I'm thinking about Christmas dinner. Our friends are vegans. They will break their habits for special occasions but I was thinking of going meatless. No dairy and no sugar is impossible but no meat would be alright. I think, maybe.
I still have one more pumpkin from my Halloween clearance purchases. Pumpkins are awesome. They just keep. You can bake them, roast them, puree them, make them into soup, into pie, into bread and into cookies. What a great squash. So why do we just chop them up into funny faces and put them in the trash? These are edible! They taste good. Better yet they were $1 each. Not bad in today's uncertain economy.
I need some inspiration for my menu though. I was thinking about making a pumpkin soup with ginger and coconut milk, it's really wonderful and a variety of salads, some bread and then maybe a cheesecake for desert. Is that really a Christmas dinner though? It seems to be missing the entree.
It seems to be missing the pork, or the turkey, you know the meat! If they don't eat meat, and two out of my four don't like meat, why cook meat? The two overweight people in this family do not need the extra calories. So what would be a main dish? I'd like to make that pork stew NP posted that has a whole bottle of wine in it, now that's getting festive. Back to meat. No, back to meatless. Anybody have any suggestions?
12 comments:
No idea mate! My sister in law would be the one to ask, she was a total vegetarian for years! Beans, cheese and that sort of stuff !!! Not me, I like me meat! Turkey/ham, bring it on!
We eat pierogies! Yum!!! A great meatless dish that's very filling. We like them pan fried in a little butter, dipped in sour cream. Mmmm.
I made NP's pork stew for dinner this evening -- absolutely incredibly yummy, but definitely not vegan or even vegetarian. When we were vegetarian I made winter vegetable tart with a flaky pastry -- beautiful and delicious.
You could always make/buy a lentil-rice loaf (like meatloaf) and make a nice wine sauce. Even festive baked yams or a potato gratin would fill up the menu. Come on girl, you can go meatless! We once enjoyed a stuffed pumpkin for thanksgiving (rice and veggies and soy sauce and yummy).
I can't wait to see what you come up with. We're having turkey and fixins for the meat eaters that gather together to celebrate Our Savior's birth. The meal matters far less than the JOY we will feast upon. : D Merry CHRISTmas!
We've been meatless at Christmas for 15 years and usually go for some sort of rice dish as the "main entree."
Happy Holidays!
my kids both say they would be prefectly content to have nothing but the sides they eat the ham and turkey because it is there.... but they woudl be just as happy with mac n cheese (more cheese please) dressing, sweet potatos, lima beans, deviled eggs, any side dish they LOVE. hubby said no fancy cakes or pies just yellow cake with chocolate icing and banana pudding... but of course with hubby there must be MEAT so meat will be here... I bet anything you come up with will be WONDERFUL!
Pierogies would be nice but they are time consuming. Being Polish we always had those on Christmas Eve for a meatless meal. The Pinot Noir in the stew can be substitued with cranberry juice cocktail, I think it would be a little sweeter but good. I'm making a crown roast of pork with fennel-apple stuffing and Cider-Bourbon Sauce...wow, I'm no help am I? I just saw a red velvet cheesecake today on a blog I have to make too! No meat is a hard one for me, since we eat it like candy here.
Re pumpkins: don't use the Halloween pumpkins for cooking: they are grown for size, not for flavor. If you can find the little ones at the market, size of a small watermelon, those are the pie pumpkins, grown for dense flesh and concentrated flavor. If you need pumpkin and you cannot find pie pumpkins, use butternut squash--that's what in the cans labeled pumpkin pie filling.
My new book (Nov/08) is filled with facts like this:
Tried and True Recipes from a Caterer’s Kitchen—Secrets of Making Great Foods
www.eloquentbooks.com/TriedandTrueRecipes.html
www.howfoodswork.blogspot.com
We thought about getting vanity plates that said EAT MEAT awhile back. Of course, we didn't seeing as we live in Colorado and would have been killed.
I can't decide what to make either... but, I am leaning toward Pork Loin with a cranberry orange sauce. We usually eat lasagna on Christmas but I don't want to this year because my son really doesn't like it... my hubs is still pushing for it. YOU make GREAT lasagna!
I like soup on meatless nights, so I think you're onto something. Of course, Flea's pierogies are tempting, too.
Sorry. We are far too carniverous to ever go meatless:D My Dad cooks the best ham on the east coast....true story!
I'm sure that whatever you fix will be fantastic!!!
thank you to the newcomers for visiting! I did get Halloween pumpkins and had always heard they weren't any good. Guess i got lucky, they aren't really huge though and they are very good. Butternut squash out here are about $6 for one. I love them, but i got these pumpkins for $1. I figured at hat price I could afford to experiment with them.
I'll probably make meat. I might make NP's pork stew with the wine and cranberry sauce sounds so good.
What did you decide I wonder? My parents made a honey baked ham. I was busy chasing my sisters sons and never ate any. We had lots of great appetizers. I am going to post a recipe this week!
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