by What do you do when you’ve invited the family from out of town for the holidays and you find out after the fact that they are now vegans? If they’ve already arrived on your doorstep and you’ve already shopped, it could be a last-minute rush to serve foods they are likely to eat. Don’t worry! It isn’t all that difficult to make a few changes to your planned menus and if all else fails, there’s always the vegan frozen foods aisle in your local supermarket.
The Simplest Solution for Day 1 – Take Out!
You may be wondering why they didn’t even hint at their special dietary needs before booking that flight. Perhaps in the anticipation of spending longed-for time with family and friends it slipped their mind. Isn’t everyone vegan, after all? The easiest solution for you on that very first day would be to order from a popular Glendale vegan restaurant for takeout or delivery. Problem solved – at least for that very first dinner! Even so, there are other quick fixes so that you aren’t spending half the night awake wondering what you will feed them for the next several days they’ll be with you.
Easy Mediterranean Classics
Everybody loves chickpeas (garbanzos) don’t they? Two of the most popular Mediterranean classics are made with chickpeas as the main ingredient. All you will need to do is pick up a few packs of pita or pocket bread at your local supermarket and then on to the international aisle for falafel and hummus mixes.
Both are extremely easy to prepare but perhaps a couple of tips are in order. When mixing the falafel, add a bit of flour otherwise those little balls you’ve formed will probably break up when being fried in olive oil. Hummus can be served either as a dip with pita or as a dressing on those falafel pocket sandwiches you serve. Either way, both are 100% plant based and make sure you have extra virgin olive oil. Nothing less will do for Mediterranean classics.
Altering Meal Plans
One night you might have planned to serve spaghetti and your family-famous homemade meatballs. Actually, their vegan diet will make it so much easier on you! Scrap the meatballs and serve pasta with marinara sauce. You could always have grated cheese on the table for your immediate family, but the vegans in the crowd will almost always do without it. They eat only a plant-based diet with no meat or dairy, including eggs or cheese.
You will also need to be careful of the desserts you had planned to serve. If those cakes or goodies call for eggs or cream, you’ll want something else. A fruit platter always makes a nice dessert. Fruit pies are nice too as long as the crust isn’t made with lard. As long as they don’t call for eggs, butter or dairy of any kind, you’ll do fine. In fact, you might have so much fun exploring all your options in plant-based foods that you might be tempted to join the flexitarians in your circle of friends. By taking the majority of meat and dairy out of your diet, you might begin to feel so much lighter and better yourself. Why not give it a try?
