Welcome to a vegan Guyanese Christmas

With the holidays coming quickly, I thought I would post a gluten-free, vegan Guyanese Christmas menu for last minute ideas, or for New Years dinner inspiration. The majority of religious holidays for all religions have been celebrated very differently this year. But, I still feel that food can still be a big part of the days, even if it’s not on the same scale.

Everyone has their Christmas food traditions. My family is from Guyana, and they brought the food traditions with them to Canada. Over the years, Christmas became more of a blend of Guyanese and North American foods, so by the time my sister and I were born, we got the best of both worlds!

The two main traditional Guyanese Christmas dishes are meat based, so the recipes obviously won’t be found here!

Here are four recipes that you may find a welcome addition to your holiday or New Year’s feast!

• Bhaji (spinach) and rice
• Baked plantain chips
• Dhal (Spicy lentil or split-pea soup)
• Vegan chow mein

Bhaji (Spinach) and rice

• Makes: 4-5 servings
• Total time: 30 minutes, cook time: 20 minutes, prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup of basmati rice
• 3 bunches of spinach, chopped
• 3 large tomatoes, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook rice according to the package.
2. Heat oil in a large pan on medium heat.
3. Add the tomatoes and garlic and cook until they are soft.
4. Add spinach and toss until thoroughly mixed with the tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes then add sugar, salt, and pepper. Increase to high heat and let cook for a few minutes. Stir frequently to ensure even cooking.
5. When all the water is gone, and the spinach is dark green, it’s finished.
6. Serve with the rice.

Baked plantain chips snack or appetizer

• Makes: 1 serving
• Total time: 20 minutes, cook time: 12-15 minutes, prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 ripe plantains peeled and cut into small slices
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Black pepper to your taste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash of cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Mix ingredients together and pour over raw plantains. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 12 minutes. Check after 8 minutes and remove from oven.

Dhal (Spicy lentil or split-pea soup)

• Makes: 6 servings
• Total time: 1 and a half hours, cook time: 1 hour and 10 minutes, prep time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 cups of water
• 3/4 cup yellow split peas or lentils (the lentils will take less time to cook)
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 2 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt (or more or less, depending on your salt preference)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 medium onion
• A small tomato
• 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
• 2-3 habanero or wiri-wiri peppers, depending on how hot you like it, omit the pepper if you don’t want it spicy
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1. Rinse split peas or lentils and set them aside.
2. Chop onion, garlic, tomato, and habanero or wiri-wiri peppers.
3. Bring 8 cups of water to a boil (can be done at the same time you are doing steps 1 and 2).
4. Add split peas or lentils, onion, garlic, tomato, peppers and olive oil (if using) to boiling water.
5. Add spices and salt (I like a bit more salt in my food, so I start with 1 teaspoon and add more if needed).
6. Boil peas for 45 minutes until peas are soft to the touch (lentils will take 25-30 minutes). Blend with hand blender to achieve a smooth texture.  Return to a slow boil for another 15-20 minutes until it gets slightly thick.
7. Turn heat off when you have reached your desired texture.
8. In a small pot or pan, heat oil and fry the cumin seeds until they become slightly burnt.  Immediately add it to the dhal. Important: Be careful to cover the pot as you add the fried cumin seeds, as the hot oil will steam out when it hits the water based liquid.

Vegan chow mein similar to Hakka (Chinese-Indian) chow mein

• Makes: 4-6 servings
• Total time: 30 minutes, cook time: 15 minutes, prep time: 15 minutes

Note: Traditional Guyanese chow mein doesn’t have tofu, but I’m all for extra protein, especially in a carb dish.

Ingredients

• 1 package of brown or white rice fettuccine noodles broken into small pieces (to resemble chow mein noodles) if you’re not gluten-free use regular chow mein noodles
• 1 package of extra-firm tofu, cubed or ground tofu works too
• 2.5 tablespoons of sunflower oil
•  1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cups of mixed bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 cup green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 5 heads of green onions, finely chopped
• 1 cup fresh sweet corn
• 1/2 head of broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped
• 1/3 green cabbage, thinly shredded

For the tofu

• 1 tablespoon cassareep or tamari sauce (gluten-free soy sauce)
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• Ground black pepper to your taste

Directions

1. Follow the instructions on the package to cook the noodles.
2. Season the tofu with ingredients above and let marinate for about 5 minutes. Prepare the vegetables. Then in a skillet large enough for the noodles, warm oil on medium heat.
3. Add the onions and cook until they are brown and soft. Then increase heat to high.
4. Next, add the tofu and vegetables, except for peppers, and cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the peppers and cook for 3 minutes. Peppers should be crunchy after cooking. Then add the cabbage and the noodles.
6. Toss together then add chopped scallions.
7. Remove from heat.

I hope you find some of these recipes enjoyable if you get a chance to make them some time over the holidays! Check out some more of my recipes.