By Michael Lanza
You don’t have to eat birds or drink eggnog to inject some spirit into your holiday meals. Vegans can’t use meat, milk or eggs – but that doesn’t mean they can’t offer up a great holiday dinner. Here are some vegan recipes to spice up your menu.
Vegan Garlic Mashed Potatoes
8-10 potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
1 head garlic
2 tablespoons of vegan butter spread
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup rice milk
Salt and pepper
Boil the potatoes in hot water until they’re fork tender. Cut the very top from the head of garlic and place on a cookie sheet, brush with olive oil and place in the oven. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.
When the potatoes and garlic are done, drain the water from potatoes and pop garlic cloves out of the head of garlic and mash together. Add butter spread and let melt and then add vegetable broth and rice milk and mash until lumpy. Add salt and pepper and mix.

Grilled Vegetable Ceviche with Fennel and Cumin Jam
3 small peppers (red, yellow and green)
2 eggplants, cut into rounds 1/4 inch thick
2 medium zucchini, cut into rounds 1/4 inch thick
1 small red onion, cut into slices 8mm thick
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 2 limes
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped red chili
salt and freshly ground black pepper
coriander leaves to garnish
12 croutons
Fennel and Cumin Jam:
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Place the peppers under a hot grill until they begin to blister and turn black. Keep turning them until all sides are done. Remove from the heat and peel off the skin, when it’s cool enough to handle, under cold running water. Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds and inner membranes. Slice thinly and place in a shallow dish.
Grill the eggplant, zucchini and onion slices until they’re charred and golden brown – then add them to the peppers.
Mix together the olive oil, lemon and lime juice, caster sugar, coriander seeds, chopped coriander, chili and a little salt and pepper. Let it stand for 5 minutes for the sugar to dissolve. Pour the marinade over the grilled vegetables and leave for 2 to 4 hours in a cool place.
For fennel and cumin jam, heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan, add the fennel, onion and garlic, then cover and cook over a very low heat, occasionally stirring, until soft. Add sugar and cumin and continue cooking until the vegetables are golden brown and slightly caramelized. Season, then transfer to a food processor or blender and blitz to a coarse purée. Chill before serving.

Vegan White Chocolate Ice Cream with Port-Poached Figs
2 cups raw cashews
2 cups purified water
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup grated raw cacao butter (raw white chocolate)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
1 cup dried organic figs, halved
1 cup port or organic red wine
1 teaspoon vanilla
Blend all ingredients for 2 minutes to reach as smooth a consistency as possible. Chill the mixture in a freezer for about 1 hour. Process the mixture in an ice cream maker. Place into a container and in a freezer until firm.