Meatless Monday: Plan a Meat-Free Holiday Feast

In 2011, 4.4 million whole turkeys were sold for the holiday season in Canada, with 42 percent of households purchasing a turkey.

Clearly, Canadians love their turkey, and it’s not uncommon for the turkey (or ham) to be the focal point of a holiday feast. I suspect many people would be either very confused or even angry if they sat down for Christmas dinner and a huge chunk of meat wasn’t sitting in the middle of the table.

However, with greenhouse gas levels at an all-time high, perhaps our turkey consumption is a little out of hand, considering each kilogram of edible turkey accounts for 3.41 kilograms of CO2e.

This holiday season consider making the meat a co-star in the feast, rather than the main attraction. Or if your family is ready for it, scrap the meat altogether, and make a meat-free holiday feast that will tease the taste buds and fill the belly—all without that hunk of meat we’ve come to expect.

Salads

• Carrot Cranberry Spelt Berry Salad: without the need for cranberry sauce, you can get your cranberry fix with this chewy, colourful salad.
• Beet Carpaccio with Kombucha Vinaigrette: a vegetarian riff on the beef dish, this carpaccio uses thinly sliced golden beets.

Sides

• Roasted Shallots: although we usually see roasted onions, these shallots add a pop of flavour and sophistication to the menu.
• Roasted Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes: while you’re at it (roasting the shallots), you may as well roast these delicious root veggies too. 
• Pickled Cabbage and Carrots: with its zingy flavour and toothsome crunch, this is the perfect condiment to go along with your meatless feast.

Main

• Moroccan Stuffed Red Peppers: loaded with flavour, these peppers are protein-rich thanks to the chickpeas, and give us the satisfaction of the turkey-stuffing combo, but are completely meatless.

Desserts

• Dark Chocolate and Rosemary Pudding: the earthiness of the rosemary and richness of the chocolate pairs well in this unexpected combo.
• Apple Crumble: top this traditional crumble with a scoop of organic vanilla ice cream for a decadent treat.