(no subject)

[ravena_kade]

A question to my non meat eating friends..and to those that host non meat eating friends and relatives.

I wanted to have my Dad's sisters over for dinner before Christmas .I don't to much for the holidays, but these aunts make me feel good about me so I want to give back.

I wanted to do a roast pork mostly because I remember being young and my Mother making a Roast pork for the holidays... back before pork was the other white meat and there was some decent dark meat too... The thing is one of the Aunts does not eat meat anymore. I got around that by making Italian... but I am now looking for something to have with the pork as a side for the meat eaters and a main for her. I usually have sweet potatoes and green beans with my pork. Sometimes stuffing (really dressing since it isn't stuffed into anything.

The pork recipe I wanted to do is a pork loin with cranberry and orange. There is cinnamon in it so the whole house smells like Christmas when it is cooking. But what of a second dish. I thought butter nit squash risotto , but would that be enough? I thought butter nit squash lasagna, but not sure that cranberries & orange would go with a béchamel sauce. I kind of wanted the 2 things to have some sort of cohesiveness. I know I can roast butternut squash with cranberries and it is good. I just don't know...

Any thoughts?

Comments

[cmcmck]

I'm veggie as you know and I love the squash family.

It work swell with all those Christmas spices like Sage,cinnamon and nutmeg and works well split with a forcemeat, dried fruit (and cranberries if you like) and nut stuffing then baked.

[chris_warrior]

i can't speak to a side dish that goes good with pork because i can't even be in the same room with it anymore; the smell is horrible to me. my only 0.02 is to make sure (before you spend a day cooking) the non-meat aunt isn't the same.

[ravena_kade]

This aunt is okay with meat, but she stopped eating it because she has allergies to meat fats. Her husband does most of the cooking and does cook meat in the house.

[chris_warrior]

then whatever you make with the pork should be cool, though you might want to have an alternative protein for her.

[guy_todd]

Here is a nice side that's easy to make, and has protein and green leafy stuff.
Spinach-Tofu Lasagne
1 8 oz. package of regular or whole-wheat lasagne noodles
1 32-oz. jar of meatless spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 cups water

Filling:
1 pound medium or soft tofu
1 10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

In a large bowl combine sauce and water. Set aside.
Drain the tofu slightly but do not squeeze out the water. Place in a blender and blend until smooth. Spoon into a bowl and add the remaining filling ingredients, mixing well.
To assemble the lasagne: Spread 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13" lasagne pan. Top with 1/3 of the noodles, then 1/2 cup of the sauce. Next, spoon 1/2 of the tofu mixture over the noodles, and then top with another 1/2 cup of the sauce.
Top with another 1/3 of the noodles. Press them down firmly onto the filling. Repeat layers, adding 1/2 cup of sauce remaining tofu mixture, 1/2 cup sauce, and remaining noodles. Again, press noodles down firmly.
Spoon the remaining sauce over the noodles, making sure they are entirely covered. Preheat the oven to 250°.
Bake 40 minutes covered. Uncover and continue to bake another 20 minutes.