Zoodles: the must have on your Christmas plate

Need to show off how on-trend you are this Christmas? Insert cauliflower into the festive menu. Sorry, kale, but the humble cauliflower has been 2015's vegetable de 'l'annee. If it isn't blitzed into cauliflower ''couscous'', or roasted whole in wood-fired ovens, it's sliced and fried into cauliflower steaks, baked into cauliflower lasagne, deep-fried into ''popcorn'', and even used as a flour substitute in gluten-free pizza bases.

The only thing they haven't done to cauliflower this year is extrude it through a vegetable spiraliser into long, curling strands of vegetable goodness. That honour goes to zucchini. The resulting zucchini ''spaghetti'', zuchetti, or ''zoodles'' tick all the wheat-free, vegan and raw boxes as an alternative to pasta and noodles.

Other trends to tick off the Christmas shopping list involve pomegranate molasses, ramen noodles, waffles and the charring of previously uncharred vegetables, such as cabbage. ''Chef Ben Devlin of Paper Daisy in Cabarita Beach is even charring cucumber in our February issue,'' reports Anthea Loucas, editor-in-chief of gorgeous food glossy, Australian Gourmet Traveller.

Some trends are more social than gastronomic. As the world headlines grow ever more shocking, families find comfort in gathering together and counting their blessings. Sourcing the produce for the Christmas feast this year is a more thoughtful process, with a focus on local, seasonal and ethical. Don't be surprised if ''ugly'' fruit and vegetables are celebrated at the dinner table, as supermarkets reduce the absurdly strict rules on produce shape and size that force our farmers and producers to destroy anything not deemed ''perfect''.

After last week's revelations of frozen prawn suppliers from Thailand being linked with human rights abuses, Christmas seafood is also in the spotlight. It's not exactly in the spirit of Christmas to be drinking bubbly over a prawn cocktail sourced from factories that allegedly use children on production lines and lock their workers indoors. Instead, buy fresh, and buy Australian. Around half of all prawns eaten in Australia are imported, mostly from south-east Asia, so it pays to ask where they are from.

It's a similar story with pork, with up to 70 per cent of pork products in Australia imported. To make sure you are supporting Australian farmers, Mitch Edwards, Australian Pork's marketing manager, suggests checking for the distinctive PorkMark logo, or sticking with bone-in ham, which cannot be imported. Celina Pereira of family-run Sunshine Meats in Milperra, NSW, winners of Best Australian Ham in the 2015 Australian Ham Awards run by Australian Pork, says that the more people are made aware of the quality of Australian ham versus imported hams, the better. "It really helps the good people in the business stay in business", she says.

How then, to incorporate these seemingly conflicting trends into the Christmas menu? Cauliflower is easy: a warm salad of roasted cauliflower would be brilliant with either ham or turkey. Just chop it into florets, coat in olive oil, bake for 30 minutes at 200C until soft and golden, then toss with plenty of chopped parsley and mint, lemon juice, walnuts and pomegranate seeds.

Zucchini ''spaghetti'', likewise; toss the spiralised noodles with pesto and prawns or freshly picked crab meat for a stunning Christmas first course. Pomegranate molasses would be perfect as a sweet-and-sour glaze for the Christmas ham, and waffles would be rendered irresistible slathered with Christmassy fruit mince and loads of brandy ice-cream. Ramen? Consider a restorative turkey and brussel sprout ramen noodle soup on Boxing Day. Or not.

As for charring, there is hope yet for those of us who get carried away with the Christmas punch and forget to take the turkey out of the oven. "Charring," we can announce. "It's a thing."

Zucchini ''spaghetti'' with crab, peas and lemon

Serves 4

Capture the zeitgeist in a single dish with a cool but luxurious first course of fresh, raw zucchini ''noodles'' coated with pesto and tossed with fresh crab or small prawns.

4 zucchini, ends trimmed

2 tbsp pesto

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

300g freshly picked crab meat

150g peas, cooked and cooled

2 tsp lemon zest

Pinch of chilli flakes

2 tbsp small basil or mint leaves

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Spiralise the zucchini, or use a vegetable peeler to shave the zucchini lengthwise, then slice each shaving into long, very thin strips. Stir the olive oil into the pesto, and toss the zucchini in it until well-coated. Add the crab meat, peas, lemon zest, chilli, basil, sea salt and pepper and lightly toss. Divide between four entrée plates, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, scatter with extra black pepper and serve with wedges of lemon.

Note: Paderno or Spirooli counter-top spiralisers are available from homewares and health food stores for about $40 to $50.