Meat-free Christmas Lunch

[naomi24]

One of my guests for Christmas lunch doesn't eat any meat at all, but likes everything else that goes the meal. Any ideas what I can serve her instead of turkey?

[caron musson]

nut roast

[beryllium]

Hi Naomi :D
My SiL is the same.... she doesn't mind Linda Mccartney pies or veggie sausages.... she hates nut roast!!!
The one thing she does love is homemade sage and onion stuffing though... obviously cooked seperately from the meat and vegetarian gravy.....
I did see last year 'vegetarian turkey' slices in gravy in Tescos or Sainsburys... can't remember which one....
Hope you're well :D
B. xxx

[sparkler]

Hiya naomi24

You could try quorn turkey & stuffing slices
I'm a vegetarian myself and I can say this is really nice it's what I'll be havin with my chrimbo dinner.
Just go to asda shopping site and type in : Quorn Deli style slices
It's �1.18 so really cheap aswell

[BBWCHATT]

Naomi - maybe you can get some ideas from our last Christmas posts - I posted some and some who are vegetarians posted also. Some of them sounded great - even to a meat eater like me:)


http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Search/default. asp?SearchText=Christmas+vegetarian&searchType =site&x=20&y=5


BBWCHATT
The old lady in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

[jon1968]

My Niece decided she was going veggie and she has one of those Quorn roasting joints at family gatherings.
As was mentioned, depending on how staunch a veggie your guest is you might have to consider what else you�re cooking too, I have to do a separate tray of roast potatoes & veg using vegetable oil rather than lard, fussy mare. And she has vegetable gravy granules rather than proper gravy. Hth.

[Skreecheeboy]

Mashed parsnips and cheese is beautiful, I usually get some on my fork and use it to pick up peas. Carrot and Turnip is also very nice, potatoes, mashed, boiled, roasted etc (though avoid the goose fat for roasting them) sprouts, white sauce, cranberry sauce, cauliflower cheese. Though saying all that, if the person used to eat meat Xmas is a brilliant time of year to cure them of vegetarianism. My sister was saved from 6 years of poor nutrition one Xmas at my Gran's house - Just couldn't resist the amazing spread!

[BBWCHATT]

Whatever you serve as her main dish - you might make some mushroom gravy to pour over it - that might give it SOME flavor:)

[Clanad]

You could do this : http://www.ehow.com/how_8402_make-tofu-turkey. html

Maybe if you start now, you'd have it done by Christmas!

[beryllium]

mmmm... are you hungry???

Quorn is made from the soil mold Fusarium venenatum strain PTA-2684 and is a vat-grown fungus....

[blu3wave]

tofu.... ideal substitute for vegans, they're big fans of it supposedly.

[naomi24]

Oh, thank you. What a lot of ideas. I've given her nutroast before, but wondered if there was something different to try. I cook her potatoes and sage and onion stuffing, etc, separately, and have only just discovered that Bisto gravy powder is vegetarian, so that'll add a bit of colour to her meal this year. Sure beats that horrible grey, veggie gravy mix!

[naomi24]

Beryl, Sounds just wonderful - or maybe not!! I don't even want to touch it now - let alone serve it on a plate! :o)

[beryllium]

Just reading how it's made sounds... well... : /

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorn

[naomi24]

yuk!!!

[b_aby]

Hi,
I was a vegetarian for 6 years and I hated nut roast and most of the Quorn stuff - why be a vegetarian and eat something that tastes like meat?! I'm a reluctant meat eater now (I have a small child and want her to eat everything - so I have to too).
But things like a half a butternut squash stuffed with quinoa/couscous and roasted vege's was always really nice, very easy and cheap to do. And you can always use the rest of the squash as an extra roasted vegetable for the rest of the family. What people forget (BBWCHATT) is that just because it's a vegetarian opption it doesn't need to lack flavour. Just think how bland turkey is without all the trimmings!

[BBWCHATT]

Thank you for the barb babilicious - and just so you will know, I buy vegetarian sausage products occasionally, just because I like the taste - but thank you anyway, I am sure it made you feel superior:)


BBWCHATT
The old lady in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

[nickmo]

Personally, I'd recommend a fish option - little hassle and takes no time when you are dealing with the rest of the meal..

If the ovens is on for the rest of the meal anyway what about a roast fish dish, like monkfish fillets, tied round orange slices with herbs and cooked on a bed of sliced fennel....only needs 2 fillets tied round a cut up sliced orange, and some fennel ina roast pan, so not really ading to the prep. Serve with the same veg and its a nice tasty option.

Again as the oven is on, pan roast a selection of veg, drizzled in balsamic vinegar and loads of herbs. Good side dish anyway, and for the vegetarian, cook a nice hake, conger or turbot steak, serve on the veg and enjoy - the fish will cook +/- 3 mins one side then turn off the heat, turn the fish and deal with the rest of the plating u. In 3 mins the other side of the fish is done and ready to serve with no extra attention...

Or, put a nice salmon steak in a parcel of tin foil, add a little butter, some prawns and fine sliced leeks. Seal, place in hot oven and takes 12 - 15 mins to cook and can be served with the rest of the veg with everyone else.

Tofu or TVP (textured veg protein) 'logs' need a lot of sauces or seasoning so I would say no to this. And as far as yuk to how quorn etc is made - think of the antibiotics residue in the turkey meat.....

[b_aby]

BBWCHATT I didn't mean it like that, but the 'give it SOME
flavour' comment just seemed a little off and not particularly useful. I'm very sorry you were offended by what I said.

[b_aby]

Nickmo, I really liked the sound of the monkfish - do you know where I can find similar recipes?

[nickmo]

Hi B - that one specificaly or similar? Roast stuffed monkfish tails are one of the finest dining you can have I reckon and are a real treat.

A good site for the fishy side of life is: http://www.seafish.org/plate/details.asp?catid =2

Tons of nice dishes to play with there. I had a quck look and the orange & monkfish isn't actually on that site - another all round excellent and one I plug all the time is: http://www.astray.com/recipes just put in the main search term and there are usually lots of ideas.

Also epicurious.com - this has a red snapper, fennel and orange recipeas a pan fried dish, but to make an oven version, just colour the monkfish fillets, tie with string round the slices of orange, season, add herbs and roast to finish. Another version adds capers and serves the fish again from saute cooking, on roasted fennel and oranges - using orange and blood oranges, with the fish served on top of the veg.

Hope this of use...