Christmas recipes can be just as good without any meat or dairy. Substituting meat and dairy with fresh veggies and plant-based foods is a healthy and cruelty-free way to celebrate the holiday. 

  1. Creamy Cauliflower, Mushroom, and Kale Pasta 

With the goodness of cauliflower, mushroom, and kale, this wholesome and hearty dish is the best healthy comfort food for winters. Boil a pot of salted water and add some cauliflower and potato. Cook them until they are soft, remove them, and set them aside. Add pasta to the water and cook the pasta. Drain the pasta, rinse under cold water, and set aside. Keep the pot on the stove, add some olive oil and flour, and mix until smooth. Mix some plant-based milk like coconut milk or almond milk with vegetable stock. Mix it in the flour-oil paste and stir until smooth. Add this into the cauliflower and potato with a little mustard. Blend them together and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 180°C. 

In a pan, add olive oil and mushrooms and let them cook. Add the garlic, herbs, and a pinch of salt. Add kale to the pan and cover it to cook. After this, in a casserole dish or roasting tin, mix the pasta, mushrooms, kale, and sauce. You can sprinkle this with bread crumbs or vegan cheese. Drizzle some olive oil and bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the oven until it is slightly browned. Add to serving bowls and serve hot and dig in.

  1. Plant-based Pie

This savory pie is ideal to dig in during the holiday season. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Chop some onions and heat some oil in a pan. Add the onions and fry until soft. Add minced garlic and bay leaves to the pan. Throw in some spices and vegetables and stir it. Let the vegetables turn golden. Add in some flour, tomato puree, and vegetable stock. Boil until it thickens. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Flour a baking dish and layer a ready-rolled puff pastry in it. Cut the excess pastry to the tray’s size. Fill the dish with the vegetable pie filling. Brush some non-dairy or plant-based milk along the edges of the pastry. Cover the pie with another sheet of puff pastry and seal the edges. You can decorate the pie creatively with extra puff pastry sheets. Brush the top with plant-based milk and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot and enjoy.

  1. Meatless Loaf

Preheat the oven to 180˚C and grease a bread pan with oil or vegan butter. Heat a pan and add oil and onions to it. Add some Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Stir well and cook until the onions are soft and translucent. Add Worcestershire sauce, vegetable broth, and ketchup to the onions and mix well. Separately, drain and rinse chickpeas and black beans and blend in a food processor until creamy. Put in a large bowl. Blend some rolled oats or add oat flour to the bowl of chickpeas and beans. Add cornmeal and some aquafaba (or the liquid in which the chickpeas were kept) to the bowl. Add broth or water to the mixture and stir. 

Add the onion mixture to the beans and mix the ingredients well. If the mixture feels too wet, add cornmeal until it is firm. Add the mixture to the bread pan and make sure the pan is covered with the mixture. Spread BBQ sauce on top of the loaf and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes, cut, and enjoy with some more BBQ sauce.

  1. Sweet Pumpkin Pie

This luscious yet healthy dessert pie is perfect to warm you up this winter. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Grease a pie dish. In a food processor, add ginger cookies or any cookies of your choice, cinnamon, and coconut oil. Then grind them until it becomes crumbly dough. Add the dough to the pie dish and spread it out evenly. Press the dough into the pan with the back of a cup. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes and set aside to cool.

For the filling, combine pumpkin puree, maple syrup, coconut sugar, almond milk, arrowroot, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and molasses in a blender until smooth. Pour it into the pie crust until full. Bake for 45 minutes. Let it cool for 2 to 3 hours. Store it in the refrigerator overnight. Slice the pie, top with coconut whipped cream, sprinkle some cinnamon, and enjoy.

  1. No-bake Fudgy Choco Bites

No festival is complete without chocolate. So let’s get started. Line a dish with parchment paper and set aside. Blend some pitted dates, almond flour, coconut flour, and cocoa powder. Add to this vanilla extract, maple syrup, and coconut cream. Blend until a dough forms. Add a little more maple syrup if it is dry or coconut flour if it’s too wet.

Scoop small parts of the dough and roll into balls. Arrange the dish with parchment paper. Freeze the cake bites for 10 minutes. Prepare a glaze by adding coconut butter, coconut oil, cocoa powder, and maple syrup and combine.  Remove cake bites from the freezer, dip them into the glaze, and place them on the parchment paper to dry. Once all cake bites are glazed, set them in the freezer for 10 minutes. Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature and enjoy.

Enjoy these delicious recipes with your family and friends. Happy holidays!