Have your teens suddenly decided to become vegan?

Do you have a vegetarian relative coming for Christmas or are you looking for a festive dish that does not involve meat?

Planning a vegan or vegetarian festive feast should not be so difficult with recipes like this.

At home we have the traditional roast, but I always like to have something lush and Moorish as a vegetarian option. I have been making this dish on and off all year on retreats or while entertaining and it has proven a winner.

It is tweaked from a recipe from the book Jerusalem, by Y Ottolenghi and S Tamimi, my undoubted kitchen gurus.

The method is simple. Heat the oven to 200C, cut the butternut squash into long wedges and the onions in quarters, toss the ingredients in a baking tray with the olive oil, sea salt and pepper and roast until the onions are cooked and the squash is golden.

As the roasting happens, you make the sauce by whisking the tahini, the garlic, lemon juice, water, salt and olive oil. You are looking for the consistency of runny honey here so you might need to add water. You also toast the nuts and chop them, and remove the arils from edible seed pods from the pomegranate.

When the vegetables are cooked you prepare a pretty serving dish with slight depth, and you arrange them. Be artistic! Drizzle the sauce on top, sprinkle the nuts and the pomegranate, and scatter some coriander leaves.

At the end, using your fingers, dash the finished dish with zaatar, a middle eastern spice which derives from a sour berry. Serve at room temperature.

If people do not compliment you on this dish I will be surprised.

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Food for thought: Have yourself a vegan little Christmas