Cook a veggie-filled holiday meal
- Earth Points
- 3
- Ease
- Easy
Description
It is quite nice to have a warm holiday meal with family and friends. Consider trying fun new dishes to bring to the table that are better for you and the planet. It is a nice way to create new tasty traditions.
We tend to create a lot of extra food waste over the holidays and a lot of that impact comes from the amount of meat we consume. In short, reducing the amount of animals we consume makes our diet more sustainable, reduces agricultural land-use emissions, and help us live longer.
Improve your holiday meals this year by preparing less meat and by making more plant-based dishes to bring new life to the festivities.
Tips
Here are some dishes to consider trying, but of course, there are endless delicious options to consider online.
• Hasselback butternut squash or roasted butternut squash • Roasted cauliflower steaks • Cauliflower wings with dipping sauces • Mushroom and spinach bread pudding • Quinoa-stuffed acorn squash with cranberries • Veggie tarts • Garden keepers pie (veg shepherds pie) • Mashed parsnips • Caramelized carrots
Not ready to give up your holiday meats completely? Here are some ideas on how to reduce the impact.
• Purchase meat from local farmers. This can cut emissions generated by meat by five percent.
• Rather than purchasing a whole animal portion, buy a smaller cut of meat, a crown, or a roast. Buying smaller quantities of food will lead to less waste and also cut down on your cooking time.
• Go with less resource-intensive meats like turkey and chicken rather than cows or pigs.
Additional Resources
- https://www.saveur.com/vegetarian-holiday-recipes/
- https://www.theveggietable.com/vegetarian-holidays/christmas/vegetarian-christmas/
- https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/christmas-dinners-that-will-make-jaws-drop/
- https://www.theveggietable.com/category/vegetarian-holidays/hanukkah/
- https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/10-vegan-hanukkah-recipes-2018/
- https://www.theveggietable.com/category/vegetarian-holidays/kwanzaa-recipes/