In early December I noticed that two new search terms had skyrocketed up the Veggie Friendly most popular search string list - “Vegetarian Christmas” and “Vegetarian Christmas lunch”. A good blogger would have quickly put up a post with vegetarian Christmas ideas… I didn’t quite get around to it, but in preparation for next year here is a summary of the food my family and friends ate this Christmas. If anyone else wants to share their vegetarian Christmas menu, email me veggiefriendly[at]gmail[dot]com with your photos and /or ideas.

The Centrepiece

Most traditional and modern Christmas lunches include a wealth of vegetarian and vegan side dishes which make a great lunch or dinner option. However, I’m often stumped by a vegetarian centrepiece to equal the turkey, lamb roast or BBQ’d whole fish that the rest of my family might be eating.

I was fascinated when my friend Harry told me he was attempting a Boxing Day tofurkey. A tofurkey is a vegan version of turkey, where tofu is used for the flesh and filled with herb stuffing in the centre. I have enough trouble keeping my tofu in shape at the best of times, so I was really impressed to see how rounded and, well, turkey-like this tofurkey looked.

The lovely brown colour on the outside comes from a miso baste, but Harry suggests it’s probably better to marinate the tofu for a few hours so the flavour soaks all the way through. For stuffing, he recommends shredded bread mixed with rosemary, sage and thyme rather than a store bought packet. The recipes he used are here and here.

The day before, Harry’s family had a modern take on a vegetarian Christmas with a baby spinach frittata for a centrepiece, supplemented by a tofu and corn salad and fresh bread with an avocado spread.

My family were having a small lunch with just our immediate family on Christmas Day, and a bigger, extended family lunch on Boxing Day. We decided to repeat the spectacularly successful stuffed pumpkin recipe from last year on Boxing Day, which was more than enough to feed everyone and added theatre during the carving. Unfortunately, I made a rash executive decision to buy a Bushranger pumpkin at the Farmers Market (it had symmetry, and dignity, and was about $5 for a whole pumpkin). However, the Jap pumpkin we used last year was much better - the skin held while it was cooking and had a nicer taste, plus it looked prettier when it came out of the oven.

For our smaller Christmas Day lunch we borrowed a recipe for chickpea flatcake from Rose Elliot’s Veggie Chic. This was a really simple, quick and healthy recipe - mashed chickpeas flavoured with onion, cumin, garlic and salt and pepper that is baked in a pie dish in the oven. The original recipe calls for honey roasted vegetables to be draped on top, but we just used plain old roast veggies and the sauce from our cauliflower cheese dish. I thought this was a good option to add a non-vegetable main to a meal.

Vegetarian Side Dishes and Salads

Over the years, our Christmas Day spread has started to move away from heavier, traditional foods like roast meat and vegetables towards lighter, healthier options that are much better suited to hot Australian conditions. I was impressed that our good friends Gill and Aaron bucked stodgy traditions this year to enjoy a delicious mix of salads for Christmas lunch.

The tabbouleh and chickpeas are a great, healthy choice, and are vegan-friendly. I was really taken with the mango and capsicum salad - it looks gorgeous and would be a beautiful addition to any Christmas table.

For Christmas Day, my family had a mix of vegetable side dishes, including my Dad’s great green beans lightly sauteed with toasted almonds.

I really like my Mum’s recipe for braised red cabbage cooked with vinegar, apple and sultanas. The brightness of the cabbage is a great table decoration, while the flavours have bite and are a good contrast to milder dishes like roast vegetables.

Another classic recipe of my Mum’s is cauliflower cheese. This year we tried an Indian version from Madhur Jaffrey’s autobiography, Climbing the Mango Trees. Unlike a classic cauliflower cheese dish, the cauliflower is first sauteed with cumin seeds, pureed tomatoes, tumeric, green chillies and cayenne pepper before being baked with a light cream and cheese sauce. I liked the spiciness of this dish, but the consensus around the table was that the original was better.

I have a well-documented weakness for potatoes, and these beautiful baby potatoes were perfect for roasting. The recipe was very simple - just peel, halve, toss the potatoes in a plastic bag with salt, olive oil and rosemary, and cook for about 30 - 40 minutes.

Because we were having roast potatoes on Christmas Day, I wanted a different dish for Boxing Day that would still be filling. I made a very simple potato bake - slices of potato interspersed with a dried onion and herb mix, and a 2/3 mix of milk and cream. It was also delicious.

For Christmas Day I decided to roast a lot of beetroot, sweet potato and pumpkin. The idea was that these veggies are all brightly coloured and healthy, and sweet potato has a lower GI than standard potatoes so it might not leave us as sleepy in the post-lunch lull.

The other advantage was that all three vegetables are great in roast vegetable salad with a honey mustard dressing, which we made for a dinner with friends that night from the leftovers and ate again for lunch the next day.

By Boxing Day we were sated, so we wanted some lighter options for our big family lunch. Andy made a great mixed salad with blanched asparagus, cherry tomatoes, rocket, avocado and green beans.

A couple of weeks ago I tried a grilled peach salad in a restaurant and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. For Boxing Day, I combined grilled peaches with grilled figs from a tree in the backyard, then mixed them with baby spinach leaves and goats cheese with a lime and mint dressing. This was a popular salad, although in hindsight the cheese was unnecessary because of the strong, sweet flavours from the fruit. If you leave out the cheese it is a great vegan recipe.
Dessert

Much as I want be a good Christmas eater, and cut down on fat, salt and sugar, it just wouldn’t be Christmas in my family without pudding. For Christmas Day my Mum made her ever popular steamed fruit pudding, which she picked up from a friend when they had to make 120 Christmas puddings in a single sitting. Highly recommended with brandy custard and / or cream.

Because Boxing Day was our Christmas lunch with Andy’s side of the family, we wanted to serve another pudding to keep up the sense of occasion. However, we wanted a lighter option given everyone had eaten a big lunch the day before. Andy came up with the perfect compromise: individual bread and butter puddings. These were delicious, easy and quick to make, and lighter than the traditional Christmas pudding.

All in all I had a great holiday with family and friends. Season’s greetings to all my Veggie Friendly readers - thanks for keeping in touch and I hope that your 2008 is filled with delicious vegetarian fare.

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