v8 photos

Christmas is a-coming! How is your prep going? If you’re anything like me, you’ve bought some sparkly collars for your cats and lots of presents… for yourself… and are mostly occupying your thoughts with recipe ideas and inspiration (which may or not involve a Pinterest board!)

And I’ve already been cooking up some Christmas recipes here at Veggie HQ for the V8 UK website. (Remember how I did some recipes for them a while ago? So fun.) They have recently updated their recipe collection to include lots of Christmasy stuff – things for the big dinner, things for parties, drinks, etc. I’m very proud to have contributed four recipes to this lovely collection. Let’s have a look, shall we?

Mushroom & Chestnut Lentil Loaflentil loaf

This one is vegan but please, do NOT dismiss it as being just for the vegans. Cut a slice for everyone! Trust me. You know this lentil obsession I have right now? There’s a lotta love in this lentil loaf.

Oh and there is no real chopping involved- everything get blitzed in the food processor or mini chopper. Easy peasy. With loads of herbs, savory mushrooms and chestnuts, and lentils which are cooked in V8 vegetable juice to infuse as much flavour as possible… it does not skimp on tastiness!

Get the recipe on the V8 UK website.

Festive Spice Tropical Bucks Fizz

mulled bucks fizz

A twist on the traditional Christmas morning Bucks Fizz (aka. Mimosas to the Americans!) which involves mulling some V8 Fusions Mango, Passionfruit & Carrot juice and then topping it off with Prosecco! This is a delicious brunch cocktail with a bit more substance and nutrition than if you used plain orange juice.

This was the most fun to make too, because it allowed Mr. Veggie and I to polish off a whole bottle of prosecco’s worth on a Sunday afternoon. TEE HEE.

Get the recipe on the V8 UK website.

Butternut & Goats Cheese Tart with Beetroot & Raspberry Chia Jam

vegetarian tart2

Ever tried chia jam? It’s such a fun way to add texture and flavor to a dish, and ridiculously easy to make- no cooking necessary, just add chia seeds to juice and/or mashed up fruit and it will thicken and gel up into a jam! I made a simple chia jam with V8’s Raspberry & Beetroot juice (alongside some whole cranberries) to spoon over this butternut squash and goat’s cheese tart. It makes an otherwise simple tart very special, and totally Christmas dinner-worthy.

Get the recipe on the V8 UK website.

Extra Fruity Cranberry Saucecranberry sauce

Christmas dinner isn’t Christmas dinner without the cranberry sauce, so why not try home made this year? This one is incredibly easy to make with just four ingredients, and one of those ingredients is V8 Fusions Raspberry and Beetroot juice soooooo… things are getting interesting around here! The flavour is deeper, the colour is deeper, and it’s harbouring some additional nutritional benefits too. Wins all round.

Get the recipe on the V8 UK website.

Some other very talented recipe makers have contributed to this collection and I personally love the look of these nutty little stuffing balls and gorgeous mince pies!

And until Christmas, they are giving away presents each day on the Advent Calendar which is well worth checking out – more presents than I’ve managed to sort out this year so far EEEK!

So on that note, I’d better get back to my festive prep.

Merry Christmas all!