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Forget the roast beast. This year, set the holiday table with wow-worthy plant-based dishes and drinks.
Much of the magic of the holiday season comes from rich traditions that bond us not only to each other, but to long-ago generations who came together to celebrate during the dark days of fall and winter. Roasted chestnuts, latkes and sufganiyot, Thanksgiving turkey. It’s hard to picture the home cooks of yore bustling to the market in search of tempeh or gracing the feast table with tofu. But the holiday season is a time for building traditions, too, and new favorites from these festive plant-based cookbooks may just have you nudging aside the Christmas ham for good.
Vegan Party Planning: Easy Plant-Based Recipes and Exciting Dinner Party Themes
by Nicole Vranjican
Nicole, a Los Angeles-based recipe developer and YouTube/Instagram fixture (@nikkivegan), takes home cooks around the world with celebration-worthy dishes that go beyond traditional holiday fare. Her debut cookbook gives guidance for planning memorable dinner parties, from shopping lists to table decoration, with dishes like Greek Meatballs, Lentil au Poivre, and Mocha Almond Fudge Sundaes. And it’s not just for vegans or the holidays. Her approach can help cooks of all stripes accommodate guests with plant-based diets, and her party-planning tips, menus, and timelines are applicable year-round.
A Very Vegan Christmas: Plant-Based Recipes for Celebrating in Style
by Sam Dixon
Sam is a food stylist with a background in baking who started at East London’s Violet Bakery, so it’s no surprise that her book is stunningly pretty. The gift-worthy book presents vegan spins on Christmas classics, a step toward making space on traditional holiday tables for elegant plant-based alternatives. Think Blistered Greens With Hazelnut Dressing; Parsnip, Carrot, and Onion Tarte Tatin; and Chocolate Ganache Pie.
The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook
by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Isa, a doyenne of vegan cooking, has built her reputation on recipes that boast bold flavors with minimum fuss. This book, her biggest, features more than 250 recipes for every occasion you can imagine, from Cinco de Mayo to Thanksgiving to an Oscars party. The approachable dishes include holiday classics like roasts, casseroles, sides, and sweets, along with plenty of surprises: Cinnamon Apple Crepes, Cheeseburger Pizza, Churro Biscotti, and more. The comprehensive, lavishly photographed book will carry you through the holiday season and right on through the rest of the year, too.
The Vegan Holiday Cookbook
by Katie Culpin
The co-founder and chief recipe developer for Delightful Vegans crafted this book with Thanksgiving and Christmas in mind, aiming to ease the tension between traditional holiday cookery and modern plant-based palates. Katie goes beyond the dinner table to include recipes for seasonal, simple breakfasts, lunches, drinks, and desserts with timeless winter flavors: Mulled Apple Cider, Pecan and Mushroom Wellington, Roast Vegetable Stuffing, Pecan Caramel Pie, Nutmeg Cookies, and more.
Big Vegan Flavor
by Nisha Vora
This comprehensive tome wasn’t designed for the holidays, but its wealth of information, vegan building blocks, and simple, flavorful recipes makes it an invaluable companion during the festive season. Nisha, the creator of Rainbow Plant Life, has drawn more than 2 million followers with her “flavor first” philosophy, and this book, with 150 recipes plus technical and meal-prep guidance, gives vegan home cooks the tools to build confidence and impress holiday guests with plant-based dishes that pack a punch.
RECIPE: Adult Vegan Grilled Cheese With Chili Crisp
- Yield: Serves 4
Description
Grilled cheese may not be conventional dinner fare, but these are so unreasonably good — and a serious upgrade on the classic lunch staple. They feature my two possibly all-time favorite condiments — fermented cashew cheese and chili crisp — in a melty grilled cheese designed for adult palates. Sticky, spicy, caramelized bits slice through the one-note richness of a standard grilled cheese, while the double hit of umami leaves this version lingering on your taste buds in the best way possible. If that hasn’t sold you, multiple omnivores have told me this is the best thing they’ve ever eaten.
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsps vegan butter, softened at room temperature
- 8 slices sourdough sandwich bread (or soft sandwich bread of choice)
- 12-16 Tbsps Fermented Cashew Cheese
- 4 Tbsps Life-Changing Homemade Chili Crisp or store-bought, or to taste
- Mix-and-Match Toppings (see box)
- 1 cup shredded vegan cheese, or more as desired (optional; see notes)
Instructions
- Butter one side of each slice of bread, a generous teaspoon per slice.
- On 4 bread slices, on the unbuttered side, spread a generous amount of fermented cashew cheese, enough to generously cover each slice.
- Strain the chili crisp, so you get the crispy stuff and minimal oil (use a clean spoon each time you dig in so you don’t contaminate it). Add the chili crisp (1 tablespoon, or less for mild heat, per sandwich) on top of the fermented cashew cheese. Add your toppings of choice, followed by the shredded cheese (if using), about 1/4 cup per slice.
- Top with the remaining slices of bread, buttered side facing up. Flip the sandwich over so that the side with the shredded cheese faces down.
- Add two sandwiches to a cold large skillet (starting with a cold pan helps with slow, even cooking so your bread doesn’t burn before the cheese melts). Turn the heat to medium, cover with a lid, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes (the steam helps the cheese melt better, but check the bottom occasionally — if the bread is browning but the shredded cheese isn’t near melting, reduce the heat). Flip, cover, and continue to cook until the other side is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. If not done yet, flip again, and cook, uncovered, until the second slice of bread is golden brown on the bottom, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Transfer the grilled cheeses to a sheet of parchment paper to prevent sogginess.
- For the next sandwiches, wipe out the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low to prevent burning and cook for about 3 minutes per side. Serve warm.
Notes
I use shredded vegan cheese instead of sliced cheese because it melts easier (I like Chao Creamery). If you don’t have access to a good variety, skip it and use 4 tablespoons of fermented cashew cheese per sandwich.
Mix-and-Match Toppings
- Sweet and savory (my favorite): Chopped Medjool dates (1 large date per sandwich) or fig jam (a thin layer per sandwich)
- Salty, tangy, and crisp: 2 to 4 tablespoons pickled red onions, drained, or sauerkraut
- Spicy, tangy, and crisp: 1 to 2 tablespoons pickled chiles, drained, or store-bought pickled jalapeños
- Fresh, sharp, and oniony: 2 to 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- Spicy, tangy, and funky: Spread 1 teaspoon gochujang (per sandwich) on top of the cashew cheese
This recipe is from Big Vegan Flavor by Nisha Vora, published by Avery, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright @ 2024 by Nisha Vora.
In Big Vegan Flavor, you can find recipes for the Fermented Cashew Cheese, Life-Changing Homemade Chili Crisp, pickled red onions, and pickled chiles used in this recipe.
