I need to cook a vegetarian Christmas dinner, help!?

Question

I'm having my vegetarian relatives for Christmas. My husband and I will not be eating meat that day either. So does anyone have a good suggestion of what I can make.

I want it to be something like one main dish with a few side dishes of veggies, salad and rolls. The main dish is what I am concerned about. I want it to be an easy no fuss meal. Something I can make ahead of time would be great. I'm not crazy about cooking on holidays so I would like some ideas on something easy but tasty that I can make that could be a tradition each year.

There will be six people at the table. The vegetarians eat dairy and eggs but noting with chicken or beef broth nor anything with jello in it. On of them wont eat fish but they all like mushrooms, cheese and pasta.

Please no tofurky, been there done that. It's also very expensive.

Answer 1

We have the same in our family. WE usually do either a lasagna with "fake" soy meat in it, or we do one with spinach and other veggies! It is very yummy either way, and it goes good with rolls and veggie sides!

Answer 2

Any health food store (like whole foods) carries something called "Tofurkey" It's a vegetarian turkey alternative. Its in a round lump kinda like a ham, so you even get to "carve it" at the table. There's your main dish.. Just read instructions and if you think they're kind of small, get two! Your vegetarian family will like it (and have probably eaten it before). It's easy to cook. Mostly just a matter of heating it well (although you can get creative with marinades and bastings...)

Also there are lots of stuffings that contain no chicken, beef, or pork broths.. Look for ones that say "herb" or something on the package and don't advetize themselves as "turkey, chicken, pork..etc" and check the ingredients.. It may take a few minutes of reading ingredients at the grocery store, but trust me, it won't be that hard to find one.

mashed potatoes
salad
nice bread rolls
a vegetable (like green beans, corn, etc)
a nice pie..

boom! you have a Chrismas dinner!!

Answer 3

I would probably do a quiche with gruyere or other similar cheese, onions, mushrooms, and maybe some spinach.

You could make a vegetarian meat pie as well.
Buy a Tenderflake all-vegetable pie crust, or make your own, and fill with 1 packet (approx. 2 packed cups) of soy 'ground beef' crumbles, 1/2 cup fried diced onions, 1/2 cup fried diced mushrooms, and 1/2 cup diced, cooked carrots. Throw in a teaspoon of thyme, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1 small can (1 cup) of mushroom or vegetable flavour gravy. Put the top crust on and bake according to the pie crust instructions.

Answer 4

It depends a lot on what kind of crowd you'll be serving. Would they be open to eating a seitan roast? (I serve it with mashed taters, gravy, green bean casserole etc.) You could also try making a nut loaf or burger loaf, a stroganoff, pesto on noodles. Or, you could make a large pan of lasagna, or a big pot of Chili (just use a good tvp like morningstar crumbles, if you want the meatlike version).

Another thing that seems to be a crowd pleaser is twice-baked potatoes. (I don't bother with them now that I'm vegan, but I used to love them.) You bake potatoes, cut them in half and scoop out the potatoes. Mix the potatoes with sour cream, chopped up green onions, and shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Put the contents back in the potato skins, and bake them with a little cheese on top.

OH! I know just the thing! Sorry, got a little excited there. :-)
But, Vegetable pot pie... yum, and everyone loves it! I use the recipe from The Compassionate Cookbook, just using potatoes instead of tofu.

Good luck!

Answer 5

tofurky is apparently pretty popular and tasty, and you can make stuffing and cranberry sauce

lasagnas alsays good, so are spring rolls (you can find fairly tasy premade ones at M and M or the grocery store) but neither are traditional vegetarin fare

if you want to do something more exotic; order in indian and forgo the cooking

Answer 6

There is vegetarian ham and vegetarian chicken. If you are interested I can direct you to the places that sell them. You can make pasta...like spaghetti...

I am a vegetarian for 15 years.

Good luck.

Answer 7

Make a nice spinach lasagne with a marinara sauce.
You could get some recipes from www.goveg.com

Answer 8

try making chick pea burgers , with stuffing or chick pea loaf with stuffing

Answer 9

try eggplant Parmesan