Well Fed Network

Posted by Lucy Nixon on Fit Fare.

If you’ve got a vegetarian coming for Christmas, and you’re not sure where to start, here are a few ideas:

First, check which variety of vegetarian they are: a lacto-vegetarian will eat dairy products, but not eggs; an ovo-lacto-vegetarian will eat eggs as well as dairy products. If they’re vegan, you’ve got a whole different set of issues to consider. A vegetarian will not eat animals or fish, but will eat products made by those animals (e.g. milk, eggs, honey). A vegan won’t.

The thing to remember if you have to cater for a vegetarian at Christmas is that they will still be able to eat most of the bits and pieces that traditionally go with the turkey. This does make things easier, because you only have to produce something to replace the meat.

However, there are a few things to keep in mind if you want to be kind to the veggies:

• don’t roast the potatoes in goose fat (or lard, or any other animal-based fat)
• don’t make a sausage-meat stuffing - and don’t put the stuffing inside the bird, but cook it in a separate dish
• if you’re offering mini sausages alongside the turkey, you could consider finding some vegetarian sausages, but don’t wrap them in bacon. However, some vegetarians (and I’m one) don’t like the fake-meat offerings of some suppliers
• if the vegetarian menu you’re providing is quite dry, you could offer a sauce - but not gravy, unless it is a vegetarian version
• please consider using a vegetarian mincemeat for your mince pies (or buy vegetarian ready-made ones) because otherwise these are a no-no
• and don’t put suet in the Christmas pudding (you can buy vegetarian versions of this, too).

Just like the gluten free diet we follow so strictly for my daughter, where wheat pops up in all sorts of unlikely places, meat products can appear in unexpected places as well. Examples:

• gelatin is made from animal skin and bone, and can be in both savoury and sweet dishes (I found some in yogurt the other day - why?)
• rennet, which is made in the stomachs of calves, and used in some cheeses.

You may find that your vegetarian visitor declines some dishes for this reason … so perhaps it’s best not to offer a trifle, unless you know that a vegetarian version of gelatin was used.

I’m a vegetarian (of the ovo-lacto variety), as are 5 others of the 23 we’re feeding at Christmas. Because the Christmas meal is so traditional, we’ll be cooking a mix of things so that the meat-eaters can continue the tradition and the vegetarians won’t feel left out. Luckily, someone else will be cooking the meat, so I don’t have to deal with that. I plan to cook the following:

For Christmas Eve:

Delia’s Mediterranean Lasagne (which I shall make using gluten free lasagna sheets, and serve with a green salad and a range of breads including gluten free for the celiac among us)

My sister’s Drunken Fruits, which I’ve previously posted about here. If I’m organized, I might make some vanilla ice-cream to go with these - but I will offer Greek yogurt as well. Some people aren’t big on ice-cream …

On Christmas Day

While the turkey is cooking for the meat eaters, I shall be assembling a Goat’s Cheese and Red Onion tart. Again, I shall use a gluten free pastry shell, because my eldest daughter is both celiac and vegetarian.

This will be based on a recipe from Good Housekeeping, and basically involves a pastry shell, ready-made caramelized red onion, and goats cheese on the top. How easy is that for Christmas Day! For 8 people, they suggest:

• 7 oz of pastry (buy ready-made to save yourself stress at this busy time of year)
• 310g caramelized red onion
• 300g soft goats cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 oz Parmesan cheese.

Roll out the pastry, line an 8″ tart tin, and bake blind for 10 minutes. (This means covering the pastry with greaseproof paper and filing the case with beans - ceramic beans if you have them, but dried beans will work.)

Remove the paper and beans and baking for another 15-20 minutes until golden.

Spoon the caramelized red onion into the pastry shell, spreading it out evenly.

Beat the goats cheese and egg together, season and put on top of the onions, spreading out evenly.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan, and bake for about 25 minutes at 200C (180F) until the filling is set and going golden.

Let it cool for 15 minutes and then remove it from the tart tin.

Enjoy with a tomato salad - or with all the trimmings from the turkey!

On Boxing Day
On Boxing Day, we’re having a brunch, which will include a range of dishes - some suitable for vegetarians, some not. For this you could consider:

• pancakes and/or waffles with maple syrup
• sausages and bacon for the meat-eaters
• scrambled eggs
• a stir-fry mix of colorful red, yellow and orange peppers and onions
• smoked salmon (for anyone who’ll eat fish)
• kedgeree (for anyone who’ll eat fish)

But obviously here, you can mix and match whatever suits your guests - one of the reasons we’re doing it this way. With 23 people to feed, there must be something on the list that they’ll eat!