I don’t think I can count the number of times I’ve been asked in December what I was planning on eating on Christmas Day. Everyone who knows I follow a vegan diet asked me, from the manager of my local Caffé Nero to a carer at my grandmother’s home. It’s understandable why; it’s the one day when the vast majority eat exactly the same thing so people are curious to see what the alternative is. I hope this post satisfies the curiosity for anyone wondering. This year I had the job of cooking for my whole family (my grandmother provided a turkey for the omnivores) and this was my first year fully gluten free, so things were different. And I thought I’d do a what I ate in a day Christmas edition.
I had every intention of taking a photo of my plate just before I started eating. Then amongst the chaos of serving everyone else…I totally forgot. It wasn’t until much later in the evening when I finally opened Twitter and saw other people…non food bloggers…sharing their plates that I realised my error. Appreciate the irony here, please.
So, the plate you’re about to see is made up of assembled leftovers on Boxing Day and it’s lacking the kilogram or so of roast potatoes I consumed on Christmas Day, so it looks a little sad. Just to clarify, we never have leftover potatoes, ever. Thankfully, I’ve got two years of Vegmas photos to fall back on so I still have plenty of photos of the individual components, just not on my plate.
What I Ate Christmas Day as a Gluten Free Vegan
My Christmas Menu
Starter
Mains
- Lentil & Squash Wellington – I made this loaf recipe from last year, but wellington style using Jus Rol GF pastry and subbed the breadcrumbs for gluten free.
- Roast: Potatoes, Parsnips & Carrots
- Steamed: tenderstem broccoli, green beans & sprouts
- Mashed potato
- M&S Plant Kitchen Gravy – the only thing I didn’t make myself on my table this year (other than the pastry).
- Vegan Stuffing – I’m not a stuffing fan and I’d never made it before, so I followed this recipe from Minimalist Baker (subbing the bread for GF) rather than attempting my own.
Desserts
I made two desserts, both GF adaptations of previous recipes. This year, I made a GF yule log, adapted from this chocolate orange yule log recipe from Vegmas 2018. And then I made some candied orange brownies, roughly adapted from this recipe. Expect to see recipes for both of the GF adaptations coming next year…
My Plate
If I’m totally honest, I would very happily take a huge dish of roast potatoes on Christmas Day and hide away with those and those alone. That’s partly why my plate looks pretty pathetic without them.
On the day I opted for a thin slice of my wellington, some parsnips, carrots, a little broccoli and the aforementioned kilogram of roast potatoes (superior to mash in every way despite what my mother tries to tell me). And I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I like a few drops of gravy and hate my plate to be swimming in it, so this little drizzle is probably similar to what I ate on the day. I did try a little bit of the stuffing to see what the vegan, GF version would be like but as I’m not a fan of stuffing in general, didn’t go in for more than a couple of bites.
After my first food coma subsided, I went in for some of the yule log with some Alpro cream and fell right back into another one.
Any fellow veggies/ vegans reading this, what did you serve as your main dish this year?
Until next time,
Sophie
This all sounds really lovely! I hope you had a great Christmas xx
Cool soup ♥
Everything really does sound delicious. I always find posts like this so interesting so I’m so glad you’ve done another. I totally agree with you on roast potatoes, you can never have too many! xx
Tiffany x http://www.foodandotherloves.co.uk
I appreciate the irony :’) We usually opt for mashed potatoes & baked potatoes on Thanksgiving or Christmas, and honestly, roasted ones so I think I should volunteer that option this coming year haha!
This sounds delicious! Hope you had a lovely Christmas! X
This is so amazing, my Christmas dinner was something similar. I love to see what other vegan dinners look like. Ps. The soup sounded amazing can I try some?Haha.
Happy Sunday lovely. X
Soph | Insophiesmind.com
You had so many lovely items for Christmas! I hope you had the best day!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
It seems you had a lovely Christmas dinner. Hope you had a wonderful time too.
You don’t like stuffing?! You don’t like your dinner SWIMMING in gravy?!
I gotta say, the roast potatos are definitely my favourite part, so I’m a bit gutted for you that you couldn’t have any this Christmas. The wellington sounds delicious! x
It all looks so good!!
https://julesonthemoon.com/
I had such a mix for Christmas Day x
All of that food looks wonderful and delicious. It’s making me hungry and I’ve only just eaten my tea!
I’m gluten-free and dairy-free. My pudding ended up being profiteroles from Co-op’s free-from range and they were very nice. We also had a GF & DF yule log (from Morrisons) on Christmas Eve, which was very nice too.
This looks delicious! I had the M&S Plant Kitchen Gravy and it was so yummy; I hope you had a lovely Christmas with your family xoxo
I definitely think the best part of a Christmas roast dinner has to be the roast potatoes and probably Yorkshire puddings! I could eat just those with gravy and be all set! Your roast parsnips look amazing! X
I’m one of those people that’s always wondered what vegans have as their Christmas dinner and this looks so yummy! Thanks for sharing 🙂 xx
I’m not big on a lot of veggies, but these foods look yummy! I’d be doing a lot better now sinus-wise if I’d not given in to all the cheese offerings over Christmas! It’s a weakness…
This looks like a lovely Christmas dinner Sophie! I think parsnips are one of my favourite parts of the Christmas roast, they taste gorgeous! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
This sounds lovely! Everyone was asking what I was eating all month too! I actually had singapore noodles because I don’t like roast, affogato (with alpro vanilla ice-cream) for my starter, and avocado mousse for dessert.
I love how filling your meal sounds!
We added Brussels sprouts, mashed sweet potatoes, and parsnips to our feast this year to mix it up a little. I love mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes; anything that is creamy potato. However, this year, I found a new favorite food in parsnips!
That Wellington looks and sounds bloody delicious.
This plate looks very delicious and it’s amazing how much options there is for vegan meals! I always love your foodie posts!
Ayse x
Your Christmas meals sound so yummy. Would love to try the brownies. They look amazing. Hope you had a great Christmas ❤
I love that your Christmas was filled with delicious foods! You make the most delicious meals ever!! Love that your veggies are seasoned nicely. You can never go wrong with potatoes – it’s amazing that they can be prepared so many different ways! Thanks for sharing – glad you enjoyed your meals!
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
Everything looks so yummy!
Mariya | https://www.brunetteondemand.com/
Ooh this all looks so good! I think Yule log is my favourite Christmas desert and you can’t go wrong with chocolate orange!
Soph – https://sophhearts.com x
This sounds like a great Christmas dinner! The wellington definitely seems like something I’d love to try making myself x
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
This sounds delicious! I’m so happy to hear you had a great Christmas. My family and I aren’t vegan so we had a slightly different Christmas meal. I’m so glad you shared this, and I hope to try out some of these dishes one day soon!
– Avalon
This all looks delicious. I really want that soup!
I’m a huge potato fan too! Your Christmas dinner looks very similar to my own! I would have thought yours would have been totally different to my own – thanks for the education in this xxx
Looks so good! We never have potatoes left either so I’m not surprised about that!!!
Roast potatoes are definitely my favourite part too, but I have to have my dinner swimming in gravy, lol. I love it. My sister is a vegetarian and had a Quorn chicken breast with her Christmas dinner.
Looks so good :)))) x
All of this food looks super tasty! I’m sending you so much love.
With love, Alisha Valerie x | http://www.alishavalerie.com