8 Holiday Meals that Skip the Meat
During the holiday season families around the world gather around the table to share a meal and get into the spirit of the season. While many “traditional” holiday feasts have meat on the table, this year could be the year you try out a meatless holiday! These savory, hearty meals are fit for any family banquet.
You’ve heard of shepherd’s pie (usually made with lamb or mutton) and cottage pie ( a similar dish made with beef). Both are traditional foods of the winter months in many parts of the world, having a layer of protein and vegetables baked under a top layer of mashed potatoes. Turn this recipe into a meatless dish that has all the heartiness and flavor, with tons of nutritional value!
Mushroom Hemp Tartlets, Manitoba Harvest
These tasty, crusty tartlets make an excellent starter or horderves for your festive meals. Made with hemp hearts (which add an extra boost of protein and savory umami flavor), mushrooms, and goat cheese, these morsels pair rich flavors with flaky pastry.
Now famous on the internet for several seasons, the Turducken (a dish that consists of turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken) now has a new twist: a meatless version! The Vegducken is a butternut squash stuffed with an eggplant stuffed with a zucchini. This recipe also includes gravy and stuffing recipes (all meatless, of course) that pair with your freshly-roasted Vegducken.
Wild Rice, Lentil & Cranberry Stuffed Delicata Squash, Oh My Veggies
Your meatless main course becomes the main event of the evening with stuffed delicate squash! Go overboard this season with squash boats stuffed with wild rice, lentils and cranberries. You’ll get all those holiday flavors and a heaping helping of vitamins and fiber.
Vegan Lentil Shepherd’s Pie, Ezra Pound Cake
Another take on the classic shepherd’s pie or cottage pie, this lentil pie is 100% vegan and is sure to please even the most ravenous carnivores at your table. This recipe also uses a trendy twist on mashed potatoes for the top layer: cauliflower! Lots of chefs and cooks are experimenting with cauliflower in recipes that have ordinarily called for a variety of other ingredients. Use a mix of mashed potatoes and cauliflower for your version, or experiment with an all cauliflower mash for your table! Here’s a note from the recipe’s creator, “a two-cup portion is 400 calories, with 5.5 grams of fat, 16 grams of fiber, 19 grams of protein and more than 100 percent of your daily requirements for vitamins A and C.”
Seitan Stuffed with Walnuts, Dried Cranberries, and Mushrooms, Fat Free Vegan
Have you discovered seitan? Seitan is made from heat, and has a wonderful texture that soaks up flavor as it cooks. This moist, stuffed seitan has all the flavors of its filling – walnuts, cranberries, mushrooms, and seasonings. Follow the recipe’s advice for reheating, using the microwave will help keep it moist, the oven will dry it out a bit.
Mushroom Wellington with Spinach, Ramsons & Bramble
You’ve heard of beef Wellington, a classic culinary feat for students learning to be professional chefs. This mushroom Wellington has all of the flavor and all of the artistry of a classic beef Wellington – just none of the beef! This version of the dish calls for walnuts and oats instead of plain bread crumbs, which adds whole grain vitamins and minerals to an already healthy dish.
Autumn Vegetables w/ Balsamic Glaze, Veggie Chick
These hearty glazed vegetables make an excellent side dish for your holiday table, late night snack, omelet the next morning, and lunch the following day! Roasted fall/winter vegetables are a treat to eat at any meal when they are fresh and in season.
Anytime family gathers around the table it’s a time for celebration. Enjoy some of thee meatless recipes together, and have a happy holiday!