{sponsored Post}
2020 is coming to an end and I can probably speak for most of us, it has been a heck of a year. Personally, 2020 felt like a whirlwind to me that had swept through my life with some insane events like the launch of our travel magazine. The year was exhausting for so many reasons and in a way, I am quite happy that this New Year’s will turn out pretty quiet and peaceful. I am looking forward to stay in, have some amazing homemade food and just put my feet up while looking forward to 2021.
A lot of you might feel that we are missing out on a good party this year but let me tell you this. There might not be a crazy party but we won’t give up on amazing food, right? I am here today to inspire you to use the last chance of the year to treat yourself with an amazing mini buffet aka. a Vegan New Years Platter. This platter is, by the way, a great way to start into 2021 on a healthy and plantbased note.
Below you will find a collection of our favorite easy Mediterranean inspired New Year’s celebration dishes.
- Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers
- Spaghetti Nests
- Garlic Honey Carrots
- Antipasti Mushrooms + Zucchini
- Creamy Pasta Salad
- Coconut Almond Pudding
To make life extra easy, we teamed up with my favorite supplier of fine organic Mediterranean food, Byodo. We love Byodo for their fine selection of snacks, nibbles, fine foods, Italian pasta, dressings, sauces and fabulous oils which, indeed, make them the best partner for our snack platter.
Some general tipps on creating a stunning platter
Anyone can create a stunning Vegan New Year’s Platter. There are a handful of ground rules to follow that have worked well for me in the past. So here is some advise for you to create a fool proof beautiful platter. Our platter was designed for 4 hungry people and was sized 60 x 60 cm.
- Start with the biggest pieces: Before you start adding the dishes to the platter, grab the big items first. We arranged our pasta salad inside those big salad leaves. These were our starting point. We arranged the mid size items around those and fill the blanks with the smallest items.
- Add color: I always try to go as colorful with my platters so when I go shopping I already think about all the colors of the rainbow and to include as many as possible with the fruit and veg, snacks and sauces on my platter. In summer you can add splashes of color with edible flowers too. If you feel like your platter lacks color, not always pays off to add some orange, grapefruit, lemon or lime halves.
- Decorate densely: meaning the platter will look richer if you place items close to each other so make the platter look really full. Whenever you have blanks or space in between, fill them with crackers, pretzels, nuts or little snacky items.
- Napkins and skewers: Think about little fabric napkins or forks so people can help themselves to all parts of the platter. Also think about drinks that you want to serve with your platter too.
Our favorite New Year’s Recipes
All recipes are plantbased but also mostly gluten-free (if you leave out the Grissini sticks). To also give you a bit of perspective on time, you can for sure whip this platter up in under a couple of hours since we kept it real easy and light. Let’s dig into the recipes, shall we?
Fresh sweet peppers meet creamy vegan cream cheese! Depending on how big or small your mini peppers are, you may need a little more or less cream cheese. But it also tastes great as a dip or on bread. I always make my own cashew cream cheese, but you can use virtually any mild cream cheese for this recipe.
Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 10 red mini peppers
- 200 g cashews Soaked in water overnight
- 3 tbsp Arrabiata pesto (or favorite pesto) f.eg. by Byodo
- 1 tbsp plantbased yogurt I used soy yogurt
Instructions
- Let the cashews soak in warm water over night. Discard the water and add the cashews to a blender. Blend with the soy yogurt until very creamy.
- Place the cream cheese mixture in the fridge in a covered (not airtight!) bowl for 24-48 hours.
- Mix the finished cream cheese with the arrabiata pesto. Remove the seeds from the minin paprikas and fill with cream cheese.
Spaghetti Nests
Ingredients
- 250 g Tagliatelle (f.eg. by Byodo)
- 1 choppped onion
- 1 tbsp oil (f.eg. by Byodo)
- 50 g tofu
- 250 ml soy cream/ oat creme
- 2 tsp chickpea flour
- 1 pinch salt + pepper
- 1 blood orange decoration
- 6 tbsp aioli (f.eg. by Byodo)
Instructions
- Boil the Tagliatelle pasta nests for 8 minutes. Remove from the water set each nest into a greased muffin form.
- Fry the chopped onion with the oil, add the tofu and fry for 5 minutes. Add the soy/oat creme and whisk in the chickpea flour too. This will thicken the sauce up a bit.
- Season with salt and pepper and pour 2 tbsp of sauce onto each spaghetti nest.
- Bake the nests at 175 Degrees Celsius for 15 minutes or until they turn slightly brown. Let cool entirely, otherwise the Spaghetti nests won't come out properly.
- Set a dollop of aioli onto each Spaghetti nest and decorate with a slice of blood orange or a cherry tomato.
Are you one of those people that thinks making antipasti is way too time consuming and difficult? Yes, I was one of those pople too. Until my girl Rosa convinced me otherwise. You will need a bit of time but just make double the amount, it is totally worth it. Perfect snack for garlic lovers!
Garlic Honey Carrots
Ingredients
- 250 g snack carrots (the small ones)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp honey/ maple syrup
- 3-5 tbsp olive oil f.eg. by Byodo
- 1 pinch salt + pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Wash carrots (and if you have large carrots, quarter them lengthwise).
- Boil the carrots for about 10 minutes, so that they are not yet completely soft.
- Peel the garlic and put it in a blender with the honey, olive oil and spices. Transfer the marinade to a bowl and cover the carrots with the marinade.
- Transfer the carrots to a baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes.
Antipasti Mushrooms + Zucchini
Ingredients
- 250 g mushrooms
- 2 small zucchinis
- 150 ml olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried rosmary
- 1 pinch salt + pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a tray with baking paper.
- For the marinade add the oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic cloves, oregano, rosemary, salt and pepper to a blender and blend well.
- Wash mushrooms and zucchini and cut into bite-sized pieces. Mix the vegetables with the marinade and spread on the baking tray.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the veggies the hot oven for another 60 minutes; this way the veg really soak up the marinade!
The easiest pasta salad you have ever made! there is definitely a clever shortcut to this fast pasta salad which is this creamy vegan dressing by Byodo. But I encourage you to add any plantbased dressing that you like really. Also mayonnaise and aioli works really well. In 30minutes tops, you throw this beauty of a salad together.
Creamy Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 500 g pasta f.eg. Fusili by Byodo
- 100 ml mustard dressing (or creamy dressing of choice) f.eg. fusili by Byodo
- 2 handful rocket salad
- 10 chopped mini tomatos
- 1 pinch salt + pepper
Instructions
- Boil the pasta accoprding to instructions. Drain and set aside to cool.
- Add the mustard dressing, rocket and chopped tomatos to the pasta and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
As far as dessert goes, we keep it really easy this time. The basis for this pudding is a usual instant pudding mix but we glam it up by using coconut milk instead of ‘usual milk’. Plus, we add in a tablespoon of almond butter which gives the pudding a hint of marzipan. I also topped the pudding with a fruity balsamic cream which pairs up really well with this creamy dessert.
Coconut Almond Pudding
Ingredients
- 40 g instant pudding mix (f.eg. by Byodo)
- 4 tbsp sugar or sweetener of your choice
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 tbsp almond butter
- 4 tbsp balsamic creme (f.eg. by Byodo)
- 1 handful berries
Instructions
- Prepare the pudding with the sugar according to instructions using coconut milk instead of milk.
- Stir the almond butter into the pudding. Let cool and serve with balsamic creme and some berries of your choice.
For more inspiring festive recipes, check out my: