When turkey's off-limits and nut roast seems dull, what can you give teenage vegetarians for Christmas dinner? Our Nutrition expert, David Swain, advises.

Raisingkids member's problem
Both my teenage daughters are veggie. I want them to be able to join in over Christmas and be able to share family meals but it all seems so meaty - Christmas turkey, sausages in bacon, Boxing Day ham, and so on. Even the Christmas pudding is off-limits because of the suet. Nut roast just doesn't seem very festive. What can I make, that the whole family can enjoy together?

David's advice
This is a tricky problem that I am quite familiar with (my brother is the sole veggie in a family of meat-eaters). My feeling is that rather than not cooking the traditional Christmas turkey and trying to cook a new vegetarian dish that everyone might not like, it would be better to cook the usual Christmas meal and to ask your daughters if there is anything which they would particularly like instead. This way, the meat-eaters will be happy and your daughters will also get their favourite meal.

Indeed, you might be surprised and find that they actually would love a vegetarian curry or something that isn't usually associated with Christmas. Or, perhaps they might like a vegetarian alternative to turkey, whilst enjoying the roast potatoes, sprouts and other Christmas trimmings. For fantastic ideas on Christmas vegetarian recipes then I would either contact the Vegetarian Society (at Parkdale, Dunham Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 4QG, tel. 0161 928 0793) or visit the website at www.vegsoc.org.

In researching this question, I came across this web site and was staggered by all the different recipes. This years menu is as follows:

• Broccoli, cream cheese, pear and almond soup
• Luxury nut and seed loaf with cranberry, apple and brandy sauce
• sRosemary roast potatoes
• Chestnut and chocolate ice cream with apricot sauce

The website however gives plenty of alternatives to the nut roast option, such as chestnut and feta balls, roasted vegetables and smoked tofu plait or mushroom stuffed filo parcels. Alternatively you could try the Vegetarian Resource Group at www.vrg.org which also has lots of ideas.

Wishing you happy cooking and a Merry Christmas!

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