See below for the written recipes! 

The holidays are the perfect time for potlucks and dinner parties and if you think that vegans are missing out because we don’t eat meat and other animal products, then you must think again. There are SO many different amazing vegan dishes that you could make for the holidays that are not only satisfying and filling but also delicious and crowd-pleasing! I’ve made both of these for non-vegan friends and family and I can almost guarantee that your friends/family will love them too.

This video/blogpost is in collaboration with iHerb.com – one of my favourite websites to get all kinds of great products ranging from vegan grocery items, vegan beauty products, supplements and more. I’ve been using the website for years because they’ve got such a wide variety of products at a very affordable price. They are offering new customers $5 off their first order of $20 or more, so don’t forget to check them out. The products I got from iHerb will be linked below, so you can go directly to them.

 

The first dish is something I made while I was doing my “I TRIED LOW CARB VEGAN FOR A WEEK” challenge (which is just what it sounds like). I normally would make a lentil roast/loaf but I decided to try and make an even higher protein/fat dish using healthy fats such as nuts and seeds. I was so pleasantly surprised at how this turned out and I loved it so much that I had to share with you the deliciousness that is a vegan nut roast/loaf.

The second dish is a dessert (I wanted to do one savoury and one sweet dish) and it is a vegan pecan pie. I have always loved pecan pie and I honestly can’t remember the last time I had some. Since going vegan, I actually don’t think I’ve had a pecan pie. And this is almost exactly like how I remember pecan pie to taste like. I believe this was also my first time making pie… ever! At least from scratch… I’m just not really a “pie making” type of person but after this, I am pretty much obsessed now. I’ve always thought of pie as super intimidating and something only seasoned bakers can make… turns out, it’s not as difficult as I thought!

Watch the video above to see how I made these delicious vegan holiday potluck/dinner dishes and scroll down to see the written recipes.

 

Savoury Vegan Nut Roast/Loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds + 3 tbsp water
• 1 onion, diced
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cups nuts/seeds of choice. I used:
  • 1/2 cup macadamia nuts
  • 1/2 cup almonds
  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 block firm or extra firm tofu
• 1/2 cup almond flour or oat flour
• Spices:
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, mix together ground flax seeds and water and set aside in the fridge while preparing other ingredients.
3. Heat a little vegetable oil on the frying pan on medium-high heat (use water if you want it oil free) and cook the onion & garlic for a few minutes until onion begins to soften. Add mushrooms and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.
4. Add nuts/seeds into a food processor or a high-speed blender and pulverize.
5. Add onion mixture, nut mixture, almond/oat flour and flax egg mixture into a large mixing bowl.
6. In the same food processor/blender, blend the tofu until smooth. Add the blended tofu into the large mixing bowl. Mix until well-combined.
7. Add all the spices (Feel free to add in whatever spices of your choice) and mix until well-combined.
8. Firmly place the mixture (press down with your fingers) into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. I topped mine with some bread crumbs but that is completely optional.
9. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 1 hour.
10. When finished, let it cool before taking it out of the pan, for about 10-20 minutes (it will become more firm as you let it cool) and serve with vegan gravy or other toppings/sauces of your choice!

 

Vegan Pecan Pie

Ingredients (for one 9-inch pie)

• Homemade or store-bought pie crust – I made my own using this recipe
• 5 tbsp vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
• 1 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 10 saltine crackers, crumbled
• 4 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup extra firm silken tofu
• 2 cups whole pecans* (you can toast them if you wish! I forgot to LOL)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare your pie crust, whether store-bought or homemade. I used a very easy recipe that you can find here.
3. Melt vegan butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.
4. Whisk in coconut sugar until smooth.
5. Remove from heat and mix in maple syrup, corn starch, crumbled saltine crackers, salt and vanilla.
6. In a food processor, add the silken tofu and blend/pulse until smooth
7. Add the syrup mixture into the food processor along with the tofu and blend again until smooth and well-combined.
8. Pour the mixture back into the same sauce pan and add your pecans (save about 30-50 pecans for decorating the top of the pie… depending on how you want to decorate!) into the mixture. Mix well.
9. Pour the pecan pie filling into the pie crust and smooth out the top. Decorate the top of the pie however way you want with more pecans.
10. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool before serving.

*If you want to toast your pecans, place them on a baking sheet and bake them at 350 degrees F for about 5-8 minutes. Try not to burn them! They still taste great without toasting them, FYI.