It is quite nice to have a warm holiday meal with family and friends. Consider trying fun new dishes to bring to the table that are better for you and the planet. It is a nice way to create new tasty traditions.

We tend to create a lot of extra food waste over the holidays and a lot of that impact comes from the amount of meat we consume. In short, reducing the amount of animals we consume makes our diet more sustainable, reduces agricultural land-use emissions, and help us live longer.

Improve your holiday meals this year by preparing less meat and by making more plant-based dishes to bring new life to the festivities.

Here are some dishes to consider trying, but of course there are endless delicious options to consider online.

• Hasselback butternut squash or roasted butternut squash
• Roasted cauliflower steaks
• Cauliflower wings with dipping sauces
• Mushroom and spinach bread pudding
• Quinoa-stuffed acorn squash with cranberries
• Veggie tarts
• Garden keepers pie (veg shepards pie)
• Mashed parsnips
• Caramelized carrots

Not ready to give up your holiday meats completely? Here are some ideas on how to reduce the impact.

• Purchase meat from local farmers. This can cut emissions generated by meat by five percent.

• Rather than purchasing a whole animal portion, buy a smaller cut of meat, a crown, or a roast. Buying smaller quantities of food will lead to less waste and it will also cut down on your cooking time.

• Go with less resource-intensive meats, such as turkey and chicken, rather than cows or pigs.