Cook a veggie-filled holiday meal

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Cook a veggie-filled holiday meal

Photo by Nicole Michalou

Description

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.

Tips

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 shepherds 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 also cut down on your cooking time.

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

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