetable broth
1 can diced tomatoes w/ Italian Seasoning
2 Tablespoons chopped garlic
Salt to taste
A few dashes of Kitchen Bouquet
**Quorn Tenders, Optional

Toss all together, except Quorn in crock pot and cook on low for
about 8 hours. This stew is actually best the next day!

If you add the Quorn, add them during the last 10 minutes of cooking.


You can double or triple this recipe.

Answer 3

Side dishes aplenty. Traditional side dishes, I mean. Including stuffing.

Most vegetarians have loads of experience with eating nothing but side dishes at Christmas dinners; it's usually fairly enjoyable.

Still, a few things always seem to be missing, to me.

-- cheese
-- fresh, uncooked, vegetables
-- pasta

Make the traditional sides, and throw in a cheese plate of good cheeses, a nice salad, and a luxurious cannelloni or something similar for a main dish. Cannelloni stuffed with spinach and ricotta in tomato sauce even looks Christmasy. Quiche is also a good idea. Make it rich, and, again, broccoli and red pepper would give it a seasonal look...

Please, no 'tofurky.' I wouldn't touch that stuff (or any other imitation meat -- yuk). And, try not to keep it too healthy. There's nothing Xmas about carrot sticks and lentils. But, baked potatoes loaded with toppings? Yes, please!

Speaking as a vegetarian who's been invited to a lot of omnivores' holiday dinners, I have to suggest that you ask them what they like. They might even be really happy to bring something.

Answer 4

There is a recipe in the Rebar Cookbook for Wild Mushroom Ravioli with Leeks, Cranberries and Citrus-Sage Cream. This is recommended for holiday dinners. They suggest you serve it with garlic-braised greens and rustic bread. See the link below to order the cookbook (everyone I know has it, loves it and uses it all the time).

Tofurkey is tacky. Most vegetarians would rather have a delicious home-made dish with fresh herbs and luxurious, seasonal ingredients rather than just another artificial meat product.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Rich Chestnut Casserole Serves 6 For the Casserole: olive oil, for frying 3 medium parsnips, chopped 6oz/175g baby onions 2 large red peppers, seeded and chopped 1 aubergine, chopped 1 courgette, sliced 6oz/175g button mushrooms 3 leeks, sliced 24 fresh chestnuts, cooked and peeled For the Sauce: 1 pint passata 8oz/225g fresh plum tomatoes, chopped ½pt/10floz red wine dash of vinegar 2 bay leaves 2 cloves garlic, crushed salt and freshly ground black pepper 1oz/25g fresh marjoram chopped For the Topping: 2 medium potatoes, par-boiled and sliced 1. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the parsnips and fry until soft. 2. Add all the remaining vegetables, except the leeks and chestnuts and continue cooking on a medium heat for 5 minutes. 3. Combine the sauce ingredients, then add to the vegetables. 4. Transfer to a casserole dish and cook in a preheated oven for 45 minutes at 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6, then add the leeks and chestnuts and cook for a further 15 minutes. 5. Remove the casserole from the oven, cover with potato slices and brown under a hot grill. Candied Sweet Potatoes 6 medium-size sweet potatoes, cooked and sliced Pan spray Salt 1/4 cup margarine 1/3 cup maple syrup 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional) 1 teaspoon orange juice Arrange cooked sweet potato slices in sprayed baking dish. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Melt margarine in saucepan over low heat. Add syrup, sugar, cinnamon, and orange juice. Simmer, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened. Pour sauce over sweet potatoes. Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes, basting frequently.

Answer 7

Tex-Mex Salad with Chili Vinaigrette

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:
Salad:
1 cup long grain rice
1 15 ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen whole kernel corn
3 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup red sweet pepper, chopped
Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup corn oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 pickled jalapeño peppers, stemmed, halved and seeded
1 teaspoon chili powder (or more to taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Preparation:
Salad:
Cook rice in salted water as directed on the package. (The rice can be cooked ahead and chilled.)

Combine cooked rice, beans, corn, green onion, and sweet pepper in a large bowl. Toss lightly to mix.
Vinaigrette:
Combine corn oil, lime juice, vinegar, brown sugar, jalapeño pepper, chili powder, cumin and salt in a blender container or food processor bowl. Cover and blend or process until smooth.

Pour dressing over rice mixture; toss to coat. Cover and chill until serving time or up to 2 days. Serve at room temperature.

Answer 8

When I was a kid, all I ate were the sides. Mashed potates, yams, brussel sprouts, cauliflower/broccoli with cheese sauce(not if the dinner is vegan), rolls, and turnip mashed with carrots.
If you want more of a entree, do a veg lasagne. Start with a salad and veg soup if you want to multi course.

Answer 9

Here's my recipe for simmered lentils. Just leave out the hamhock.

SIMMERED LENTILS

1 small onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
Olive oil as needed
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 oz. white wine
1 cup lentils
1 pint chicken broth
2 bay leaves
Rosemary, chopped, to taste
Thyme, chopped to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 ham hock
Parsley, chopped, to taste

Sauté the onion and celery in olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and sauté one more minute. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Add the lentils, broth, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper and stir. Place the ham hock in the center, cover, bring to a boil, and then simmer on low, covered, for 30 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Flip the ham hock halfway through and add more broth if necessary. Finish with the parsley and extra salt and pepper if needed.

Here's a sweet potsto casserole:

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

6 sweet potatoes
¾ cup white sugar
1 cup condensed milk
6 oz. melted butter, divided
1 egg
1 teaspoon orange zest
3 tablespoons orange juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, divided
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped mixed nuts, (walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.)
1/3 cup flour

Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork and bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes or until soft. When cool remove the skins. Increase the oven to 425. Mash the potatoes, white sugar, condensed milk, half the melted butter, egg, orange zest and juice, salt and pepper and half the nutmeg with a potato masher in a large bowl. Spoon into a greased 2 quart baking dish. Mix the remaining half of the nutmeg, brown sugar, nuts, flour and remaining melted butter. Sprinkle over the potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes. You may need to cover it for the last 15 minutes with aluminum foil to prevent the top from over-browning.

And the real fancy but delicious vegteable bundles:

VEGETABLE BUNDLES

Carrots
Celery
Leeks
Chicken broth as needed
Butter
Salt & pepper
Chopped parsley

This is an elegant looking, although time consuming dish. You’ll need an equal amount, (by weight), of the three vegetables, after trimming. Figure on four to six ounces per person. First, peel the carrots, trim the celery, and remove the dark green parts of the leeks. Leeks are very sandy by the way and must be rinsed thoroughly. Then weigh out an equal amount of each vegetable. Next, julienne the vegetables into strips about 2 ½ inches long and no more than one eighth inch wide. Then take the dark part of the leeks and cut strips ¼ inch wide. Blanch the strips in boiling water for no more than ten seconds and then run under cold water. Gather up equal amounts of the julienned vegetables and make little bundles about an inch in thickness. Tie the bundles with the dark green leek strips, trimming the excess. Place the tied bundles in a sauté pan and add enough chicken broth to come half way up. Add butter, salt and pepper and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are soft. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before service.

An alternative to this recipe, which eliminates one step, is to forgo making bundles out of the vegetables. After slicing them, either simmer them in the chicken broth and butter, or sauté them in butter and/or olive oil with no broth.

Chef Mark

Answer 10

Vegetarian Christmas and Thanksgiving have quite similar menus. Hope this websites will help you out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/focus/2002/11/vegan.shtml
http://www.vegcooking.com/f-thanks05.asp?c=weekly_enews
http://www.adoptaturkey.org/resources_recipes.htm