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Enjoying Christmas …Vegan style
By Dwijendra Rooplall
After reading the headline of this feature many of you may be questioning “What Christmas? Is that even conceivable?” Some may even say that combining the words ‘vegetarian’ and Christmas can be classified as an oxymoron.
The culture of Christmas is to celebrate the festivity of the season with family and friends surrounded by lots of food, the centerpiece of which is chicken, turkey or some other form of meat. 
Even though my entire home circle are vegetarians, the festive observations in my home are the same as in any other. We enjoy every sumptuous meal synonymous with this occasion including pepperpot, cakes etc. The only difference is that we replace meat with other forms of proteins such as beans, chunks, paneer or other meat substitutes.
As a matter of fact, Christmas is my home is ushered in gorging on pepperpot chunks.
Vegetarian pepperpot in my opinion is hands down one of the most sumptuous meals that one can consume and something that I look forward to partaking in.
Its preparation is similar to that of its meat counterpart. The only difference is that instead of using meat, the pepperpot is created utilizing an array of vegan products, such as mushrooms, an assortment of chunks and a combination of spices that when combined is simply splendid.
On Christmas Eve, an assortment of meals are prepared in our home which include lasagna, vegetarian pizza, samosa and homemade bread along with Ginger beer.
The preparations of these dishes follow the same pattern as their meat counterparts except that vegan products are substituted. So instead of layering the Lasagna with meat, we use chunks, and for pizzas there are lot of options such as vegan ham, pepperoni flavored chunks or just plain assorted vegetables and anchor vegetarian cheese.
A vegetarian lifestyle is truly a different and unique one that has numerous benefits, and contrary to popular opinion is not just limited to “grass.” I have friends who say to me, “man what kind of life you live… all you eat is dhal and rice and Bhaji.” I am usually very tolerant of such statements because I am cognizant that my friends are unaware of the multitude of options available to vegetarians to consume.
The markets for vegetarian products have grown exponentially form the days when there wasn’t much being offered except one standard size of chunks. One can now go to almost any reputable supermarket and find a whole corner dedicated to vegetarian products.
Research over the years has shown that a vegetarian diet has several significant benefits. Persons who choose a vegetarian diet are at a lower risk of developing heart disease, colorectal, ovarian, and breast cancers, diabetes, obesity and hypertension (high blood pressure) among other things.
So as you celebrate Christmas 2013,realize that there is a sumptuous alternative out there for this season and beyond should one want to explore it.
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