
The extra pounds in January are earned after the holiday’s hard work (as we eat holiday left-overs). If you want to eat tasty dishes and be a healthy being at the same time, this article is for you. I’ll introduce you to some delicious recipes for your Holiday dishes with a vegan twist. Scroll down and you’ll find a whole dinner plan with 6 classic dishes for an incredible feast with vegan ingredients.
Before walking through each vegan recipe, let me introduce you to popular non-vegan ingredients in common Holidays’ recipes with its ingenious vegan substitute. You can use them as a reference not only for Holiday dishes but to your daily life as well.
Are Meatless Mondays on your next-year resolution? Use this tables to guide you and check the links if you want further information. The following comparisons are creative suggestions. You can explore more and substitute pork for tofu or eggs for chia. You could use tempeh, beans or vegetables too.
Nutritional Facts |
Nutritional Facts |
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Turkey (100g) |
Tofu (100g) |
Pork (100g) |
Seitan (1/3 cup) |
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Calories 104 Protein 17.07 g Carbs 4.21 g Fats 1.66 g |
Calories 62 Protein 6.90 g Carbs 2.40 g Fats 2.70 g |
Calories 136 Protein 20.54 g Carbs 0 g Fats 5.41 g |
Calories 120 Protein 21 g Carbs 4 g Fats 2 g |
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Tofu is made of soybeans. It contains the amino acids (the little blocks that make proteins) your body needs. It also:
● Reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Turkey is not that helpful, huh? |
![]() I suggest you take the time and make your own seitan at home. Commercially prepared versions tend to have high levels of sodium and other unhealthy additives. You can prepare it with gluten flour, mixing it with the herbs you like and adding water until you have a dough-like texture. You can reduce the “chewiness” by freezing the dough before cooking it. |
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Watch out |
Watch out |
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Tofu isn’t recommended for patients with kidney stones, breast tumours, and thyroid issues. If you have any of those, consult your MD before including tofu to your diet. | Don’t consume seitan if you have celiac disease or gluten allergies. |
Nutritional Facts |
Nutritional Facts |
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Egg white (100g) |
Flaxseeds
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Cow Milk (1 cup) |
Coconut Milk (1 cup) |
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Calories 52 Protein 10.90 g Carbs 0.73 g Fats 0.17 g |
Calories 60 Protein 3 g Carbs 4 g Fats 3.50 g |
Calories 160 Protein 8 g Carbs 11.80 g Fats 8.80 g |
Calories 45 Protein 0 g Carbs 2 g Fats 4.50 g |
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Flaxseeds are a powerful ingredient with lots of nutrients in little servings. They can be added to almost everything and offer valuable benefits:
● They’re a natural laxative due to their high amount of fiber. |
Got milk? Plant-based, please.
● Believe it or not, studies suggest that coconut milk might help to lose weight. It reduces appetite and increases the metabolism. |
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Watch out |
Watch out |
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Soak 1 tbsp. of flaxseeds in 3 tbsps. of water. Within a while, it will become a gel-like substance equivalent to one egg white. Grounded flaxseeds are the perfect vegan egg substitute for baking. | The coconut milk mentioned here is beverage-like. It’s diluted. Thicker kinds of it are commonly used in Indian and Caribbean cuisine and differ greatly in their nutritional facts. |
Being vegan or having a plant-based diet doesn’t mean that tasty dishes are off-limits. It’s the contrary. You can have a vegan holiday feast and eat delicious food until you look like a Botero’s painting (please, don’t).
These are some vegan recipes for any Party, Event, Holiday, or just a special get-together:
Disclaimer:The recipes shown next are adaptations of other original vegan recipes. The title of each links back to the original recipe.The nutritional facts shown come from “My Fitness Pal” recipe calculator and the ingredients of the original recipe. |
Pigs In Blankets
These aren’t only for Holidays. You can make them any time of the year, for a vegan party or a movie night.
Devil On Horseback
As the pigs, the devils can be made for any occasion, not only for a vegan health holiday!
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NUTRITION FACTS | INFO | STEPS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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For a tasty entrée and a digestive aid (a food superhero, basically), replace the dates for prunes; they are the best way to prevent and treat constipation. Also, you can change the dates for apricots and make angels instead of devils.
GOOD FOR: Snack time, entrée. INGREDIENTS: ● 20 pitted dried dates. |
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Baked “Turkey”
If your eyebrows are about to touch the ceiling, please pull them down and try this cruelty-free recipe for this Christmas classic!
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Seitan absorbs flavors amazingly, so you can get creative with this recipe and mix the dough with other herbs and veggies, or add other species to your broth. The texture will be firmer if you cool it and reheat it after, it would be better if you prepare this a day before serving.
GOOD FOR: Lunch, dinner. Commonly prepared in autumn-winter, for holidays. INGREDIENTS: DRY: ● 2 cup vital wheat gluten. WET: ● ¼ cup tahini. BASTING BROTH: ● 2 cups hot water. |
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Wild Rice Stuffing
This is the part when you can be most creative. Besides the infinite number of vegan recipes you can find, you can create your own stuffing. It’s basically you and your imagination. This is a suggestion of a gluten-free stuffing (to balance a bit from the seitan!).
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This is an amazing food to prevent constipation as well (have you seen the amount of fiber?). The first evidence of stuffing was found in the Apicius, a Roman book with recipes, compiled in the I century A.D. We’ve been stuffing stuff to stuff our bellies from two millennia.
GOOD FOR: All-day food, any time of the year. INGREDIENTS: ● 2 cups of wild rice. |
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Eggnog
You can’t have a classic Christmas celebration without this.
Try this vegan recipe of eggnog (or veggnog?) and cheers!
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If you add brandy, the drink would be called “Tom & Jerry”. Pierce Egan, a British journalist, introduced that variation of the eggnog to publicize his book “Life in London, or The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn Esq. and his Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom” in 1821.
GOOD FOR: A common drink for Holidays. INGREDIENTS: ● 1 cup of unsweetened coconut, shredded. |
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Gingerbread Cookies
To add the Christmas-iest touch to the vegan celebration, you must make these.
Decorate them, have them as dessert with hot chocolate or make a tasty army of gingerbread men.
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The largest gingerbread man was made by the IKEA team in Oslo (Norway) in 2009. It weighed 1435.2 pounds / 651 kg. GOOD FOR: Commonly prepared in Holidays. PREP. TIME: 2 hours. COOKING TIME: 10 minutes.INGREDIENTS:● 1⅓ cups whole wheat flour ● ¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour ● ½ tbsp. baking powder ● 1 tsp baking soda ● ½ tbsp. cinnamon ● 2 tsp ginger ● ½ tsp nutmeg ● ½ tsp cloves ● ½ cup coconut oil, room temperature ● ½ cup + 1 tbsp. evaporated cane sugar ● ¼ cup water ● ½ cup fancy molasses (blackstrap is not recommended) ● ½ tsp vanilla |
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Now that you have a whole meal idea for a classic vegan Holiday, surprise your friends and family with these dishes. Make sure to receive the New Year with a “veggnog” in your hand!
Stop Gaining Weight Ever
Once you see the difference if these dishes work for you, and they will, why not make everyday, a healthier day? Have fun with Vegan Dishes with these entertaining cookbooks. They will not just leave you smiling, but your tummy will never go rumbling again.