I have a serious case of veggie-guilt. Even on a normal day, I find it really hard telling a host that I don’t eat meat and hate expecting them to provide an alternative. This is made worse on Christmas day, when my family members are already slaving over a million different elements of Christmas dinner and I just add something else to the list of things to do.
1. Nut Roast
Nut roast is probably the most well-known veggie option when it comes to a roast. I’ve never been blown away by the shop-bought ones, but it’s actually quite easy to make your own. You can pretty much add whatever you want. I make mine with cubes of carrot and parsnip, finely chopped mushrooms, crushed garlic and a packet of mixed nuts, before adding a tin of chopped tomatoes. I always make mine into little pastry parcels or stuffed Yorkshire puddings. Cawwww.
2. Camembert
I (and I cannot stress this enough) LOVE camembert. I’m not suggesting you eat a whole wheel (which I have done before…) but a couple of years ago my dad bought this amazing M&S camembert and parsnip pie for me to have with Christmas lunch. I’m not going to lie, I don’t think I’ve stopped thinking about it since. Unfortunately, they haven’t brought that one back this year… but most of the supermarkets do some variation of a camembert pastry if you want a quick and easy option. However, it’s also quite easy to buy some pastry and make your own, whether it’s with cranberries, parsnips or caramelised red onion.
3. Mushroom Wellington
Another veggie classic. This seems to always be the option in carveries but is also easily made at home. It compliments the other elements of roast dinner perfectly and would really work if the rest of your family are having beef this Christmas.
4. Savoury bread and butter pudding
I’ve nicked this one straight from BBC goodfood but thought that it sounded like a really creative veggie option. The recipe looks like it could be played around with and the ingredients changed to make your perfect veggie masterpiece. I think I’ll be trying this out some time this year.
5. All the trimmings
So… who am I kidding? All of these sound great, but when it comes to a toss-up between eating one of these alternatives of just stuffing my plate with more potatoes and cauliflower cheese, which one am I really going to choose? There’s no shame in having no meat alternative at all and just eating all of the other parts of Christmas dinner. This is what I did last year. It saves the parents hassle and keeps the veggie-guilt to a minimum, making for a really nice, stress free Christmas.
Image Source: BBC goodfood