Thanksgiving, Vegan Style
You probably know what you're making for Thanksgiving dinner this year but in case you need some inspiration, I have one hell of a post for you.
Last year was my first vegan Thanksgiving and we went all-out. I spent weeks thinking of what I wanted to make because I wanted to re-create every traditional non-vegan food and impress our non-vegan guests. It turned out GREAT. We had a delicious meal that was actually pretty healthy, too!
That's me, my boyfriend at the time, my step-dad, and my brother and his girlfriend. My mom was taking the picture. Everyone was vegan except my brother and his girlfriend.
Left to right - green bean casserole, dumplings (above), Tofurkey, stuffing
My plate from last year. From the potato dumpling, clockwise there's stuffing, green bean casserole, roasted asparagus, cranberry sauce (from a can, like my family enjoys), and Tofurkey with gravy.
We bought the Tofurkey feast, which came with a Tofurkey roast, gravy, and dumplings. It was good but it would also be fine to just get the roast and make some gravy. Even my brother and his girlfriend liked the Tofurkey. We basted it with red wine and balsamic vinegar instead of following the directions on the box and it was great.
We made Susan V's green bean casserole from Fat Free Vegan. Check it out:
The Best Green Bean Casserole
Nutrition Info
I LOVED the stuffing we made. It was easy and healthy, too!
Cornbread Stuffing
2 onions, chopped
6 stalks celery, shopped
4 cups cubed whole wheat bread
4 cups cubed cornbread (I like the Skillet Cornbread recipe on SparkRecipes)
1 cup vegetable broth
Poultry seasoning or dried sage, parsley, and thyme
Salt and pepper
Leave bread cubes out to dry overnight.
Saute onion and celery until soft.
Mix seasonings in a bowl: 3 tablespoons of fresh poultry seasoning or 1 tsp dried sage, 1 tsp dried thyme, 2 tsp dried parsley, salt and pepper to taste
Add bread cubes, mix in onion and celery.
Add about 1 cup veggie broth until moistened.
Cook at 400 degrees F for around 20 minutes, until top is browned.
Number of Servings: 12
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=831519
We also had three incredible desserts:
Pumpkin cheesecake, apple crumb pie, and pumpkin pie (all vegan, of course!). We bought the pumpkin pie from Bloomingfoods but made the others.
Best Apple Crumb Pie
2 pre-made whole wheat pie crusts (or make your own)
2 lbs cooking apples (Stayman Winesap is great), peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour or soy flour
1-2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp Earth Balance
Place bottom crust in a 9-inch pie plate.
Combine sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well.
Arrange half the apple slices in the pie crust. Add half the sugar mixture. Arrange the other half of apple slices and top with rest of sugar mixture. Dot with Earth Balance.
For the top crust:
You can take a crust, cut out a design and place the crust over the pie.
Or, take the crust or dough and break it up into crumbles and mix with some sugar. Top the pie with crumbles.
Bake at 425 for for 40-50 minutes.
Number of Servings: 8
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=831545
The pumpkin cheesecake was also from Fat-Free Vegan. I definitely encourage you to check out this recipe! It was amazing and we made several of them to bring to different events. Nobody could believe that they were vegan. One tip - let them cool in the oven so that the temperature changes slowly and the top won't crack.
Double-Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake
I'm not celebrating Thanksgiving this year. I'm not visiting family and though some of my friends are getting together, I'm planning on just snubbing tradition altogether. So plan on a post featuring some Indian take-out or something. :)
What are your Thanksgiving plans?
Giveaway:
http://ieattrees.com/vegan-vittles-giveaway/
Last year was my first vegan Thanksgiving and we went all-out. I spent weeks thinking of what I wanted to make because I wanted to re-create every traditional non-vegan food and impress our non-vegan guests. It turned out GREAT. We had a delicious meal that was actually pretty healthy, too!
That's me, my boyfriend at the time, my step-dad, and my brother and his girlfriend. My mom was taking the picture. Everyone was vegan except my brother and his girlfriend.
Left to right - green bean casserole, dumplings (above), Tofurkey, stuffing
My plate from last year. From the potato dumpling, clockwise there's stuffing, green bean casserole, roasted asparagus, cranberry sauce (from a can, like my family enjoys), and Tofurkey with gravy.
We bought the Tofurkey feast, which came with a Tofurkey roast, gravy, and dumplings. It was good but it would also be fine to just get the roast and make some gravy. Even my brother and his girlfriend liked the Tofurkey. We basted it with red wine and balsamic vinegar instead of following the directions on the box and it was great.
We made Susan V's green bean casserole from Fat Free Vegan. Check it out:
The Best Green Bean Casserole
Nutrition Info
I LOVED the stuffing we made. It was easy and healthy, too!
Cornbread Stuffing
2 onions, chopped
6 stalks celery, shopped
4 cups cubed whole wheat bread
4 cups cubed cornbread (I like the Skillet Cornbread recipe on SparkRecipes)
1 cup vegetable broth
Poultry seasoning or dried sage, parsley, and thyme
Salt and pepper
Leave bread cubes out to dry overnight.
Saute onion and celery until soft.
Mix seasonings in a bowl: 3 tablespoons of fresh poultry seasoning or 1 tsp dried sage, 1 tsp dried thyme, 2 tsp dried parsley, salt and pepper to taste
Add bread cubes, mix in onion and celery.
Add about 1 cup veggie broth until moistened.
Cook at 400 degrees F for around 20 minutes, until top is browned.
Number of Servings: 12
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=831519
We also had three incredible desserts:
Pumpkin cheesecake, apple crumb pie, and pumpkin pie (all vegan, of course!). We bought the pumpkin pie from Bloomingfoods but made the others.
Best Apple Crumb Pie
2 pre-made whole wheat pie crusts (or make your own)
2 lbs cooking apples (Stayman Winesap is great), peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour or soy flour
1-2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp Earth Balance
Place bottom crust in a 9-inch pie plate.
Combine sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well.
Arrange half the apple slices in the pie crust. Add half the sugar mixture. Arrange the other half of apple slices and top with rest of sugar mixture. Dot with Earth Balance.
For the top crust:
You can take a crust, cut out a design and place the crust over the pie.
Or, take the crust or dough and break it up into crumbles and mix with some sugar. Top the pie with crumbles.
Bake at 425 for for 40-50 minutes.
Number of Servings: 8
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=831545
The pumpkin cheesecake was also from Fat-Free Vegan. I definitely encourage you to check out this recipe! It was amazing and we made several of them to bring to different events. Nobody could believe that they were vegan. One tip - let them cool in the oven so that the temperature changes slowly and the top won't crack.
Double-Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake
I'm not celebrating Thanksgiving this year. I'm not visiting family and though some of my friends are getting together, I'm planning on just snubbing tradition altogether. So plan on a post featuring some Indian take-out or something. :)
What are your Thanksgiving plans?
Giveaway:
http://ieattrees.com/vegan-vittles-giveaway/
