Think Vegetarian or Vegan Festive Meals this Holiday Season!

The holidays are fast approaching and whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid or Christmas, it is almost certain that there is food involved during these festive occasions - food that has been prepared by you, your loved ones and/or friends, as a way to come together to celebrate the holidays that matter so much to each and everyone of us.

Like tradition, food has its place as part of our annual celebrations. Typically, the meals that are prepared during these festive celebrations include meat - poultry, beef, pork, fish and seafood – depending on your religion. This year, however, we would like you to encourage you to consider and to incorporate alternative dishes as part of your celebrations - dishes that are 100 percent vegetarian or vegan!

In terms of preparing food for vegetarians there are different variables to consider; however, there are none for vegans. In other words, there are several categories for vegetarians, all of whom avoid meat and/or animal products. The lactovegetarian diet, for example, includes plant foods plus cheese and other dairy products, whereas the ovo-lactovegetarian diets also includes eggs.

Similar to vegetarians, vegans also exclude meat from their diet, as well as all animal by-products including dairy and eggs, and refuse to wear animal products including fur, silk, leather or wool. A vegan’s diet, therefore, includes only food from plants: fruits, vegetables, legumes (dried beans and peas), grains, seeds, and nuts.

The reasons for considering alternative meals that do not include meat are endless. These reasons may include animal rights, the environment, health reasons, religious, spiritual or ethnic concerns. All of these reasons should be taken into consideration when preparing vegetarian and/or vegan meals for our family and friends during the upcoming holiday season!

Before you begin to prepare a vegetarian or vegan meal, make a list of all the foods that you might find at a traditional holiday meal that contains animal products. These dishes might include turkey, gravy, apple pie and bread. Make note of the meat items and list possible substitutions for such dishes. Ask yourself whether or not these dishes can be made with soy milk, tofu or soy cheese? Alterations can easily be made to accommodate vegetarians or vegans, or to make a meal that does not include animal products whatsoever. It is most likely that at least one dish you have made or eaten in the past has been vegetarian. Be sure to include this dish if it was a success in the past! Perhaps this time you can make it vegan!

Green Laurel: This week's Green Laurel goes out to those who prepare vegetarian and vegan meals on a regular basis. Eating vegetarian or vegan saves more land, energy, and water than any other choice you can make! That's because livestock eat several times more grain than they produce as meat!

Green Hint: Be sure to compost your leftover vegetables and fruit in your compost! This can be done during the winter months and compost will defrost once the warmer weather comes! When your compost has decomposed it can then be used in your vegetable garden! This is a great way to reuse and recycle!

Books: How It All Vegan (ISBN-10: 1551520672) and In the Garden of Vegan (ISBN-10: 1551521288) by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard. Also La Dolce Vegan (ISBN-10: 1551521873) by Sarah Kramer.

To get you started, we have included a vegan apple pie recipe for you to try during the upcoming holidays!

Amazing (vegan) Apple Pie from How it All Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya BarnardFilling:

6-8 large baking apples (granny smith are the best), cored and sliced

Half a cup of raisins are optional

¾ cup of maple syrup

1-2 tbsp of lemon juice

2 tsp of cinnamon

2 ½ tbsp of corn starch or arrow root powder

Preheat oven to 350f. Core and slice apples into bite-sized pieces. Bring medium pot of water to boil, then reduce heat to medium and add the apples and optional raisins to simmer for 8-10 minutes. Save ¼ cup of apple water for use later. Drain apples and place in a large bowl. Mix carefully together the cooked apples, maple syrup, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a small sauce pan, mix the ¼ cup apple water with the corn starch over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture turns very thick. Add the corn starch mixture to the rest of the ingredients, stirring until mixed well. Pour into a pie crust and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Hot Water Pie Crust:

1 cup vegetable shortening

1 tsp of non-hydrated margarine

¾ cup of boiling water

3 ½ cups of all purpose flour

2 tbsp of baking powder

¼ tsp of salt

In a large bowl, mix together the shortening, margarine, and water until creamy. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix together until a dough forms. Knead for a minute or two. Wrap the dough in wax paper and chill for about three hours before rolling it out (not overnight). Roll dough into individual pie crusts. Makes 2 pie crusts. If you want to freeze the dough to use later, roll out to the size you want and place in an air-tight container, placing a sheet of wax paper between the sheets of dough. Fold the sheets if necessary to fit in the container, but thaw completely before unfolding and using for pie. When ready to use bake at 350f for 15 minutes and let cool before adding filling.