The first time I heard of Christmas was when I was four. It was my first year in Canada. My mother and I moved from Bangkok to join my Canadian father who had married my mother in Thailand then left to Canada to earn money so we could move over here.
My mother had never been exposed to traditional western Christmas so there were no typical western style Christmas dinners that she cooked. She probably continued to make Thai food as she always had.
The first traditional Christmas dinner I had ever experienced was when I was five. My friend's family from across the street invited me to join them. They were a very large Irish family. I sat with the small children at a little table. I had never done anything like this in my life. It was so exciting.
This was the first time I would ever eat a plate with a piece of a large cooked bird on it. It wasn't turkey or ham like most families here consume. It was goose. There were many other items on my plate and I didn't mind any of them.
Over the years I would have Christmas dinner with my friends, and my father who had lost my mother when I was eight, would go to his friend's homes for Christmas dinner. When I got older I would go to the family dinners of who ever was my boyfriend at the time.
After moving to Montreal with my partner Marc, we have never bothered with special Christmas dinners, until this year when this week's theme of @quarator's #hivetopchef is Traditional Christmas food.
I thought it would be interesting to see if we could have a traditional style Christmas feast that was plant based. We have consumed a plant based diet for five years and for almost years seventeen have not consumed land animals so it's been a while since we had turkey for Christmas.
I used to love all of the sides that came along with the turkey, which is the main feature of most Canadian tables, aside from ham.
The main feature for our dinner would be a baked squash stuffed with rice and lentils.
I first baked the squash until it was tender then scooped it out to add the rice mixture which was rice, lentils, and pan fried onion, garlic and mushrooms. The only seasoning was salt and pepper. I kept it simple knowing that there would be a vegan gravy.
After stuffing it I put it back in the oven on 300F to stay hot and continued making the sides.
Scalloped potatoes with vegan cheese sauce
- slice potatoes thinly
- layer in a casserole
- spread vegan cheese sauce on each layer
- salt pepper and rosemary
vegan cheese sauce
- 1 cup soaked cashews
- cup soaked sunflower seeds
- 2 cup cooked squash
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- 1 cup plant milk ( more if needed for the blender to make it smooth)
- 1 tablespoon rice flour or tapioca flour
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Blend until smooth then cook on medium low heat - salt and pepper
Put the casserole in the oven at 350F until potatoes are cooked and browned on top.
Roasted Brussel sprouts
Brussel sprouts are often victimized as the vegetable that no one wants to eat. It's not something I ever dream about. Once a year I love them if you can understand that. I put this in the oven with a light toss in olive oil and salt.
I left the Brussel sprouts in until they were tender and slightly browned which is not usually the color I want for my green vegetables but these are the one green that I like to cook thoroughly.
Stuffing
It's very common to make stuffing separate from the bird these days. I don't have a bird anyway so the stuffing is separate by default. I like to have a slight sweet and savory stuffing. Sometimes I add apples but I didn't have any.
- 4 cups of bread (I used spelt quinoa bread)
- 1 stalk of diced celery
- 1 shredded carrot
- 1 diced onion
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup or so of vegetable broth
- bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dry sage ( I used dry sage leaves)
- salt and pepper
Sautee the onion carrot and celery in oil or vegan butter. I used vegan butter. Add walnuts raisins and seasonings then the bread cubes.
Stuffing has always been one of my favorite items at Christmas dinner. I love the sage in this.
Vegan Gravy
I start by making a basic vegetable broth from carrots, celery, onion, garlic, parsley, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Boil simmer for forty five minutes to an hour then strain everything out.
Keep the broth aside and make a roux from flour and oil or butter or water. I used vegan butter. If you are not familiar with roux you simply put butter in a pan and add flour gradually mixing out the lumps until you have a thick paste then add broth or liquid bit by bit until you get a gravy or sauce consistency.
I added a tablespoon of powdered vegetable broth for extra flavor, onion powder, garlic powder sage, salt and pepper. I also added a teaspoon of soy sauce to give it a little color.
Cranberry sauce
I don't think I have ever been to a traditional Christmas dinner where there was no cranberry sauce. I love to add this to my plate. It's sweet and tangy and just adds something to all of the other flavors.
- 2 cups cranberries fresh or frozen
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or a stick
- 2 or 3 cloves
Boil and simmer everything until it thickens
Mixed green salad
- spring mix
- arugula
- walnuts
- red onion
- grapes
- blueberries
- vinaigrette of olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic, agave onion powder and salt.
I usually gravitate toward food that has a lot of warm and exotic spices but in the case of a traditional Christmas dinner in Canada, we focus more on herbs such as sage, rosemary, thyme and savory. The spices used are usually paprika, nutmeg, cloves and pepper. However depending on your background it would vary of course.
Carving of the squash
I also had mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes and peas to add to the feast.
Christmas dinner plates are always full of everything. They are disorganized plates of abundance.
A Christmas dinner always has left overs for a few days, usually because of a big turkey or ham. In my case I still had leftovers which is somehow really exciting.
Even though this dinner did not have a roast of Turkey or ham like the traditions here, it was complete with all of the things that I have had in the past and left me feeling like I had stuffed myself just like those typical dinners in the past. In this case it doesn't put me to sleep.
All the best to everyone!