Vegan Christmas and a happy new year

A gourmet set full of mini steaks or a big bowl of rolled meat; Christmas dinner has been all about meat for years. During Christmas, the Dutch eat on average 2.5 times as much meat as on normal days. Yet meat is not at all necessary for a tasty and festive meal. DWARS challenges you to do things differently this year and gives you some handy tips for a completely vegan Christmas dinner.

Vegan?
At activities of DWARS Groningen, only vegan food and drinks have been served since 2018. For several months now, this has applied to all departments across the country. In vegan food, there are no ingredients made from or by animals. So that means no meat in it, but also no milk, eggs or honey, for example. Animal products are much worse for the environment. Eating vegan is better for the climate and therefore fits DWARS very well. Besides, with vegan food, you know that no animals have suffered for your meal. That's a nice idea, fitting for the Christmas season when we are all a bit nicer to each other.

Share
So while it is normal at DWARS to eat only things made from plants, it is not yet the case everywhere. Especially if you are eating with a large group, for example with your family, it is quite possible that you will get a lot of questions about your choice to eat vegan (this Christmas) or that others find the decision complicated and awkward. So how do you make sure that Christmas dinner still remains enjoyable? When you cook yourself, it is of course great fun to surprise the diners at the table with a delicious plant-based meal. If someone else is cooking, offer to help make the dishes vegan. If that is not so appreciated anyway, you can suggest bringing your own food. Then bring enough to share. People often get curious in the end.

The menu
Cooking a vegan meal for the first time can be quite a challenge, but fortunately you can find many inspiring recipes on the internet. Sometimes they are very complicated, but that is not necessary at all. Even if you are not an experienced cook, you can easily put something tasty on the table. For instance stuffed mushrooms or a vegetable curry. There are also many recipes of a whole cauliflower in puff pastry from the oven. That looks quite spectacular and is also super tasty.
But what if the whole family is convinced that they “just want” their Russian salad on the table like in previous years? Lots of dishes are easy to make vegan. You can replace milk with plant-based drinks, such as coconut milk or almond milk. Even for yoghurt, there are plenty of substitutes in normal supermarkets. Vegan mayonnaise is available almost everywhere these days.
When it comes to gourmet food, you can also just join in, but without animal products. Many supermarkets even sell vegan gourmet dishes! But even without these ready-made packages, you can join in with, for example, delicious spiced vegetables, tempeh or potatoes.

Vegan Christmas market
Need some extra inspiration now? There will be another vegan Christmas market at the EM2 in Groningen on 22 December 2019. You can buy lots of plant-based Christmas products there, such as a vegan cheeseboard! In addition, you can drink vegan chocolate milk there. Then get into the plant-based Christmas spirit already.

Hopefully, you have been inspired to start celebrating this Christmas in an animal-friendly and eco-conscious way and will soon find a delicious recipe for Christmas. Show that you don't need roll-ups to have a cosy time and celebrate Christmas the way you like it. Enjoy your meal!