A Dietitians Survival Guide - Vegetarian Options
If you’re not already accustomed to cooking for a vegetarian, the newness of the experience can seem a little daunting. However, with a little bit of planning, and a dash of inspiration, your vegetarian Christmas dinner can be just as colourful, and delicious, as the more traditional options.
The first thing you need to find out is what type of eating pattern your guest follows, this way you’ll know exactly what foods you need to avoid.
Vegetarian eating patterns usually fall into the following groups:
- The vegan diet - excludes all meat and animal products
- The lacto vegetarian diet - includes plant foods and dairy products, but excludes eggs
- The lacto-ovo vegetarian diet - includes both dairy products and eggs
- The ovo-vegetarian - includes plant foods and eggs, but avoid milk, milk
products
Here are a few suggestions to help take the stress out of your vegetarian Christmas dinner:
- Read food packages carefully to make sure that the food contains no meat, or other unwanted ingredients.
- Look out for vegetarian gravy granules in the supermarket.
- Buy stuffing mixes which are vegetarian friendly.
- Plan a meat alternative - you may want to try one of the options available in the supermarket, for example turkey roast, or slice alternatives, bacon alternatives are also available. You could try tofu served with a cranberry sauce, or nut roasts are also available in most supermarkets, or health food stores.
- Use vegetarian substitutes in your dishes, for example vegetable stock, olive oil, or soy milk, and use milk free margarine instead of butter, or lard.
- Cook a large selection of vegetables, and remember to cook them separately from the meat; stuffing and roast potatoes should also be cooked separately.
- Some brands of Christmas pudding, or mince pies now use vegetable suet, rather than animal suet, and are therefore suitable for vegetarians.
- If you are having jelly, look out for packs which state, “suitable for vegetarians.”
- Make snacks available, such as sliced raw vegetables, fruit, olives, nuts, seeds, crackers and bread sticks, and serve with hummus, or guacamole dips.
Also, do bear in mind that some vegetarians quite enjoy meat substitutes, whereas others prefer to stay away from anything which tastes, or looks like meat. Therefore, it’s always best to ask what their preference is beforehand.
Check out some of these festive recipes from the Vegetarian Society, and The Veggie Table.
I would love to hear what your Christmas vegetarian suggestions are, please share your thoughts!
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