DefaultVeg Recipe Roundup for the Holidays

By Megan Grigorian 

Advent is here and we have got you covered with some delicious plant-based, communal recipes and meal options for the eyes and taste buds of many. Planning communal meals can become stressful when trying to tend to everyone’s dietary preferences—but that’s why DefaultVeg can be so effective. When you default to plant-based foods, you can easily craft a dinner for one, two, or a whole crowd with multiple needs (there are some gluten-free suggestions below as well for our GF friends). 

If you’re up for cooking this year or trying a new recipe, here is a composed meal—side dishes, a main attraction, and a show-stopper dessert. These are tried, approved, and balanced North American classics that even new home cooks can execute. Make it all or choose one or two from the list to add to your table. 

Sides 

The green bean casserole is one of those American side dishes that sometimes gets a bad rap, but this plant-based, home-made adaptation is such a delicious, comforting dish that even mushroom skeptics fall in love with it. The creaminess from the plant butter (Earth Balance or Country Crock’s versions can be found at most US grocery stores now), the earthiness from the cremini mushrooms, and the crunchiness of the fried onions topping the dish make this a hearty, delicious accompaniment to any meal. This recipe has been tested and served many times by one  of our team members and her non-vegan family. She testifies that it never disappoints! 

Photo: Megan Grigorian

Flaky garlic cheese biscuits from the uber-talented Mississippi Vegan complement any meal, but are extra special around this time of year. Fluffy and flavorful, use them to sop up gravy or spread with a plant-based butter. Detailed recipe available here. 

Photo: Mississippi Vegan

Orange-braised carrots and parsnips are a fresh, beautiful addition to a rich meal. These winter root veggies put the veg in DefaultVeg. This recipe by the Barefoot Contessa is free of any animal products, and offers delicious taste and warm comfort time and time again. It also comes together quickly and easily. And those parsley sprinkles at the end elevate your dish, making it shine all the more. 

Main Attraction

If you want a meaty protein to be the  center of your meal, a seitan roast is a great option for mimicking the option of non-plant-based meats. Seitan is found in most grocery stores and is surprisingly easy to prepare! This recipe from the Vegetarian Times eases you into using this protein, with a delicious result. 

Photo: Vegetarian Times

Dessert 

If you’re looking for a dairy-free dessert that is creamy, delicious, and pleasing to anyone with a sweet-tooth, this pumpkin cheesecake is it. *clap*clap* A mix between a rich pie and a fluffy cake, the cozy flavors of this treat are a pleasurable delight and the perfect end to a meal. It’d be a welcome addition to any DefaultVeg table, and has been enjoyed by people all over the food-choice spectrum. This fantastic and easy to follow recipe was adapted by the New York Times from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s book Vegan Pie in the Sky. Remember to give yourself a day before you want to serve this, as it’s best if it sits overnight in the fridge. 

Photo: Megan Grigorian

Other Options

• Field Roast, Gardein, and Tofurkey all make delicious holiday stuffed roasts—from the $7 to 18 range—available at a wide selection of grocery stores. You may want to check online what is available near your town, as it varies from state to state. 

• This write-up from Kind Earth gives some mouth-watering holiday meal options for gluten-free folks. The recipes are simple, plant-based, and delicious. 

• If you’re looking for a beautiful and delicious party treat, @chefpriyanka has created a Green Chutney Candy Cane stuffed with plant-based goodness. The final result is impressive! Get a peek at the recipe on her social media pages (@chefpriyanka). 

We are here to help with any of your DefaultVeg questions. Please use us as a resource as you’re navigating plant-based eating, for the holidays or any other time of year.  If you’re going to be discussing Christianity and animals with family or friends for the first time, you might also want to check out our “Tough Conversations” webinar, available here, in which we provide some communication tools and personal experiences that will help you on your journey. 

Have a blessed season to all, and happy eating. 

Faith.Food.Family

by Ciyadh Wells

Faith. Growing up, it never failed that I found myself in a church of some kind every Sunday morning. My grandmother, a leader of our church, used to sit in the exact same pew week after week. She loved me and our family. For many of us, she was home and she never met someone she did not care for like her own kin. Even more, she loved God and proudly proclaimed her faith. When I think of a Christian, I think of my grandmother. Her love of the Lord has taught me what means to follow Christ. She has instilled in me a belief to be faithful in all things, even beyond that which I can see. She was faith, and that faith also she instilled in me and my family. 

Family. I’m so incredibly privileged to be part of such a wonderful family. I can’t stress this enough. My family is able to love each other, to grow aside one another, and ultimately support each other without giving it second thought or question. We gather with food, we gather because of each our bond, and we also gather because of our faith. No meal goes without a proper blessing to acknowledge our continued faith and belief in the grace that God has given us for that meal. There is a rhythm to the meal and a way in which the conversations always lead back to the heart of it: our continued belief in God who makes sure we never had to go without, or at least not for long. 

Food. More than anything else, all creatures of God gather around food. Food is for all;  humans and non-humans alike. As food is central to the nourishment and sustaining of life, it is essential for healthy hearts and minds. Food—how it is produced, accessed, or consumed—brings an impact on God’s earth and the lives of its inhabitants. We, human creatures, at the very least owe it to the Body of Christ, including our non-human siblings, to understand how the food on our tables impact their lives. How does our communal plate affect the real lives of created beings near and far? 

Holidays. Gathering around special dates is important to many of us. These times provide humans ways to consider our connections to each other and to the rest of the world.  These times of celebration and sometimes of grief provide us essential opportunities for considering how human and non human animals come together around the communal table. How might we be connected to each other and to God via the food we eat when we gather? How might the food that connects and comforts us also be sources of comfort for non-human animals? For many people, food is comfort and food is home. The bread of the body and the spirit of life, it is home in a way that only home can be. How can food be home and shelter and comfort to those with whom we are entrusted with care? 

How are we able to know that change is possible if we have never experienced change for ourselves? 

When my family gathers for holidays, faith, food, and family come together. There is always a rhythm and a pattern that, as I grew up, began to bring a source of comfort in an ever-chaotic world. On Mother’s Day we would often have a specific, but not so dissimilar, meal than what we would have during the big holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas). Those holidays brought an extra special meal following the traditional American meals while adding in touches of our lived experiences as Black people, who like many, live on Indigenous lands. Central to all of these meals, though, was some sort of meat. Yes, veggies and fixings dressed the meat, but meat was always the center of it. For many years I failed to question the presence of meat because I thought that it had to be that way. How are we able to know that change is possible if we have never experienced change for ourselves? 

In the last several years though, I began to reexamine my own relationship with food, mainly around what the continued consumption of animals means not only for me but for others as well. Who suffers alongside our animal friends before they become holiday centerpieces? I came to understand that no life—human or non-human—enters or leaves this world without a great cost. When any class of living being (plant, animal, or human) no longer lives, there is an impact on all of us. Nothing is perfect, but I am not striving to create a society that is perfect. I am striving to work with others to create a society that is just when it comes to the lives of animals. 

There are opportunities for us all here. Traditions are traditions because we have made them so, but change and innovation are necessary for us all if humans and non-human animals want to continue to exist on God’s created Earth. Traditions at gatherings will need to change as care and concern for those most impacted by animal agriculture, BIPOC growers and climate refugees, come to the forefront. Change can start at the center of our tables. 

Food. It all means something different for me now. I want to eat in a way that causes as little harm as possible to animals and even less harm to those whose jobs and livelihoods depend on farmed animal agriculture. During holidays, this means choosing to create, in abundance and without waste, a meal that I can feel good about consuming. Change is imminent and that is okay. 

Family. My work as an advocate on behalf of all life, human or not, begins and yet does not end with my family. It might be throughout our lives that those closest to us may never truly understand our decisions and we may never understand theirs. That is okay. I am hoping, though, to continue to have the conversation about what it means to be a person of faith who takes great care and shows great concern for non-human life. It is well within the bounds of our faith to want to care for all living creatures. After all, they were here first. 

Faith. Faith can and will always be at the center of this for me. Finding CreatureKind was like finding a home. A home where I could bring my Christ loving, Black, Queer, and plant-based eating self to the table and receive celebration without judgement. We are in a disciplined pursuit of less. Consuming fewer of our animal kin and their products, creating less harm. Living lives that by producing less helps all of us to create more. That is what I am hoping for. I am hoping that we as people of deep faith can continue to have conversations and engage with one another about how our ethics for animals start with our faith and can and should be guided by such.

Ciyadh Wells currently lives in Austin, Texas. She is a graduate student at the University of Georgia. Ciyadh was raised in the Baptist church and still identifies as such. During her CreatureKind Fellowship, she is working on a podcast about Christians and how their faith supports their animal advocacy work.

Top Five Tips on Navigating Christmas as a Vegan

Christmas is a magical time of the year when many people come together to celebrate and indulge in delectable meals and treats. Yet with meat typically served at most Christmas meals, life can be tricky for vegans. Don’t worry, help is at hand!

Veganism is one of the fastest-growing lifestyle movements of our age and will find its way into more homes this year than ever before, but if you find yourself in the position of being the only vegan at the dinner table or gathering this season, have no fear and do not feel overwhelmed. Here are a few tips on navigating and enjoying Christmas as a vegan!

1. Why Not Host Christmas This Year?

If you have the time, opportunity and cooking skills, why not plan and execute a Christmas feast for your loved ones this year?

Start with some tasty appetisers. Swap the turkey for a nut roast or whole roasted cauliflower (yes, this is a thing!). Add some mouthwatering side dishes like spiced Brussels sprouts, coconut and turmeric roast potatoes, bright salads and roasted mixed vegetables. Then finish things off with a spectacular vegan Christmas pudding or chocolate truffles.

Remember, it doesn’t have to be anything too complicated, but you can still make a big impression with a thoughtfully chosen menu.

2. Show Off Your Skills and Contribute a Vegan Dish!

If you are invited to a meal where the vegan choices may be limited, why not offer to bring a tasty vegan-friendly dish or two along?

Not only does it guarantee that you will have something to eat, but it’s a wonderful opportunity to show your friends and family how delicious and satisfying plant-based meals can be.

It’s also a fun way of getting a friendly conversation about veganism started and chances are that everyone will want to try what you bring, so make sure you take enough.

3. Be Sure to Inform Hosts in Advance

If you are all set to attend a non-vegan Christmas meal, be sure to inform your host in advance to avoid any awkward moments or having to explain your dietary requirements when you arrive.

A gracious host will ensure that there is something for you at the table and you may even be able to suggest ways that they can veganise certain dishes. When in doubt, contribute a dish that you will be able to enjoy as well, or eat in advance so that you are not too hungry when you arrive.

4. Brush Up On Your Vegan Knowledge

Questions about your lifestyle are likely to come up and this is a great opportunity to share your thoughts on how plant-based eating is a compassionate way to care for our animal friends, our health and the environment.

Try to remain patient (even in the face of incredulity or attack) and avoid heated debates, lectures or graphic descriptions of industrial farming around the dinner table. Focus instead on all the beautiful, positive aspects of being vegan. Keeping calm and setting discussion boundaries is a great way of ensuring that you enjoy the occasion as much as possible.

5. Remember Christmas is a Time for Giving!

If you are fortunate enough to spend Christmas with loved ones this year, it is important to remember those who are not in the same privileged position.

Giving back can involve anything from donating your time and energy to helping out at a food bank, donating plant-based meals to shelters, volunteering to cook at your church, and lots more. Let’s use this time as an opportunity to spread the most important aspects of our faith and lifestyle—love and compassion.

This post originally appeared on the Sarx website and is reprinted here with kind permission. Sarx was founded on the belief that creation is the very outpouring of God’s love and their aim is to respond and witness to this divine love by encouraging Christians to strive towards a world in which all animals are enabled to live with dignity, in freedom and in peace. For more vegan recipe and lifestyle inspiration, visit www.vegannigerian.com.

Veg Christian Thanksgiving Survival Guide

by Sarah Withrow King

This Thanksgiving, in houses all across the United States, a lone vegetarian or vegan will enter with trepidation into the experience of Thanksgiving with meat-eaters. In some cases, she’ll be a nine-year-old who has decided eating animals is incompatible with her desire to be a veterinarian when she grows up. In another, a retiree will have given up meat, dairy, and eggs to reduce his risk of high blood pressure and bring his cholesterol back into a healthy range. This pastor’s son learned about the environmental damage of animal agriculture. This missionary kid wants to avoid contributing to global hunger and knows that plant-based foods require fewer resources to produce.

The smell of cooking animal fat will permeate the air while families bow their heads to give thanks. Plates of flesh will be passed. In some lucky cases, the plant-based eater will be able to feast. In others, she’ll cobble together a meal of dry rolls, salad, and whatever dish she’s brought along to share.

Some of us face this day with dread. Some of us are genuinely happy, no matter what’s on the table. Some of us decide to skip the whole thing altogether.

This survival guide is for those of us who are willing to enter the fray, who might have considered skipping out on together-time, but instead choose to gird our vegan loins and face what comes.

1. Offer to Help the Host. People who are hosting may be reluctant to ask for help, they may think that asking for assistance makes them a bad host. Assure them that you are eager to help. Send them this guide.

2. Start a New Tradition. Bring vegetarian enchiladas to your family gathering, or some other distinctive dish. A little odd, a lot memorable, and very delicious, this simple act could become part of your family’s tradition.

3. Plan a Vegan Feast. Maybe you can’t get out of going to Aunt Josephine’s on Thursday, but perhaps you can gather some friends for a plant-based day-after celebration. My husband and I used to invite small group and work friends over to our house for a party sometimes the day or two after a major holiday. It gave us a chance to share our favorite recipes, allowed us the opportunity to extend hospitality to others without family in the area, and gave us something to look forward to if we were also attending a less animal-friendly, more stressful event.

4. Prepare for “The Question.” If you’re the only vegan, someone will inevitably ask you why you don’t eat animals. They will probably be holding the leg of a turkey when they do this. Decide in advance whether you want to go into details at the dinner table. I like to say something like, “I went vegan when I learned about what happens to animals used for food. Can we talk more about it later? I’d love to tell you the story while we do the dishes/go for a walk.”

5. Take Deep Breathes and Center on Jesus and the Community, Not the Food. In any kind of stressful situation, centering prayer is a life-saver. I take a deep breathe in and say something like, “Come Lord Jesus.” Then I let the breathe out and say, “Be my guide.” I try to imagine my heart softening, let my shoulders relax, unclench my jaw. Our best chance at reducing suffering will come if we are able to communicate with compassion, grace, gratitude, and warmth. We may not be able to produce that on our own...so ask for help.

6. Visit a Sanctuary or Connect with Creation. You might live near a farmed animal sanctuary. If you can, go visit and connect with living animals. If you can’t, plan to take a long walk outside. Listen for birds. Watch squirrells. Feel the rain or breeze on your face. Give yourself permission to lament, to release your pain, even to rage at God. God can take it.

One final note. There’s a difference between putting up with good-natured ribbing and out-and-out abuse. There’s a difference between unintentioned callousness and mean-spirited attacks. If you need to pull away from dangerous people, that’s okay. Perhaps there’s a vegan or vegetarian meet-up in your area; maybe you can volunteer to take the holiday shift so someone else can spend time with their family; or this could be the year that you make a fabulous meal for one and watch your favorite movies in your pajamas while you snuggle with your dog.

However you choose to celebrate, know that you are beloved and that you are a part of great cosmic movement of creation, reconciling to the Creator.