Holiday table for all Plant-based options expand the spectrum of seasonal traditions By: Romona Goomansingh Posted: 2:00 AM CST Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024

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This article was published 19/12/2024 (658 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Christmas is a time for tradition, especially at the dinner table. But as times change, adaptations might be required, a new take on our annual celebrations.

Traditional main dishes — the usual stars of a Christmas meal, such as turkey, lamb or ham — won’t please everyone’s palate these days.

If some of your family and friends are vegetarians or vegans — whether for cultural or religious reasons, or owing to dietary preferences — having meat alternatives make sense and create a thoughtful dinner that can be appreciated by all your guests.

A good start to incorporating alternatives to meat dishes is to explore plant-based proteins found in legumes and pulses. Legumes hail from the Fabaceae plant family and originate in the form of pods. Pulses are the dry seeds of legumes, such as chickpeas and lentils. They create hearty and healthy dishes that can be perfectly placed in your Christmas menu lineup.

While some people believe no meal is complete without meat, legumes and pulses transform into satisfying, filling dishes, especially when combined with an array of vegetables — and the nutritious quality of legumes and pulses will balance the decadent eats and treats at your Christmas celebration. Your vegan and vegetarian guests won’t have to be relegated to consuming only side dishes and a roster of carbohydrates.

There are copious creative ways to incorporate plant-based dishes into your Christmas dinner. Remember that plant-based proteins do not offer much taste in their basic form. Adding seasoning and spices is a must for legumes and pulses. Incorporating cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, fenugreek, garam masala and turmeric makes for flavour-packed savoury plant-based dishes. Green chilies or red chili powder/sauce add the perfect spice notes.

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Here are a few suggestions for each course:

Appetizer: Manchurian Soya Chunks

Derived from the soya bean legume, soya chunks are made of soya flour with the oil extracted. The remaining product has a rough, dry texture. Once soaked in hot water, soya chunks take on the appearance of meat, with a soft and spongy texture. While you can make soya chunks as an Indian curry, a great twist to the dish is to make Manchurian soya, which incorporates an Indo-Chinese flavour.

This plant-based dish is addictive with its layers of flavour: sweet, spicy and tangy. The soya is wrapped in a mixture of three sauces — ketchup or tomato, soya and red chili, and vinegar, garlic and ginger flavourings. (To make it simple, you can find pre-made Manchurian sauce on the shelves at Indian grocery stores.)

You can either deep-fry soya chunks using a corn-flour/corn-starch batter or pan-fry the legume. Additional veggies, such as carrots and bell peppers, can be added to bulk up this plant-based dish. Garnish with any combination of chopped green onions, chopped cilantro or thinly sliced green peppers to give a colour boost to the dish.

The best part about Manchurian soya is that it works well as an appetizer, but can also stand as a main dish with the sauce extended into a gravy and paired with Indo-Chinese fried rice or noodles.

Manchurian Soya Appetizer

Prep Time: 50-60 minutes

Serves: 5-6 people

Ingredients

• 250 ml (1 cup) soya chunks (Quality Natural Foods or Nutrela brand)
• 750 ml (3 cups) hot water
• 22 ml (1 ½ tbsp) vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 60 ml (¼ cup) celery (leaves and stalk), chopped
• 1 large carrot, cut in thin, long slices
• ½ green bell pepper, cut in medium-sized chunks
• 5 ml (1 tsp) ginger-garlic paste, or to taste (Manchurian sauce contains ginger and garlic; adjust to your preference)
• 125 ml (½ cup) green onion, chopped
• 2-3 green chilies, or to taste, chopped
• 60 ml (¼ cup) tomato ketchup or crushed tomato sauce, or to taste
• 125 ml (½ cup) Manchurian sauce, or to taste
• Salt, to taste (Manchurian sauce contains salt; adjust to your preference)

Directions

1. Soak soya chunks in hot water for 20-30 minutes in a deep bowl. They will become soft and spongy.
2. Drain water from bowl and squeeze moisture out from soya chunks.
3. Add vegetable oil in frying pan and place at medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté for a few minutes until they start to brown.
4. Add ginger-garlic paste, if sharper taste desired (Manchurian sauce already has ginger and garlic). Add green chilies and sauté for a few minutes.
5. Add tomato ketchup or crushed tomato sauce and cook for a few minutes. Then add celery and carrots and continue to cook ingredients until veggies start to slightly soften. Don’t over-cook veggies and allow them to become soggy.
6. Add soya chunks and continue cooking for 5-8 minutes.
7. Add Manchurian sauce to soya chunks, mix well together and cook for 10-15 minutes. Add chunks of green bell peppers (add at the end of cooking to keep the veggie crunchy).
8. Add salt to taste since Manchurian sauce contains salt and cook for 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat.
9. Garnish with a few thinly sliced green bell peppers, chopped green onions or chopped cilantro.
10. Allow dish to rest for 10 minutes.

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Salad: Chickpea Salad

For optimal taste, use the dry pulse — soaked overnight before cooking — rather than the canned version, though the latter reduces preparation time. Adding some baking soda to the pulse when it is soaked will hasten the boiling process; boiling with a dash of salt infuses more flavour into the dish.

Enhance the flavour of your chickpea salad with thinly sliced red onions and either cumin powder and red chili powder or the Indian spice chaat masala.

Optional additions are chopped green chilies to raise the heat of the dish or chopped tomatoes and cucumbers to give the dish a hue in sync with the festive season. Chopped cilantro is the perfect garnish.

To give the salad further flavour, drizzle it with tantalizing tamarind and mint chutneys.

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Main dish: Lentils and Mushrooms

Lentils, a very versatile little pulse, offer an earthy flavour and expand gratifyingly when soaked overnight. There are a range of vegetables that you can add to curate a nourishing lentil dish: try mushrooms, zucchini or bell peppers. Cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and turmeric add warmth and depth to the dish. With their somewhat dull hue, lentils benefit from being cooked with tomatoes and a garnish of chopped cilantro. The perfect complement is basmati rice, made festive with chopped cilantro and pomegranate seeds.

Plant-based dishes don’t have to be reserved for only vegans and vegetarian; they are for everyone to enjoy. Considering that Christmas dinner is usually planned as a fabulous feast, the more dishes the better.

Familiar traditional Christmas dishes — stuffing, mashed potatoes, cabbage rolls, gravy, and cranberry sauce, ones you enjoy year after year — conjure up nostalgia. But how about moving beyond what is familiar, transporting the flavours of your holiday dinner to something novel?

Introducing new foods is opportunity to create new, memorable traditions at this special time of the year. By setting aside a few spaces at your table for plant-based options, your meal will embrace the same sentiments of the festive season — being welcoming, inclusive and merry.

Happy holidays!

Romona Goomansingh, PhD, is an educator, freelance writer and author in Winnipeg.