The New Year and part of the winter holidays coincide with the Christmas fast. Chef Polina Kuzmina is confident that festive dishes can be fasting-friendly while still being diverse and delicious.
The Christmas fast is one of the longest of the year. It started on November 28 and will end on January 6. Polina Kuzmina claims that any traditional dish of the New Year's table can be adapted for fasting.
“Preparing dishes without animal products is quite simple. For herring under a fur coat, I recommend replacing the fish with wakame seaweed, nori, or pickled eggplant. If you decide to use wakame, soak it in boiling water for two minutes before cooking. It’s better to serve the salad on a flat plate, as it will be easier to cut into neat portions,” Kuzmina shares her advice.
The vegan chef clarifies that the layers of the salad are placed in a bowl lined with plastic wrap in reverse order: beetroot, carrot, and avocado, followed by onion and seaweed. As in the traditional recipe, each layer is smeared with mayonnaise, but not regular mayonnaise, rather vegan mayonnaise. Before the guests arrive, the bowl with the salad is turned over onto a plate and served at the table.
“In Olivier salad, sausage can be replaced with smoked tofu, and eggs can be substituted with avocado. Dried tomatoes can be added, and instead of boiled potatoes, baked ones can be used. Vegan mayonnaise can be found in almost any store,” adds Polina Kuzmina.
For the main course, the chef suggests a tofu steak. If you add your favorite herbs, soy sauce, and liquid smoke, you will get an amazing dish. The chef concludes her list of alternative snacks with bruschettas. You need to toast a baguette in a dry skillet, rub it with garlic, and top it with roasted vegetables and hummus.
