A lot of people in the UK are now vegan, or have decided to cut down on the amount of meat they eat.
With this in mind, more supermarkets, food outlets and restaurants are increasing their vegan offerings. And at Christmas, it's important to have lots of alternative yummy food available for non meat-eaters.
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In years gone by, people who don't eat meat wouldn't have much on offer bar some veggies and a nut roast. However, things have changed now with whole ranges available.
And Asda made sure vegans are well-catered for this year, thanks to its OMV! festive range. The supermarket has launched the OMV! Turkey & Trimmings for One: a serving of vegan turkey and sides for just £3.50 this year.
Complete with a cranberry and orange stuffing, vegan sage and onion stuffing balls and ‘no pigs’ in blankets, the OMV! Turkey & Trimmings for One is part of Asda's first-ever OMV! festive range, with new research revealing that 75% of vegans have felt the need to bring their own main dish to Christmas.
Available in-store and online from the December 14, other products from the range include the OMV! No Turkey Joint with Umami Gravy, OMV! Oyster & Porcini Mushroom Wellington and OMV! Mushrooms Pigs in Smoky Aubergine Bacon.
In the purpose of research, I decided to try out the range first-hand to see how I would cope with a totally vegan Christmas dinner.
Now I don't have much experience with vegan products, however I do love Quorn nuggets, so I thought I may be okay with the turkey if it tasted anything like that.
The no-meat turkey certainly looks impressive and even comes with its own 'skin'. What's better, it only took 40-45 minutes in the oven to cook. However, I'm sorry to say I don't think it compares with the real thing to me.
The taste was actually okay at first, although I couldn't handle much of it and obviously the texture isn't exactly the same as the real thing. It is perfect for someone who wants a straight turkey alternative though and has a taste for vegan 'meat'.
Next was the 'no pigs in blankets', which consist of mushroom 'sausages' wrapped in aubergine rashers. Now the real pigs in blankets are one of my favourite things on a Christmas dinner, so again, I can't say they compared being made of mushroom and aubergine. But they are a very fun idea and a great way to mix it up with your Christmas veg.
As part of my taste test, I also tried out the OMV! Strawberry Trifle which was much more up my street. This is an alternative to a dairy based trifle which features tangy strawberry compote egg-free sponge and dairy-free custard, finished with a lentil and coconut cream.
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I can safely say I really enjoyed this dish, which was really creamy and tasty. It doesn't really have as much sponge and jam as a typical trifle, but the coconut cream and dairy-free custard are loaded on and it went together very nicely.
All in all, I feel like I'll definitely be sticking with my turkey and gammon for my Christmas dinner, however I don't mind the odd vegan dessert now and again if it's being offered. When it comes to vegan savoury offerings, I think Quorn nuggets is my limit, sadly.
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