A vegetarian holiday table

As more and more people choose to eat less meat or no meat at all for health and ethical consideration, planning holiday meals gets increasingly complex. It can be a challenge to find hearty, festive dishes that will be an appropriate substitute for what is often a meat-heavy meal and that will also please everyone including the omnivores. However, recipe websites are responding to these constraints, including Australian Gourmet Traveller, which has assembled a collection of vegetarian recipes that will be right at home on your Christmas table. 

The collection includes hearty recipes that will stand in for main dishes, such as Roast pumpkin wedges with almond, goat’s cheese and tahini dressing and a Cauliflower and saffron gratin. There are also many salads that will satisfy everyone, including a colorful and refreshing Watermelon fruit salad with ice-cream and raspberry-pepper salad, and the vibrant green Blistered kale ribs with kale-leaf and quinoa salad. One recipe that really appealed to me was the gorgeous Beetroot and carrot mezzalune with leek, hazelnut and poppy seeds pictured above. 

The holidays aren’t complete without sweet treats to round out the meal. You’ll find plenty in this list, like the Dessert wine sabayon with cherries and pistachios (also appropriate colored in red and green), and the Masala carrot cake that puts a new twist on an old favorite.