by Kelsey Jordan

This holiday season, contribute to family parties, even if you are the only non-meat eater. Treat your friends and loved ones to these recipes that are easy enough for anyone to make and tasty enough for everyone to enjoy.

Roasted root vegetables

A quick, hardy, healthy meal, roasted root vegetables are great for vegetable lovers and vegans.

The ingredients include:

4 potatoes

2 onions

4 beets

3 sticks of celery

4 carrots

5 garlic cloves

(the amount of each vegetable can be adjusted to individual liking).

Chop all vegetables into bite sized pieces and put them into a Pyrex oven dish.  Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the vegetables are soft, and starting to brown, the meal is complete, and will serve 4-6 people.

Vegan stuffing

A popular vegan stuffing recipe offered by Savvy Vegetarian.

The ingredients include:

10 cups ½ inch bread cubes

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 ½ cup chopped celery

1 cup finely chopped onion

½ cup minced parsley, sage and thyme.

To bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and toast bread pieces and set aside. Turn the oven 350 degrees. Sauté onions, garlic and celery until soft, then combine with the toasted bread crumbs. Add the parsley, sage and thyme and drizzle a 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the mixture and mix well. Bake in a covered dish for 45 minutes.

Chocolate protein bites

Super seed chocolate protein bites satisfy the craving, while remaining a healthy option for vegetarians, vegans, and even people with a nut allergy. Oh She Glows, and award winning vegan recipe blog, offers hundreds of recipes for people who follow a vegan diet, including the chocolate protein bites.

To make 16 chocolate bites, the ingredients include:

1 cup packed and pitted dates

¼ cup hemp seed

¼ cup chia seed

¼ cup sesame seed

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt

¼ cup raw cacao nibs.

To prepare the chocolate bites, add dates into a blender until they are chunky and pasty. Add the seeds, vanilla, salt and cinnamon and continue blending to create a dough texture. Shape the dough into small balls and freeze them for 20 minutes.

Kelsey Jordan can be reached at [email protected]