Christmas is renowned for its traditional turkey and ham, making it a tricky time for vegans and vegetarians. While most meatatarians enjoy a salad with the main course, many would pass on eating an entire meal of plant-based food.
Vegans and vegetarians have switched to plant-based diets either through social consciousness or a desire to improve their health. While their diet has changed, a need to keep nostalgic holiday traditions alive has not dimmed.
That means preparing a yummy holiday meal that everyone around the table will enjoy. So, how do you prepare a succulent meatless dinner in the Christmas tradition?
Yvonne Smith, founder of Journey to Healthy Eating, St. Albert’s first plant-based community kitchen, doesn’t have all the answers. However, she is one of the city’s most knowledgeable vegan cooks, and has spent the last decade experimenting and combining different, and at times unusual, ingredients to create palate-pleasing dishes.
In the last decade, Smith has developed and/or tested more than 200 sweet and savoury plant-based recipes in her home kitchen. Gone are the days of rubbery tofu; Smith’s mouthwatering recipes are both healthy and tasty. And in these tight economic times, they are freely available on her website at journeytohealthyeating.ca.
“You don’t have to be vegan to enjoy my food. As long as you’re open and willing to try unfamiliar foods and flavours, you won’t be disappointed,” said Smith whose greatest passion is sharing vegan recipes and building a community of like-minded people.
Recipes
So, what does one select for a Christmas menu? In scrolling through her website recipes, a variety of international dishes are listed including French-Canadian tourtière, Indonesian fried rice, Mexican casserole, and misir wot (Ethiopian red lentil stew).
As for meat alternatives, she features a turkey roast made from chickpeas, gluten, herbs and spices as well as okara meat loaf, shepherd’s pie and faux salmon.
Readers can go wild browsing through the salad section, checking out the quinoa salad with cranberry and toasted almonds, or the Brussels sprout salad with cranberries and candied pecans. The festive wild rice salad has sharp contrasts of colour and various textures, while the hearty wild rice beet chickpea salad can be served either as an appetizer or a hearty main course.
And there is a dessert section with recipes for Turtles, Snicker Bites, thumbprint cookies, tropical cheesecake, and pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies to name a few. As a meatatarian who has tasted the dairy free Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream, I can vouch for its sweet, smooth, silky texture that would surprise and delight any guest.
“I only put recipes on the website we enjoy. I don’t put recipes to compete with anyone. If my family likes it, I know it’s safe,” said Smith.
She cautions about surprising guests with all-new dishes.
“It’s important to include food that is familiar. If it’s all different, we can psychologically shut down and automatically think it doesn’t taste good.”
Through her non-denominational community kitchen teaching classes at Red Willow Community Church, Smith’s goal is to share her knowledge and recipes. The vegan lifestyle can be a “lonely one” and Smith’s aim of sharing cooking techniques has left students feeling inspired to experiment with new creations.
“We (community kitchen) get together about once a month. You have different people with similar interests forming friendships. And it’s wonderful. The church provides the venue. But it’s not about the church. It’s about serving and supporting one another.”
Vegan advocate
In the past 30 years, Smith has witnessed how the power of eating unprocessed, plant-based foods has strengthened her health and outlook on life.
For many years she suffered from a series of health issues including the yo-yo syndrome of dieting, breast fibroids and unpredictable attacks of weakened muscles which suggested the possibility of multiple sclerosis.
In 2012, she watched Forks Over Knives, a documentary where researchers explored the possibility diseases such as cancer or diabetes could be better controlled or eliminated if people switched from an animal-based to a plant-based diet.
Fearful about her disintegrating health, the information inspired her to complete a 30-day elimination of meat, dairy, eggs and processed oil.
“My real challenge would be to give up oil. I was an advocate for healthy oils,” she said.
She continued for two months. One day while stepping out of the shower, she discovered her breast fibroids had disappeared. She was “dumbstruck.”
“There are so many women who have come to me. And when they change their eating habits, they feel healthier. For me the connection is dairy and bottled oil. If you recognize similar some things, go cold turkey for a month and then add it back and see how you feel.”
Although a dynamic advocate for plant-based food, Smith’s upcoming Christmas table will boast real turkey meat with vegan trimmings and individual dishes.
“My husband is 90 per cent plant-based but it brings him great pleasure to have turkey at Christmas. He loves the smell of turkey in the house. It’s important we give and take and compromise and respect each other in our journey to healthy eating.”
Smith’s two-hour, vegan-based classes restart Jan. 19, 2025. They continue Feb. 23, March 16 and April 13. For more information, visit Smith’s website at journeytohealthyeating.ca.
