The Holiday Meal Struggle
One of the great parts of the holiday season is the big meal we get to enjoy with our families. But for some people, it’s a little more difficult than it needs to be. People with dietary restrictions like vegetarianism or food allergies like gluten intolerance or lactose intolerance have to be more careful at the dinner table. Gluten is in almost every dish and meat is always the center of the entire meal. Milk is also commonly used in a lot of desserts. For people with food allergies, the dinner table can be a minefield. So here are some recipes that are safe for people with dietary restrictions to eat.
Vegetarianism
Zucchini tomato and swiss cheese pie (source: Quick Vegetarian Pleasures)
I found this recipe in a cookbook in my own library, I tried it for Thanksgiving and it was delicious. This requires a lot of prep work so make sure to have everything chopped up before turning the oven on.
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, ¼ cup bread crumbs, 1½ tablespoons olive oil, 1 medium onion (diced), 2 garlic cloves (minced), 2 medium tomatoes (seeded and diced), 3 medium zucchini (quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced), ½ teaspoon fennel seed (crushed), ¼ teaspoon salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste, 3 large eggs, ⅓ cup milk, ¼ pound grated or sliced (about 1⅓ cups)
Swiss cheese, 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 375°F, grease pie plate with ½ tablespoon of butter, sprinkle bread crumbs on bottom and sides of pie plate.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add onion and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes. Stir in diced tomatoes and sauté for 5 minutes. Raise heat to high, mix in zucchini, fennel seed, salt, and pepper. Cook until zucchini is barely tender, it takes about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and cool for 5 minutes. (bring to room temperature before proceeding)
3. Beat eggs in large bowl, stir in milk, then mix in the zucchini filling. Pour half into pie plate, top with swiss cheese, afterwards, pour the remaining filling and sprinkle parmesan cheese over top and dot with the remaining ½ tablespoon of butter.
4. Bake 30 minutes, or until a knife is inserted and comes out clean and top is golden brown. Let sit 10 minutes before cutting .
Gluten intolerance
Quinoa stuffing (source: Delish)
People with gluten intolerance are obviously not able to eat stuffing due to the fact that it’s bread. But stuffing is an essential part of a holiday meal, so why should they go without it too? Here’s a recipe I found online for quinoa stuffing.
Ingredients: Cubed butternut squash, cubed red onion, garlic cloves, olive oil, sea salt and pepper, quinoa, orange zest, pistachios, cranberries, fresh spinach
Directions: 1.Toss butternut squash and red onion with garlic cloves in olive oil, then season them with salt and pepper, roast in oven until fully cooked.
2.While the vegetables are roasting in the oven, cook a batch of quinoa seasoned with orange zest.
3. Chop up some spinach and toss it with the roasted vegetables, quinoa, pistachios and cranberries. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Lactose intolerance
Vegan peanut butter cookies (source: The Spruce)
Lactose is hard to avoid when eating desserts, milk is used in a lot of baking, so I found his recipe online for dairy free peanut butter cookies, if it says vegan, it’s guaranteed to not contain dairy.
Ingredients: ⅓ cup peanut butter, 2 bananas, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 tablespoon soy milk, 2 tablespoon maple syrup, 2½ cups of quick cooking oatmeal, ¼ cup of flour, dash of cinnamon (optional).
Directions: 1. Using a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork until smooth. Add peanut butter, soy milk, vanilla and maple syrup and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well mixed.
2. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 13-16 minutes at 350 degrees, or until done.
Extra tips:
Make food that can work both ways, you can make something that can be assembled individually (for example: burritos, but those aren’t something that people eat during the holidays) by preparing more than one option for the same meal.
Make side dishes everyone can eat.
If the main cook can’t accommodate you easily, bring a large batch of something you made yourself to share with everyone.