My Vegan Christmas

 

Well, this year I am going to skip the turkey altogether! I have never done this before but my husband is a strict vegan and I am feeling inspired both for the challenge and for my family.

 

So this past Sunday my husband and I held a dress rehearsal for our vegan Christmas dinner and I have to say that putting all this together in one afternoon was a lot of work! I would suggest making the pumpkin cheesecake the day before as the flavour improves overnight, and the loaf can be made the day before as well and then re-heated on Christmas Day when you have the oven on to roast the yams.

 

THE MENU

Walnut Lentil Loaf
Roasted Smoked Yams
Lemon Garlic Brussel sprouts
Kale Salad

Cranberry Sauce
Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert!

SHOPPING LIST OF INGREDIENTS

I had a lot of these ingredients in my pantry or fridge already so for me it was just buying the produce and a few extras.

 

Walnut Lentil Loaf

1 cup green lentils

1 cup walnuts

3 cloves of garlic

1 onion

2 carrots

2 celery

6-10 medium white button mushrooms (1cup)

1 cup large oats

3 tbsp of flax meal

poultry seasoning

oregano

Glaze

Ketchup

Molasses

Balsamic vinegar

Apple sauce

Dijon mustard

Siracha

Roasted Smoked Yams

2-3 large yams or 5-6 smaller one (6-8 cups chopped)

olive oil

smoked paprika

salt+pepper

 

Lemon Garlic Brussel Sprouts

10 cups or 2 lbs of Brussel Sprouts

1 lemon

3 cloves of garlic

 

Kale Salad

One large bunch organic kale

I small bunch of radishes

1 red bell pepper

1 cucumber

½ cup of slivered almonds

½ cup pomegranate seeds

1/2 freshly squeezed lime

 

Lemony Caesar Dressing

2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon

2 tbsp of vegenaise

2 tsp of Dijon mustard

2tbsp of olive oil

1 clove of garlic pressed

salt and pepper

 

Cranberry Sauce

½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

3 tbsp of agave (or you could do honey)

½ bag of cranberries (we bought them fresh!)

 

Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 package of firm tofu

1 large can of pumpkin puree (you need 2 cups)

Box of gingersnap cookies (I could not find gluten free but did manage to find vegan ones)

Cornstarch

Pumpkin pie spice

Almond milk

½ lemon

maple syrup

coconut oil

 

RECIPES (for quantities, refer to the shopping list above)

 

Walnut Lentil Loaf

I have made many lentil loafs but this one is by far the best I have ever tried. I love all the veggies that go into it! So yummy. http://www.theveganandthechef.com/vegan-lentil-loaf/

You could always use a real egg instead of the flax meal or normal breadcrumbs instead of the oats. Also, I’m thinking of skipping the glaze in favour of a mushroom gravy on the big day.

 

Roasted Yams

Chop up the yams into wedges or small uniform pieces (about an inch square) and toss in 1-2tbsp of olive oil, salt, pepper and 1-2 tbsp of smoked paprika. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 70 mins stirring them a few times. They should be a little crispy on the outside and soft and buttery on the inside.

 

Lemon Garlic Brussel Sprouts

These should be prepped and ready as that takes the most time.

Cut the end off each sprout and if they are large cut them in half. Pulse them in your food processor until they are chopped up into small pieces. (You might have to do 2 rounds.) Heat up your cast iron skillet or large frying pan and 1 tbsp of olive oil. At low heat add 3 cloves of crushed garlic and gently sauté for 1 minute. Now add the sprouts and 2 tbsp of lemon (or more if you’d like), turn the heat back up to medium and sauté for approx 10 minutes. You don’t want them to completely wilt but to be soft.

 

Kale Salad

De-stem and chop one large bunch of organic kale and put in a large salad bowl. Drizzle 2 tsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of freshly squeezed lime on the kale and massage the kale with your hands for a few minutes. Do this at least an hour in advance of putting the salad together, as this helps break down the kale and make it softer and more digestible. De-seed your pomegranate (usually a half of one is enough).

Chop red pepper, radishes and cucumber into small bite size pieces. To make the dressing, add the olive oil, vegenaise, Dijon, lemon, garlic and salt and pepper to a jar and give it a good shake. When it’s time for dinner, combine all your veggies, pomegranates and almonds in with the kale, pour on the dressing and toss.

 

Cranberry Sauce

Combine is a small saucepan the juice of one large orange with half a bag of cranberries and 4 tbsps of honey. Simmer for 20 mins until it is thick and delicious.

 

Vegan Pumpkin Cheescake

The vegan pumpkin cheesecake was new to me and I was shocked at how simple it was. You do have to wash your food processor three times but other than that, it’s easy! And it’s a lot lighter than a traditional cheesecake.

http://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-pumpkin-swirl-cheesecake/

I used gingersnap cookies (I couldn’t find gluten free) and the crust was to die for.

 

BUT WHERE’S THE GRAVY?

I did find that I was missing the gravy that goes with a traditional Christmas dinner so when I remake this menu for Christmas I will skip the balsamic glaze on the lentil loaf and make a mushroom gravy instead.

 

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Do you have any great vegan Christmas dinner ideas? I’d love to hear them and perhaps share them with everybody!

xoxo

Rebecca