Vegetarian Christmas dinner - Advice

chewed

I'm having some of the in-laws over for xmas dinner this year and 3 of them are vegetarian, so was thinking of mixing it up this year and having 2 main choices for the dinner. I have the meat eaters sorted, but looking for some advice on a vegetarian mains. I was thinking of a nice nut roast with a sauce, but is this is a bit too predictable?

Does anyone have any good ideas for a nice xmas mains?

Shenshen

I'd say nut roasts are perfectly fine - just make sure it doesn't go too dry.
But if you want something less predictable, how about mushroom wellingtons?

chewed

Thanks for that. I like the look of them! Ironically I was going to do Beef wellingtons for the meat eaters so this could be a good alternative.

Parchment

Nut roast is fine - but many veggies are happy to just have the veg /potatoes etc.

I personally enjoy the vegetables and stuffing so much i dont want a "meat" substitute on the plate. Im happy to gorge on sprouts!

henryporter

Parchment wrote: »

Nut roast is fine - but many veggies are happy to just have the veg /potatoes etc.

I personally enjoy the vegetables and stuffing so much i dont want a "meat" substitute on the plate. Im happy to gorge on sprouts!

Not sure i would be impressed with a plate of veg and spuds! Where's the effort/nutrition in that?

You could do what my in-laws are doing OP - make us vegans cook our own meal (which is preferable tbh - otherwise we'd end up with something ghastly!)

chewed

henryporter wrote: »

Not sure i would be impressed with a plate of veg and spuds! Where's the effort/nutrition in that?

You could do what my in-laws are doing OP - make us vegans cook our own meal (which is preferable tbh - otherwise we'd end up with something ghastly!)

I agree! I want to try and make an effort and not just give them veg. I'm a part-time vegetarian myself (mon-fri) so will be eating the veg meal as well. I'm not a big red meat fan either.

I like the idea of a nice pie or nut roast, but don't want it to be too dry, so I'll need a nice (veggie) sauce or gravy.

Parchment

henryporter wrote: »

Not sure i would be impressed with a plate of veg and spuds! Where's the effort/nutrition in that?

You could do what my in-laws are doing OP - make us vegans cook our own meal (which is preferable tbh - otherwise we'd end up with something ghastly!)

Lack of nutrition? Its one day. The rest of Xmas day is hardly about peak nutrition anyway.

Maybe i'm a less fussy vegetarian but a plate of vegetables makes me very happy. Obviously i have veggie gravy too.

Hrududu

Parchment wrote: »

Lack of nutrition? Its one day. The rest of Xmas day is hardly about peak nutrition anyway.

Maybe i'm a less fussy vegetarian but a plate of vegetables makes me very happy. Obviously i have veggie gravy too.

I'm the same. Last year I had a nut roast but to be honest the plate of veg would have been fine without. If you have mashed potatoes, roasties, carrots, broccoli, croquettes, peas, stuffing and veggie gravy that's a terrific meal. I don't see how that would be lacking in nutrition. And even if it was it's just one meal.

cosmic

Hrududu wrote: »

If you have mashed potatoes, roasties, carrots, broccoli, croquettes, peas, stuffing and veggie gravy that's a terrific meal. I don't see how that would be lacking in nutrition.

There's no protein in there. But anyway, back on topic... OP, I love eating my nut roast on Christmas day. I look forward to it for months! There's nothing wrong with predictability

Shenshen

chewed wrote: »

Thanks for that. I like the look of them! Ironically I was going to do Beef wellingtons for the meat eaters so this could be a good alternative.

Funnily enough, we went to Ikea yesterday, and they had it on their menu.
It was seriously good, and despite sitting in an Ikea cantine, my plate had a definite christmas dinner feel to it

Tristrams Shandied

Shenshen wrote: »

I'd say nut roasts are perfectly fine - just make sure it doesn't go too dry.
But if you want something less predictable, how about mushroom wellingtons?

This is the recipe I use but I tweak it a little.

http://leonora-recipes.blogspot.ie/2012/11/mushroom-and-nut-wellington.html?m=1

I use a combination of regular white mushrooms, chesnut mushrooms and sh!!take*. I also add in some dijon mustard and grated parmesan into the mushroom/nut mix which really enhances the overall flavour and gives it an extra kick which isn't in that recipe. You can use an egg replacer for vegans and brush that on the top. You can get about 6-8 portions from one wellington.

*Boards seems to have a filter on the proper spelling of this

groovyg

Last year I made Ruby Tandohs picnic basket http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/picnic_basket_pie_50454



It was a bit of work but really tasty. I made some Red wine & juniper gravy from the Cornucopia book to go with it but it didn't really need it.

I made this the previous year Sweet potato, hazelnut and spinach en croûte, from the Cornucopia cookbook. It was divine but like a lot of recipes in the book, there are a lot of ingredients and it took a lot of time to put it altogether.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

It can be a bit of work assembling, but a veggie strudel is really nice, that's what I have every year. If you just google veggie strudel Christmas there'll be all sorts of recipes, depending on what your guests like you can pick one (Mediterranean, mushroomy etc). The one I have is a reeeeeally reduced tomato, wine and mushroom sauce, salted cashews and spinach.

You can use shop-bought pastry, and it freezes really well. Sauce etc can all be made in advance and it just needs to be assembled on the day, that sort of stuff is always worth considering when you have to cook two mains, IME.

Also I see you're vegetarian-inclined yourself so you probably know, but please be aware of things like potatoes that have been cooked in with the turkey, meaty stock and so on. It's always those details I dread when I'm going to someone's house for an occasion.

Tristrams Shandied

groovyg wrote: »

Last year I made Ruby Tandohs picnic basket http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/picnic_basket_pie_50454



It was a bit of work but really tasty. I made some Red wine & juniper gravy from the Cornucopia book to go with it but it didn't really need it.

I made this the previous year Sweet potato, hazelnut and spinach en croûte, from the Cornucopia cookbook. It was divine but like a lot of recipes in the book, there are a lot of ingredients and it took a lot of time to put it altogether.

That looks fantastic, groovyg. There can be a bit of prep involved but it's the same for most cooking in general at Christmas.

There are definitely lots of options for variety and something different. Here's a link for a roulade from the same website with the mushroom/nut wellington. It seems slightly spicy with a little curry powder but the colours look interesting, quite festive and Christmassy.

http://leonora-recipes.blogspot.ie/2012/12/lentil-mushroom-spinach-and-spicy-nut.html?m=1

eviltwin

I made rubys pie last year too. Didn't do the elaborate topping and made it a day before so it just needed heating. It was delicious and not as hard to assemble as you might think.

chewed

Thanks everyone for all the advice. Lots of interesting recipes here! I'm the only one cooking so will keep away from anything too complex. But I like the Mushroom Wellington and Christmas Roulade. May have to flip a coin!

LoonyLovegood

I make http://maureenjohnsonbooks.tumblr.com/post/36145946976/auntie-mjs-vegetarian-gravy every year with Christmas dinner, i've a bag of veg peelings that gets added to in the freezer for it, because I'm lazy and it's easy.