A few questions about vegan suitable food.

Paddy Cow

Hi guys,

I'm having a christmas dinner for a bunch of students soon and one of them is vegan. I'm planning on putting aside her potatoes and veg before I add butter etc. My questions are about gravy and stuffing. I've looked on the packet of Paxo sage and onion stuffing and it says it's suitable for vegetarians but doesn't mention anything about vegans. I'm assuming it's safe but I want to double check.

I don't have the bisto gravy packet, as I poured it into a container. Maybe it should be obvious that gravy is a no no but I haven't a clue what they use to make it. For all I know, it's just a load of flavourings with no real meat whatsoever. Please don't mock my ignorance, I've never cooked a vegan meal before If the bisto is not suitable, is there any substitute I can use?

Final question. I was thinking of using some sort of quorn product. Has anyone got any suggestions about what would be the closest to turkey and how would I cook it?

In case anyone is wondering, I don't want to bring it up with the vegan herself as she assumes that she's just getting some veg. She is a lovely, unassuming girl who used to stay with us but now just visits and she wouldn't want me to be going to any trouble. I want to make the effort and produce a dinner that is as close to the dinner everyone else will be eating so that it feels just as much a christmas dinner for her.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

henryporter

Hi Paddy,

Great to see someone making a conscientious effort for a vegan guest - my in-laws like to go 'LOL you can't have the potatoes as there's butter in them'. Ah well

So in answer to your questions:

The Paxo stuffing: http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Paxo-Sage--Onion-Stuffing-Mix/11087011 (presume that's the one), is one of those 'exactly how far do I take my veganism' products as it 'may contain milk'. Personally I say 'M'eh' as my palette of available foods would be seriously diminished if I avoided everything that 'may contain milk'

The gravy: http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Bisto-Original-Gravy-Powder/11097011?from=search&tags&param=bisto+gravy&parentContainer=SEARCHbisto+gravy_SHELFVIEW (again presuming it's the one) is also in the same category as the stuffing.

Quern products: Unfortunately not vegan as they contain egg. Maybe some tofu based product or seitan, but not sure where you are based in relation to a shop that might sell that stuff and what your time constraints are.

Hope the dinner goes well for you.

Tar.Aldarion

I find this "may contain" thing on a lot of products and still eat them, a lot of us are the same. Hard to avoid, it's just that it is used in products on the same manufacturing line and not deliberately in the product itself. As for a faux meat, health food shops tend to have something christmasy around this time of year, if not you could get her/make her a nut roast or something, fairly easy thing that tastes nice with gravy etc.

--LOS--

Hi Paddy!

The red bisto gravy and the paxo stuffing are fine, technically vegan so you can use those.

Some people mention the factory cross contamination concerns but for me that's just often a consequence of modern living. Unless you're eating very naturally, it's near impossible to buy from companies that don't also produce dairy and meat products or that aren't linked to parent companies which do, so something you have to reconcile with if you wish to continue to use convenience foods.

For me actually there's a much bigger problem in the ingredients in those two things, and that is palm oil. While palm oil is a vegetable oil, it wreaks so much environmental havoc and is contributing to species loss at an alarming rate, especially Orangutans. That is a much bigger issue imo than factory cross contamination concerns.

Some reading....

http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/Whats_the_issue.php

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animal...to-extinction/

I'm not meaning to overwhelm you OP, only just pointing that out in case other people are interested! I'm sort of thinking out loud here as well because I just checked that red bisto gravy in the press and didn't even know it had palm oil.

Anyway there are things like this which you either avoid or reconcile with. I guess that's why I prefer to make most things myself. If you have these things, just use them.

On to the fake meats, you really have no need to worry about trying to have something as close to what everyone else is having. The last thing I would want on Christmas is something to look and taste like turkey! Christmas food is about potatoes in a variety of forms :P, stuffing, gravy, root veg, sprouts, cranberry sauce, over-indulging and enjoying a drink, the atmosphere etc. Not having meat is only a gain, not a loss, turkey was only something for me to put cranberry sauce on and ham was only something for me to put mustard on, it's everything else that I would associate with the Christmas feel and taste though.

More vegans don't like those fake meat products than do in my (maybe limited) experience. For me it's not about replacing the meat but just having a protein source so that I'm not left feeling unsatisfied and hungry a short time later. It's frustrating when family and even most restaurants have this belief we only eat vegetables, when they forget about the vast array of high protein alternatives like beans, quinoa, lentils, nuts, etc. If you want to buy something rather than cook then I think something like Dees sausages would be better, while these can be described as fake meat, they're higher quality ingredients and really tasty but without mimicking an exact taste. Something pastry based like the Linda McCartney country pies would be good too, these are made from soy mince. These things are usually in tesco/dunnes. Even something as simple as mushy peas, peas are great for protein, I would prefer that than something which tries too hard to be meat and has no taste. Quorn products are not vegan as someone else mentioned. Seitan is fine too.

Maybe also check the cranberry sauce does not have gelatin although I think that is usually fine?

Are you doing dessert? If you are it would be nice to consider something since we always get left out here. Again if you're not sure of the types of food the person eats, go with something more natural like fruit salad and soya yoghurt (look for the alpro brands at the supermarket). The tesco 'mint thins' which are like after eights are very cheap and vegan friendly. Aldi do fruit sorbets, sorbet is always a good alternative to icecream.

It's lovely that you would be so considerate but honestly don't stress it, she's unlikely to go hungry with all the side dishes that Christmas is usually associated with. Hope it goes well!

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

Health food shops and bigger Tescos do a soya ice-cream called Swedish Glace which afaik is vegan and is lovely.

It might be a bit too much effort seeing as you're having a few people over, but lasagna is one of the easiest things to veganise. Soya milk especially and kind of almond milk tend to make much nicer, creamier bechamel sauces, it's easy enough to find egg free lasagna sheets, and you just replace the mince in the red sauce with lentils/tofu/TVP mince (personally speaking I prefer brown lentils for it). I've had it for Christmas dinner a few times, it's one of my own go-to meals and plenty of meat eaters have asked me for the recipe once they've had it.

Also I'm fuming, I've been making my own "gravy" for years, never even occurred to me that store-brands wouldn't have meat in them!

henryporter

Jorge Shy Tannery wrote: »

Health food shops and bigger Tescos do a soya ice-cream called Swedish Glace which afaik is vegan and is lovely.

It might be a bit too much effort seeing as you're having a few people over, but lasagna is one of the easiest things to veganise. Soya milk especially and kind of almond milk tend to make much nicer, creamier bechamel sauces, it's easy enough to find egg free lasagna sheets, and you just replace the mince in the red sauce with lentils/tofu/TVP mince (personally speaking I prefer brown lentils for it). I've had it for Christmas dinner a few times, it's one of my own go-to meals and plenty of meat eaters have asked me for the recipe once they've had it.

Also I'm fuming, I've been making my own "gravy" for years, never even occurred to me that store-brands wouldn't have meat in them!

Still - you can't beat making your own gravy - I'm having a chocolate-chilie one with the nut roast for Christmas dinner!

Zombienosh

chocolate chilli gravy?

Tar.Aldarion

I heard of that from Dennis Cotter a year or two ago, never tried, it seems to be made with nut roasts a good bit now!


I need a new gravy instead of Bisto now, damn you palm oil.

BMJD

Lidl have a twin pack of sorbets in a plastic sorbet glass for €2.49 or €2.99, they are really nice and look good too. They also have mince pies which appear to be vegan, they have plenty of other snacks too. A lot of their stuff is marked as vegan nowadays.

Zombienosh

Bisto had E621 MSG anyway, I think I use a Knorr one, its not vegan though

--LOS--

Jorge Shy Tannery wrote: »

Health food shops and bigger Tescos do a soya ice-cream called Swedish Glace which afaik is vegan and is lovely.

It might be a bit too much effort seeing as you're having a few people over, but lasagna is one of the easiest things to veganise. Soya milk especially and kind of almond milk tend to make much nicer, creamier bechamel sauces, it's easy enough to find egg free lasagna sheets, and you just replace the mince in the red sauce with lentils/tofu/TVP mince (personally speaking I prefer brown lentils for it). I've had it for Christmas dinner a few times, it's one of my own go-to meals and plenty of meat eaters have asked me for the recipe once they've had it.

Also I'm fuming, I've been making my own "gravy" for years, never even occurred to me that store-brands wouldn't have meat in them!

I think I saw on one of those fb groups that Dunne's have Swedish glace a lot cheaper than the health stores.

Do you have a nice recipe for gravy though? I find it hard enough to get veg stock let alone gravy here

braddun

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/vegetarian-christmas

henryporter

--LOS-- wrote: »

I think I saw on one of those fb groups that Dunne's have Swedish glace a lot cheaper than the health stores.

Do you have a nice recipe for gravy though? I find it hard enough to get veg stock let alone gravy here

Unfortunately you need veg stock to make veg gravy - easy to make the stock and freeze though - a couple of carrots, onions, celery stalks, garlic, leek, and parsley boiled up and simmered, seasoned and strained would sort out the stock, then for gravy heat up a tablespoon of veg butter in a saucepan, then add a tablespoon of sifted plain flour, mix together well and cook for a couple of minutes, then add 300mls stock a bit at a time continuously stirring to mix them up properly. Then add 1 teaspoon of miso, 1/2 tablespoon of soya sauce or tamari, 1/2 teaspoon of tomato purée, mix it all up, cook for about 5 mins, season and serve.