Traditional Danish Christmas Food // Made Vegan

Hello everybody! Just because the Holidays is just around the corner does not mean that the planet is doing any better, sadly. But being a mindful and conscious consumer at Christmas does not have to suck or be a bother, on the contrary. Many of the typical Danish Christmas dishes can be made more sustainable just by switching out the animal products with plant-based alternatives. In some cases, you will not be able to tell the difference, like with the gravy or the risalamande. In other cases, like with the meat itself, you will have to learn to love a whole new dish – but trust me they are delicious (and you know it’s true because both my mum and dad prefer these dishes over the traditional ones, so there you go)

The “Beet” Wellington

Although there are no beets in this specific recipe, I think the name is so funny, that I could not resist calling it so. Serves 4 people.

• 1 x puff pastry dough 25×40 cm (can be found premade)
• Naturli’s Shape Me, plantbased minced meat, or any other protein replacement
• ½ a cup of chopped onions and mushrooms combined
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Olive oil, or any other oil you prefer
• 4-5 bay leafs
• 2 tsp of liquid smoke
• 1 tsp of crushed ginger
• 2 tbsp of rosemary
• 1 tbsp of oregano
• ½ a cup of pickled chopped red cabbage (can be found in glass in many supermarkets)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Fry the onions and mushrooms on a cast iron skillet on medium heat for 3-5 minutes, or until soft and slightly browned. Then add 3 crushed cloves of garlic along with a mix of oregano, rosemary, bay leaf, and ginger and the ground pea’f meat substitute. Let the ground pea’f brown as well and add salt, pepper, liquid smoke and a few tbsps of olive oil. Add the cabbage and let simmer. Take off the heat.

Take a baking sheet or an oven-proof tray and line it parchment paper or olive oil. Take the puff pastry dough and lay on the bottom of the tray. Place the ground pea’f in the middle of the puff pastry. Make sure the press it well together so that no large air holes pop up. Lay the ground pea’f in a “sausage” shape down the middle of the puff pastry. After doing so, cut the remaining sides of the dough into small strips and braid them across the “sausage”. Lastly, give a wash of olive oil and place in a preheated 200 degrees Celsius oven for 20-25 minutes. When it has a pretty golden brown color it’s time to take it out. Serve with traditional holiday sides like red cabbage, potatoes, gravy, crisps or whatever you like.

The traditional Danish dessert risalamande is a dish made when whipped cream and vanilla is folded into a rice pudding. When I make it I replace the milk in the pudding for rice milk and the whipped cream for soy cream. No one I have served this to has been able to tell the difference, and as a hardcore fan of this Danish dessert, I strongly approve this message.

Serves 4 people

• 2,5 deciliters of short-grain porridge rice (Pama grødris, comes in a blue cardboard box)
• 2,5 deciliters of water
• 1 liter of rice milk.
• 1 carton of soy cream (not all vegan creams can become whipped cream, so look for one that can, I used a red carton from a German brand)
• Vanilla sugar
• Chopped almonds
• Cherry sauce

Boil the water, once it’s boiling, add the rice and salt. Stir constantly for 5 minutes to make sure it does not burn. After that, add the rice milk and bring to a boil. Cook for 45 minutes while continuously stirring from time to time. Let cool and put away overnight.  The next day, prepare the soy whipped by whisking it until stiff. Fold it into the rice pudding along with the vanilla and the almonds. Serve cooled with warm cherry sauce.