Congratulations on making the change to plant-based eating! And if you’ve just started your journey, be sure to check out all the other blogs and What’s for Dinner on vegcurious.ca to help make your transition easy and delicious!
With the holiday season fast approaching, you may be feeling anxious about how you’re going to manage going to parties, or hosting gatherings, while eating a plant-based diet. The good news is that it’s not as hard as you might think. Of course, there will be the inevitable questions about why you chose to be plant-based, what you eat and where in the world do you get your protein, plus people might be wanting to debate you on your choices. In this blog, we’ll talk about easy ways to navigate the holiday season’s festivities so you can fully enjoy every get together and party.
And, if you are in the process of transitioning to plant-based eating, or if you are just trying it out for now, let people know that, too. Often, being vegan is seen as an all-or-nothing proposition and, while there are many who would happily debate me on this point, I maintain that being 100% vegan is not possible, so it's always a process and a matter of making choices that are right for you on your journey.
Wishing everyone a very happy holiday season and all the best for the coming year!
Sheryl
You're invited to a party
You’ll probably be included in a few gatherings over the holiday season. The first thing you’re going to want to do is let your host know about your dietary choices. No one wants to be blindsided by a guest that can’t eat this or won’t eat that, whether that’s a choice or something out of your control like a food allergy. This is also a great time to offer to bring a dish or two that everyone can enjoy – side dishes and desserts are particularly easy when it comes to crowd-pleasing, plant-based options. This will ensure that you have something yummy to eat while also showing off how tasty plant-based foods can be for all the other guests. Try to make your contribution something with simple and familiar ingredients rather than something that will draw a lot of attention and questions, like the disgusting, jiggly tofurkey from that classic episode of Everyone Loves Raymond!
"Offer to bring a dish or two that everyone can enjoy! Side dishes and desserts are easy, crowd-pleasing, plant-based options."
This is also a great chance to show off “accidentally” vegan foods so the other guests can see how being plant-based doesn’t mean eating weird things! So many side dishes are already vegan or very easily adapted. Same with desserts. You don’t even have to mention that these dishes are plant-based. Just let everyone enjoy them without any preconceived notions.
Some recipes you might want to try that are real crowd pleasers include a butternut squash galette, a holiday crunch salad, or vegan wild mushroom stuffing, and don’t forget baked goods like vegan shortbread cookies and gingerbread cake.
Of course…you’ll probably get at least a few questions about being vegan. How you choose to answer is up to you, but I personally feel that a party is not the forum for a defense of your choices or for a discussion on the ethics of eating meat. You’re unlikely to change anyone’s mind between rounds of eggnog. What you can do, if you feel that the question is coming from a sincere place of curiosity, is offer to meet for a coffee or drink at a later date to talk about it. If you feel that it’s coming from a place of judgement, you do not have to answer. But, if you choose to talk about being vegan, talk authentically about what becoming plant-based has meant to you. You can talk about the positive things that a vegan diet has brought to your life like having more energy, feeling healthy, cutting down on your grocery bill, weight loss (if that has happened), etc. You can also offer to send questioning people links to informative websites like vegcurious.ca or 10 Weeks to Vegan, for example.
You’re hosting a party
What a great opportunity to showcase the many faces of plant-based foods. If your guest list includes only vegans, this will be an easy task! If you have a mix of vegans and nonvegans then a bit more planning is in order. Of course, you want all your guests to enjoy all the food you prepare so an approach that I take is, again, to make primarily “accidentally” vegan dishes. These are dishes that everyone eats without ever considering that they are plant-based, or dishes that require only the slightest of modifications to be vegan. For example, you can welcome people to your party with platters of dips like hummus, roasted pepper and guacamole, veggies, and crackers on a charcouterie board accented with dried or fresh fruit and olives. Nothing “weird” about that collection!
Soups, salads, and plant-based side dishes are equally easy to prepare and can be super creative and festive with the addition of colourful garnishes like pomegranate seeds or kumquats, for example. For dessert, offer fresh fruit, and a collection of cookies and squares. So easy! And these can be prepared ahead of time and frozen for weeks.
You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t addressed the main course yet. That’s because this is the one part of the meal that may require some creativity. Of course, there are accidentally plant-based meals you can easily make like stuffed peppers (stuffed with quinoa or rice, and you can add in a vegan ground beef, if you feel your guests would enjoy this), curries or falafels. You can offer do-it-yourself tacos or fajitas with a variety of plant-based options. My favourite thing to do when I have a crowd is to make lots of different platters of foods with a variety of colours and textures – grains, veggies and pasta are great places to start thinking about what to prepare. If you think your crowd would be open to it, include a tofu or seitan dish for people to try. Looking for inspiration? Here are 48 easy-to-make recipes and 22 holiday cookie recipes that would be at home on the table of any dinner
party!
Wishing you a delicious holiday season filled with friends, family and fabulous food!
I hope this blog has helped you find your way to plant-based eating. Remember…the goal is not to be perfect. Do the best you can and enjoy the journey! Sign up for vegcurious to be delivered right to your inbox at vegcurious.ca.
Note: It is strongly recommended that you consult with your primary care physician before making any changes to your diet. This blog is for educational purposes only and is not intended to recommend or endorse any particular product, diet or eating plan.
コメント