Assorted Christmas Eats (with bonus I Made A Thing)

Believe it or not, my Christmas wasn't all eating out. And while we didn't do the traditional Christmas lunch this year, there were still a few things that I made.

Midsummer Salad from Bowls of Goodness by Nina Olsson: While all my US friends were deep in winter, here we are in summer. For my witchy pals, that means Yule in the Northern Hemisphere, but Litha down here in the Southern Hemisphere. This salad seemed appropriately named to make on the longest day of the year (or close enough, I think I worked all day on the actual day). Potatoes, lots of dill, spinach, cucumber, capers, chives, and some apple were all mixed in with a creamy mustard dressing. The apple was a wonderful addition, as its sweetness went great with the tangy dressing. The recipe calls for red onion, but as I don't do raw onion I added some celery for the crunch and it was great. This book is not all vegan, but has a vegan option for everything. The vegetarian version had eggs, which it says to leave out for vegans. I added some white beans to the mix as well instead. Served over some chopped baby cos.
Rating: :)



Party Nacho Platter from Vegan Yack Attack On The Go by Jackie Sobon: The last few years I have taken to making nachos for dinner on Christmas Eve. This year, that was delayed until Boxing Day as I was unwell on Christmas Eve and couldn't cook. But I had all the stuff, so I was glad I could still make it at some point! Corn chips are topped with a Buckwheat Taco Meat, queso (made using a Butternut Cheese Sauce base with some extras added in and some pinto beans, and I left out the jalapenos), tomatoes, avocado, coriander, and sour cream (I used natural almond yoghurt, which I forgot to put on until after the photos. I also left off the radishes and cos lettuce that the recipe suggested as they aren't my preferred nacho toppings. I also served them individually rather than on a big platter, so that my parents could top as they desired. I found the buckwheat taco meat a little underwhelming, I had to add extra water and cook for extra time to get it soft enough, so perhaps the flavours got too diluted. But it worked well witht he stronger flavours of the nachos.
Rating: :)



Banana Eggnog Pancakes from The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz: I made these for breakfast on Boxing Day, as there was no morning yoga class and I had a bottle of delicious, locally made nutnog in the fridge. The stars aligned. These had a lovely, sweet, mild flavour and were a fabulous way to start the day. I used a 1/4 cup as my scoop (rather than 1/3 cup) and got 11 pancakes (rather than 8). Served with some dried cranberries and some maple syrup.
Rating: :)



Nutnog Overnight Oats: Bonus recipe from me! Not that overnight oats really count as making a recipe? Anyway, I thought it would be a fun way to use my nutnog. And it was. I consulted the internet oracles for some inspiration, as well as following my own heart. This is what I did.

Mix 1C of rolled oats, 1TBS of chia seeds, 1.5C of your vegan nut/eggnog, 1/4 cup dried cranberries, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon (you can add more or less, I probably added more because I am a cinnamon fiend). Leave overnight to soak and get delicious. In the morning, top with slivered almonds, pomegranate arils, and nutmeg. Eat! I don't add any additional sweetener, but you could mix in some maple syrup if you like things sweet.



And the other stuff...

Of course there were some delicious other eats as well. Such as this plate of cherries and vegan stollen (I love stollen, thanks Aldi!), with a glass of nutnog. And my first ever viewing of Die Hard.



A ham and cheese toasted croissant, using Tofurky Ham and Fenn Smoked Sesame Cheese. Other non-pictured things I made with the Tofurky included a ham and Daiya smoked gouda toasted sandwich, and also out traditional Christmas sandwich of ham, sweet mustard pickles, cheese (a Tofutti cheese slice), and a bit of Nuttelex.



And of course, some Christmas Pudding with Custard. I actually bought the pudding in January on a 50% off sale. It had a really long expiry date, so why not save some dollars and buy it super early. This pudding is delicious, especially with loads of custard.



There were of course other snacks and bits and pieces, but these were the most Christmas-related of them all. So, until next year... this year... whatever. Until next time it is Christmas.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Gizmo looking like the perfect present under the Christmas tree. This was also her last Christmas. What I wouldn't give to wake up one morning and find her under there again.