A Vegan Christmas Dinner

for when you don't want to start with the Christmas tree

It's all been quite left-leaning and stirred lately. Where a flexitarian used to be an exotic, now it's the most normal thing in the world. In fact, if you don't walk around an egg with a bow, you seem like a barbarian. There's a good chance your Christmas guest is also vegan, so what do you cook? With a bit of bad luck, you might start gnawing on the Christmas tree out of sheer misery. Or is that not allowed either, because there are little creatures living in there too? Anyway. I called on Simone for fun vegan recipes with full-belly guarantee.

Here they come!

1. Whole stuffed pumpkin instead of that stuffed roast from the oven

• 1 bottle of pumpkin
• olive oil
• 1 red onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• bunch of fresh sage
• jar of sun-dried tomatoes
• 75 grams of roasted chestnuts
• 75 grams of basmati rice
• 75 grams of dried cranberries
• 1 tsp speculaas spices
• red wine

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2. Wash the pumpkin, cut it in half lengthwise, and use a spoon to remove the seeds.

3. Chop the flesh finely and heat some olive oil in a large pan.

4. Clean the onion and garlic and add them to the pan.

5. Do the same with the sage, the tomatoes, and the chestnuts.

6. Also add the rice, along with all the spices, pepper, salt, and a splash of red wine. Let it simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.

7. Fill the pumpkin with the mixture, place the other half on top, and coat the outside with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

8. Wrap the pumpkin in aluminum foil and place it in the oven for about two hours.

9. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and cut it into equal slices.

2. Grilled cauliflower with winter pesto instead of that beef carpaccio

• 2 shallots
• olive oil
• 1 cauliflower
•  1 tsp dried chili powder
• 2 cans of cannellini beans

Pesto

• 25 grams of unsalted nuts
• handful of mixed herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley)
• 1 lemon

1. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and fry the shallot until crispy (but make sure it doesn't burn).

2. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Clean the cauliflower and cook it whole in a large pot of salted water.

4. Remove the cauliflower from the water and pat it dry.

5. Coat the cauliflower with the chili powder, pepper, salt, and some olive oil.

6. Roast the nuts in a dry frying pan and then put them in the blender.

7. Blend until you get a coarse mixture and then add the herbs, oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

8. Blend until you have a nearly smooth mixture (it can still have some texture) and set aside.

9. Heat a grill pan over high heat, cut the cauliflower into quarters, and grill each quarter in the pan.

10. Heat the beans together with 2 tablespoons of the liquid in a pan, mash with a potato masher, and mix with 2 generous tablespoons of pesto.

11. Divide the bean mixture onto the plates, place a piece of cauliflower on each plate, and top with crispy onions and a drizzle of olive oil.

3. Chocolate pots instead of grandma's chocolate mousse

• 200 grams of vegan chocolate
• 700 grams of silken tofu
• 150 ml maple syrup
• zest of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp rum
• pinch of chili flakes
• pinch of sea salt

1. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie.

2. Remove the tofu from the packaging and pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture.

3. Place the tofu in the blender along with all the other ingredients (except the chocolate) and the salt, and blend until you get a smooth mixture.

4. Add the melted chocolate and blend again.

5. Divide the chocolate into small glasses and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Image source: Jamie Oliver