Your favorite fancy Vegetarian/Vegan main dish?

[ChocolateMouse]

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"I didn't think that people actually use recipes word for word but I guess some people can't be inventive."
Not noob, "Nob" as in slang for an idiot who can't do basic tasks or think on their own. Basically your implication here.

Ironically, yours has been the first insult here, passive aggressive as it is. I *AM* regularly telling people that I had a specific request that's not being met, I'm not quite sure how that's so bad that you got; "You think my dishes are ugly and boring. You're uninventive and just can't cook the way *I* can cook. Your frustration of being met with almost nothing but what you didn't want is so aggressive! Peace and love! *kissy face*".
So, uh, given that you've insulted me and think that mild frustration and correction over unhelpful posts is so aggressive AND that because I think it doesn't meet my needs I must think your food is 'boring' and 'looks bad on the table', er... What? Like... I'm sorry you feel that way?

These all seem like perfectly tasty foods. Probably very good under other circumstances. But before even posting most have noticed that they're not posting what I asked for. So... ??? Just why?

I *am* grateful to the few people who posted something unique and good looking that meets my needs, actually has a recipe, and is nice. I will be looking into those further. They're actually very helpful.

 

[ShannonR]

Is a vegan sushi as the centerpiece dish off the table? With tufu (not fake meat), maybe some exotic veggies to make it tasty and unique, then served with an artistic flair to impress? It would look fancy, you could use any number of veggies to add color for presentation... just a random thought.

I know you prob won't like this suggestion but I can't help but throw it out there. You could do a "hillbilly holiday" themed meal, just to change things up a bit then go crazy and have fun with it!! It might be less stressful and more fun than the formality and fancy thing.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

@ShannonR , actually some of the giant sushi rolls might be appropriate for that, you know, like the ones that come out like a mosaic like this;

Those are SUPER pretty and flashy. I wonder how well that would work. The wellington's probably more practical but this idea is really unique and colorful...! If nothing else I;m going to have to remember it for Litha.

As for toning it down, it's actually part of the sort of religious requirements of the holiday as it's celebrated in my, er, I guess pagan denomination is the best way to describe it.
Yule - for me - is a celebration love and generosity and hedonism, where you give your absolute very best to your friends, loved ones, and anyone who is generally worse off then you and then you drink and party all night. So it's not that it's supposed to be "formal" persay, last year someone showed up in a batman onesie and fit right in... It's more like you're always supposed to give your very best to the people in attendance. It's supposed to be bountiful and excessive and beautiful by design.

Traditionally the meal was an entire roast boar, the head of which was considered the best part and was offered to the guests first, for example. Cookies soaked in cider and smaller whole roast animals, honey cakes and elaborately decorated meat pies, puddings made with dried fruit and glazed in rare sugars, etc. The whole nine yards.

Meeting these requirements as stated isn't very hard.... Until you get the vegan main dish. Since traditionally it's supposed to be elaborate, beautiful, rich and filling, with all the bounty and love nature has, and it would be inappropriate/bad pagan to make something that top notch for everyone but not for the people who can't/don't eat meat/dairy. It'd be against the very spirit of the evening. A yule celebration without the beauty and bounty isn't yule. (At least, not that sort of yule. Wicca yule is very different for example.)

Since the food itself is SO entwined with the faith based aspects of the evening, maybe that may help people to understand why I am as specific about the requirements as I am.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Some of the crazier documented celebrations in the middle ages had things like a whole peacock, skinned, stuffed and roasted, then the skin gets salted and put back on the bird so it looks like it's still alive on the platter as it's brought out to the guests and nutso things like that.

We're not that wack here. But that might help to show the idea of 'elaborate and beautiful centerpiece'. (And why, say, falafel balls just aren't the same even if they taste amazing.)

 

[ShannonR]

@ShannonR , actually some of the giant sushi rolls might be appropriate for that, you know, like the ones that come out like a mosaic like this;

Those are SUPER pretty and flashy. I wonder how well that would work. The wellington's probably more practical but this idea is really unique and colorful...! If nothing else I;m going to have to remember it for Litha.

As for toning it down, it's actually part of the sort of religious requirements of the holiday as it's celebrated in my, er, I guess pagan denomination is the best way to describe it.
Yule - for me - is a celebration love and generosity and hedonism, where you give your absolute very best to your friends, loved ones, and anyone who is generally worse off then you and then you drink and party all night. So it's not that it's supposed to be "formal" persay, last year someone showed up in a batman onesie and fit right in... It's more like you're always supposed to give your very best to the people in attendance. It's supposed to be bountiful and excessive and beautiful by design.

Traditionally the meal was an entire roast boar, the head of which was considered the best part and was offered to the guests first, for example. Cookies soaked in cider and smaller whole roast animals, honey cakes and elaborately decorated meat pies, puddings made with dried fruit and glazed in rare sugars, etc. The whole nine yards.

Meeting these requirements as stated isn't very hard.... Until you get the vegan main dish. Since traditionally it's supposed to be elaborate, beautiful, rich and filling, with all the bounty and love nature has, and it would be inappropriate/bad pagan to make something that top notch for everyone but not for the people who can't/don't eat meat/dairy. It'd be against the very spirit of the evening. A yule celebration without the beauty and bounty isn't yule. (At least, not that sort of yule. Wicca yule is very different for example.)

Since the food itself is SO entwined with the faith based aspects of the evening, maybe that may help people to understand why I am as specific about the requirements as I am.

So glad you liked the sushi idea!

Your holiday traditions are beautiful. I do have some Wiccan friends, and have learned quite a bit from them. I have experienced the Yule warmth, love, companionship and drinking well into the cold night near a bright and warm fire. It's a very proper way to celebrate the coming of Winter. As an unrelated aside, my birthday is on Yule.

Do you happen to put up any foods during summer for the coming cold months? It is a totally appropriate time to break something out, if so.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Usually I do. This past year we had a rat infestation and some frustration with my partner literally procrastinating for an entire year before calling someone to take care of it for various reasons. (It's now finally being resolved and we're seeing a big difference already!) So I didn't get to plant my garden this year because the rats would have just eaten everything. :T The exterminators told me not to and the year before they did eat a lot of the garden so I didn't plant.
Normally I have all sorts of stuff from squashes to canned tomatoes and dried peppers and TONS of herbs and garlic and onions, celery, leeks, lettuce and cauliflower... But this year I didn't do any of that.

However, I do still have apple butter from the year before made from local apples I picked myself that I usually work into some of my dishes, spices in my cabinets from my gardens, and some rabbits in the freezer, which will probably all make some sort of showing. Not to mention eggs, lots of those. I also work hard to buy as many local small time ingredients as I can from markets and farms especially for this event.

 

[chickenmomma16]

I made this pot pie and it was delish! Our family is *mostly* Vegan. Eating lean meats only a couple times a week. I even have a raw vegan chocolate pudding recipe if you want it

 

[rosemarythyme]

Well I completely missed the point about the dish(es) being both vegetarian and lactose friendly so sorry that I included dishes that had cheese.

I know you said this isn't a Christmas dinner but are you opposed to borrowing from a popular Christmas tradition - the tamale? I haven't tried these recipes but they're definitely different than the other dishes you've already been serving, and still is a nod to the season https://dorastable.com/18-easy-vegan-tamales/

 

[ChocolateMouse]

It's alright rosemary, just frustrating.

I have no opposition to borrowing from whatever. As far as I'm concerned, given how much Christianity in general "borrowed" from paganism, anything we feel like taking from those celebrations for whatever we feel like is fair game. XD

Tamales sound really fun, they're certainly elaborate cause you have to wrap each one. I'm not sure they look the way I hoped so I wonder if there's a way to spruce them up and make them more dramatic.
Goodness knows mexican food lends itself much better to beans than english/germanic food.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Chickenmomma, those recipes are now super saved to my computer. The processed soy milk might be a problem but I could probably find a substitute.

I think I probably have desserts covered. Most of them are pretty easy to pull off.