This holiday plan a special whole food, plant based holiday meal everyone can enjoy.
Holidays are always a challenge! Everyone has different diets. For holidays, there are expected traditions! For 2022, it may be the first time you have seen your family in a year!
So what can you make for Easter?
I have some recipes that can easily be made WFPB with a few tweaks.
Start with a soup!
Recipe for Vischyssoise.
Vichyssoise is a creamy soup that can be served chilled or hot.
This is a potato leek soup. I poured a little more than half into a bottle then blended peas and spinach to the rest to make the green soup, which I poured into another bottle.
Imagine a clock and pour the soup at 1 and 7 at the same time. Garnish with some cooked (and chilled) snap peas, herbs and/or pepper flakes.
You can make this a day ahead, serve it chilled and it can be self serve once you show someone the trick. I use those 16 oz bottles that strained tomato juice comes in to hold the soup.
Ham seems to be a real tradition for Easter.
I make “ham” from butternut squash.
Bake the squash then cut the neck into slices.
Use maple syrup and liquid smoke to make a glaze and bake the slices just enough to caramelize the glaze.
The recipe is here.
Serve as a dinner feature or make some hash browns and serve it as a brunch item.
The butternut squash “ham” makes great sliders!.
Try a molded cashew cheese spread!
You can firm up any cashew cheese recipe by adding agar agar to the plant milk. The agar agar has to cook at least three minutes to firm up.
Flavor it with herbs, peppers or chives then decorate with pepper strips.
I have some firm “no cheese recipes here:
For these cashew spreads, I used a plastic egg that once had candy in it as a mold.
A 5″ springform pan was used for this pistachio wheel.
For hot liquid, you might have to line your mold with that dreaded aluminum unless you have a non stick mold of some kind. I haven’t tried it but dampened parchment might work.
Think artfully arranged salad plates.
A favorite salad or spread with artfully arranged vegetables to accompany the salad is another dish that could be done in advance.This potato salad plate was for one persons lunch but you could certainly make this for a group.
The “flower petals” are set in guacamole spread on the plate.
It could be part of a charcuterie board that is so popular right now.
Hey, rabbits graze all day, don’t they?
Waffles with fruit
Anthony William has to take credit for this recipe for blue berry waffles.I joined his Facebook page and signed up for his newsletter. He sends inspiring recipes all the time.
My husband is not a cook but he surprised me with this one day.
Perfect brunch item!
Any fruit would work though. This is a recipe for a fruit salad that would be delicious on a waffle!
Maybe something savory and elevated?
I’ve been playing with Rockefeller recipes lately, based on the classic Oysters Rockefeller with spinach, shallots and onion. I use a simple bechamel to make it all creamy.I’ve made these with maitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, artichokes or a blend. Find my recipe here.
Of course they can be a dinner entrée as well but for Easter, they would make a lovely appetizer.
Amazon has a good price on a set of 12 baking shells for about $20.
They can be put together quickly and look like you spent hours making them. Plus, they are simply DELICIOUS.
The options are out there. Take back your holiday!
Make a tofu and vegetable quiche
A nice dinner salad
Fruit parfaits
A vegan charcuterie board with fruits, nuts, dips (featuring some I showed you).
Finish with a signature cocktail.
