Cooking For A Vegetarian during the Holidays

Worried about cooking for a strick vegetarian in your family this upcoming holiday season? Well, don't. Here you'll find exactly what you need to do and know before you start your cooking this holiday season.

Start off by finding out what type of vegetarian your family member is. If they're a strict vegan, then there’s a chance they'll not eat food with honey or yeast; but, if on the other hand, they're a "semi" or "pseudo" vegetarian, there's a chance they'll actually eat the prepared meal, including meat. And if they're a lacto-ovo-vegetarian, they might eat anything with eggs and milk, but will avoid all meat dishes.

Talk to the vegetarian in your family before you prepare your holiday meal and consider asking the following five questions:

1. Do you eat any form of meat or none at all?

If they will eat certain meats (usually fish, chicken, and turkey), then consider preparing that as a side dish or ask them if they would bring a small dish of it for their own meal.

2. Will you use serving utensils that have been placed in dishes containing meat?

Some vegetarians experience severe gastrointestinal stress when they consume meat or grease from meat, so it is a good idea to find out whether or not they can do so ahead of time. If they can’t, you can simply put out one utensil for all non-meat dishes and ask that guests do not cross-contaminate.

3. Do you eat foods that contain milk and eggs?

As mentioned above, lacto-ovo vegetarians will drink milk and eat eggs, but other sub-categories of vegetarians won't. Some won't do it for health reasons; others for ethical reasons. No matter the case, you can get around this by either creating more dishes containing no milk or eggs, or by using an egg replacement, which can be found at most supermarkets, and milk replacements, such as soy milk.

4. Do you eat yeast and honey?

Many strick vegetarians do not eat yeast and honey for ethical reasons. If you find out that the vegetarian in your family does not eat yeast and honey ahead of time, you can either prepare different dishes or ask if they are willing to bring an alternate dish.

5. Would you like to bring your own main dish (to replace the turkey, ham, etc.)?

Many vegetarians eat popular meat-replacement dishes, such as "tofurkey" and "veggie burgers." Your guest will probably be more than willing to bring their own meat- replacement dish if you ask.

You should take into consideration a number of things when you cook for a vegetarian during the holidays; One of the most important things you can do is to actually approach the vegetarian and ask how you can accommodate them and if they would like to cook with you or bring their own dish.

Keeping this in mind, your holiday meal will be a success with everyone - including the vegetarian in your family!