Vegan/Vegetarian Christmas Foodie
Whether you are a vegan/vegetarian yourself or are hosting
the Christmas dinner this year we’ve got 3 dishes to help make your Christmas
dinner perfect for everyone.
Below we’ve chosen two savoury dishes – a main and a side
dish – as well as a sweet chocolate mousse to impress your guests this Christmas.
Vegetarian Butternut Squash Salad with Roasted Brussels sprouts,
Pecans, and Cranberries.
We love this recipe from Julia’s Album – click here to read
her original post.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups/300g Brussel Sprouts
- 600-700g Butternut Squash
- 2 cups/250g Pecan Halves
- 1 cup/120g Dried Cranberries
- Olive Oil
- Maple Syrup
- Ground Cinnamon
- Salt
To Roast the Sprouts:
Preheat the oven to 200°C & grease your roasting tray
with some olive oil.
Cut all the sprouts in half, trim the ends and peel the
outer leaves off.
In a bowl, combine the sprouts with 2 tablespoons of olive
oil and season with salt.
Spread evenly on the roasting tray (flat/cut side down) and roast
for 20 – 25 minutes.
For the final 10 minutes turn the sprouts over so that they
brown evenly.
To Roast the Butternut Squash:
Preheat the oven to200°C & grease your roasting tray
with some olive oil.
Cut all the squash into small cubes –peeled and seeded.
In a bowl, combine the squash with 1 tablespoon of olive oil
and flavour with maple syrup and ground cinnamon to taste.
Spread evenly on the roasting tray and roast for 20 – 25 minutes,
turn them half way through the cooking time to ensure even cooking.
To toast the Pecans:
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a tray with parchment
paper.
Place them flat on the tray in the oven for about 5 minutes
or until they darken in colour.
To Assemble:
In a large serving bowl, combine the roasted sprouts and
roasted butternut squash.
Add in the toasted pecans and dried cranberries and
mix together.
For extra sweetness you can add 2 or 4 tablespoons of maple syrup
or add any other seasonings you wish.
Giant Vegan Wellington.
We love this vegan recipe from Olive Magazine – To read the
original article and recipe click here.
This show stopping main course is sure to impress all of
your guests.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 250g kale, tough stalks removed
- 250g cooked beetroot , thinly sliced
- 3 roasted red peppers from a jar, drained and halved
For the stuffing:
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 150g swede, coarsely grated
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- a few sprigs of thyme , leaves stripped
- nutmeg
- 200g ready-cooked Puy lentils
- 1 apple, coarsely grated
- 30g hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped
- 50g breadcrumbs
- 1 lemon, zested
For this you can either make your own pastry or use a vegan
shop-bought pastry – it’s completely up to you!
To make the stuffing:
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the onion and
swede for 5-10 minutes or until soft.
Add the herbs and spices (garlic, thyme and nutmeg), and
cook for another minute.
Add in the cooked lentils, apple and hazelnuts, and cook for
1 minute before stirring through the breadcrumbs and lemon zest.
Leave it to one side to cool.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pan and cook the
chopped garlic for 2 minutes.
Add the kale and a splash of boiling water, and cook until it
has wilted and the water has evaporated.
Season with salt and pepper.
To assemble:
On a floured piece of parchment paper, roll out one third of
the pastry to a 25cm x 15cm rectangle.
Leaving a 1cm gap around the edges, spoon on half of the
stuffing mixture, half of the kale and half of the beetroot slices.
Repeat the layers until you have used all of the mixture.
Roll out the remaining pastry to a 35cm x 30cm rectangle.
Carefully place it on top of the wellington and use your
hands to mould the pastry round so it is tight to the filling.
Use your finger and thumb to crimp the edges of the pastry
so it’s completely encased, then trim any excess.
Chill for 30 minutes.
To Cook:
Place in the oven at 180-200°C for 25-30 minutes or until
the pastry is golden and crispy.
Vegan Chocolate Mousse.
We found this mouth-watering dessert recipe on
mindbodygreen.com – click here to see the original post.
Ingredients:
- 1 large ripe avocado
- 1/4 cup raw cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup coconut milk or almond milk
- 2 teaspoon stevia (or other natural sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
Purée the avocado until smooth.
Mix together the cocoa powder and milk until combined and
add to the avocado.
Stir in the stevia, vanilla extract, and any extra
ingredients you want and mix well.
Transfer the mousse to individual glasses and store in the
fridge until ready to eat.
Sincerely Madia & Matilda