What a Vegan Thanksgiving Looks Like

As I mentioned yesterday, years ago I dumped the Thanksgiving thing with my omnivorous family and I now have a big vegan potluck with my friends. The day is filled with food and fun and it's something I look forward to every year. I was looking back at old photos, and years ago we had a small dinner of mashed potatoes, tofu turkey (from Veggie Heaven), stuffing, stuffed mushrooms and roasted veggies, with cobbler, pie and cupcakes for desserts. I have no idea how it turned into the huge food fest it is now, but I'm not complaining. We always have leftovers for days afterward, so the tastes of Thanksgiving linger on through the weekend.  What am I thankful for? Amazing friends who are great cooks!

It started innocently enough with hummus and veggies.

 The calm before the storm.

 The menu board is missing quite a few dishes. There just wasn't enough room!

The spread.

 I made roasted potatoes.

 Jessica and Greg brought mac and cheese.

 Rachel and Brett brought a Field Roast.

Keith made stuffing.

 My first time making cranberry sauce.

 Rachel and Brett made sweet potatoes.

 And they also made green beans.

 I made maple glazed roasted brussels sprouts. 

 Vann and Joyce made a lasagna.

 "Turkeys" from Veggie Heaven.

 I made stuffed mushrooms. 

Photos of rescued turkeys are the only birds on this table!

Dessert time!

 Jessica made pumpkin pie

 Keith made fruit cobbler.

 Joyce's black rice pudding.

 Rachel made lemon pumpkin cheesecake.

 I made chocolate pecan dream pie.

Like what you're reading? Then follow me on Twitter!

Time to Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is tough day for vegans. It's a day that traditional revolves around a cooked dead bird, and unfortunately most families have a difficult time with the idea of breaking tradition. Traditions tend to revolve around food, and trying to part from them often causes problems and family turmoil. I can't even stand the smell of a cooked turkey let alone the sight of one so I don't join my omnivorous family on Thanksgiving anymore. My friends and I have all broken the turkey-dinner-with-family-tradition and we started our own vegan-pot-luck-with-friends tradition. It's a lot of fun and it's something I look forward to every year.

Thanksgiving wasn't always a day of eating one's self into a food induced coma. It's believed that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 between the colonists and the Wamponoag Indians. The early settlers were dying of starvation and the Native Americans showed them how to work the land. After the first corn harvest, the settlers had a celebratory feast with the natives to thank them. It is not believed that turkey was eaten, but we will never know for sure. But what we do know for sure is that the first Thanksgiving was a celebration of the harvest a grain. Yes, it was all about plant food.

Days of thanksgiving became a tradition for the early settlers, and in later years, many states adopted an annual Thanksgiving holiday. In 1827 magazine editor and writer Sarah Josepha Hale launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. She wrote many stories romanticizing Thanksgiving. Many Thanksgiving "traditions" such as eating turkey and cranberry sauce actually came from Ms. Hale's stories, not from history. So I think that since most of our traditions are made up, we have the right to change them and make our own! So gather with your friends, cook what you really want to eat today and create your own traditions. If you want to honor the original spirit of Thanksgiving, take some time to reflex and be thankful for everything you hold dear.

Like what you're reading? Then follow me on Twitter!

Stuffed Portobellos

This is a Thanksgiving Recipe from Chef Chloe's blog. The photo isn't quite as pretty as hers, but that's okay because it was super delicious. I didn't have cooked rice and I didn't really have the time to cook some up, so I made quinoa instead. And I didn't have a can of lentils and didn't feel like cooking any, so I used a can of black beans instead. I didn't really matter that I made substitutions because it still tasted really good. This is the type of recipe that can't really be "broken". You can make substitutions and it will still taste good. These mushrooms were really filling and they make a great main course. 

I had thought about making these for tomorrow's Thanksgiving potluck feast with my friends, but there will be 9 of us, and that's a lot of portobellos! Instead I'm going to make stuffed criminis. If you still don't know what to make for Thanksgiving tomorrow, I highly recommend these - vegans and omnivores alike will love them!


Like what you're reading? Then follow me on Twitter!

Mushroom Spinach Stuffing

I'm not sure if it's it's the anticipation of Thanksgiving or the need for a little comfort food, but I decided to make a little pre-Thanksgiving dinner with stuffed portobellos, maple glazed brussels sprouts and spinach mushrooms stuffing. In retrospect, I probably didn't need both stuffed mushrooms and mushroom stuffing at the same meal, but what's done is done and what has been eaten cannot be uneaten.

The stuffing recipe is based on a recipe from the Vegan Good Things blog. I say "based on", because I didn't measure anything and I had a box of pre-made stuffing cubes. I sautéed a chopped onion, some garlic, a few celery stalks lots of different kinds of mushrooms and a contain of spinach together and then I dumped it all on top of the stuffing mix along with vegetable broth and then stirred it all together. I think I cooked it for about 45 minutes on 400. It was quite tasty and contained just the right amount of comfort!

Like what you're reading? Then follow me on Twitter!

Vegan Thanksgiving: Mashed Potatoes

I've actually only made mashed potatoes one other time in my life. Unless you count those boxes of instant potato flakes. Just like everything else I've written about this week, I never really liked mashed potatoes. Unless they were covered in gravy and butter, of course. It always seemed a little like eating paste. Maybe I didn't like them because growing up they were always made with those boxes of processed potato flakes, and that stuff is rather paste like. Anyway, as you can tell by previous posts this week, my tastes have changed a great deal since I was young and I do like mashed potatoes now. I didn't realize just how much my taste buds have changed until I did this week's posts. It's funny how that happens, but once you start eating whole, unprocessed foods you can really appreciate how things taste.

The first time I made mashed potatoes from actually potatoes it was with a kit from Trader Joe's. I can't remember what was in the kit other than potatoes. (Really, what could have been in it? Herbs? Garlic? All you really need is potatoes.) Mashed potatoes are super easy to make, so I really don't know why I never made them. Simply cut potatoes up into little cubes, place in a pot, cover with water and boil for about 15 minutes, until they are fork tender. Then just mash them up with non-dairy milk, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. I also used some Earth Balance and garlic powder.

Like what you're reading? Then sign up for my healthy living newsletter!

Vegan Thanksgiving: Stuffing

Just like most of the other dishes I like to make on Thanksgiving, stuffing is something I never liked growing up. It always came from a box and had added sausage. Dennis didn't think he liked stuffing either, but I made it for our first Thanksgiving together and added things like mushrooms and onions, and we both really liked it. It's super easy to make. Just sauté together some veggies, mix them with cubed bread or stuffing mix and broth, add some spices and then bake for about half an hour. You can add cooked rice, veggie sausage, cranberries, raisins and nuts  - whatever you like really. The ingredients are just a matter of personal taste, but if you like bread, you'll like stuffing.

For this dish, I used prepared cornbread stuffing, onions, mushrooms and tempeh (in place of sausage) and pecans to half of the mix, since Dennis doesn't like them. It was quite tasty and I think I'll make it again in the upcoming weeks and experiment with different ingredients.

Like what you're reading? Then sign up for my healthy living newsletter!

Vegan Thanksgiving: Mashed Acorn Squash

A few years ago I would have no idea what to do with a squash. A coworker told me how good roasted squash is. She bought me a delicata squash and told me to just cut it in half and roast it. I was so intimidated by this new food that I never made it and the squash went bad sitting in my kitchen. Something clicked in me though, and not long after that I went and bought another squash, took it home and roasted it. I've been hooked ever since! It's so easy, versatile and delicious - I can't believe I was afraid of it!

This is my own creation, and I'm really sure where I came up with the idea. It's a super easy to make dish. I cut an acorn squash in half and scraped out the seeds. (Just about any winter squash will work.) I placed the pieces cut side down in a baking dish filed with a little water and roasted in the oven for about 45 minutes at 375 degrees. I also roasted a few garlic cloves by sprinkling them with olive oil, wrapping them in foil and placing then placing them in the oven. Once it was cooked, I scraped all of the squash out of the skin and placed in a bowl. I added the roasted garlic cloves some olive oil and salt and pepper and mashed it all together with a potato masher. Mmm, mmm, good!

Like what you're reading? Then sign up for my healthy living newsletter!

Vegan Thanksgiving: Stuffed Mushrooms

I'm often asked what vegans eat for Thanksgiving and my answer is always "food". Thanksgiving does not have to be about a dead turkey. There are so many wonderful "side dishes" that a vegan can eat like royalty on this holiday. And I use the term "side dishes"with hesitation, because it usually refers to the food that sits next to the meat on the plate. Since vegetables and grains are just as important - if not more so - than protein, I think all dishes deserve equal attention.

Just like brussels sprouts, I used to really dislike mushrooms. I think it's because the only ones that were ever brought into my house while I was growing up were the canned variety. Canned mushrooms are gross. But I really, really love mushrooms now and I make them all the time.

Stuffed mushrooms are super easy to make. I'm not sure what goes into the non-vegan variety, but I think it's sausage. (Or is it crab meat?) But meat is not needed to make a stuffed mushroom. I simply use the mushroom stems! This recipe is my own creation, and I've never, ever measured any of the ingredients or written anything down. I'll do my best to tell you how to make it. Just adjust the ingredients to your liking.

Start with about 16 large mushrooms. The larger the better, because they will shrink when cooked. Clean them and remove the stems. Chop the stems up into tiny pieces and sauté them together with a few cloves of minced garlic until everything is soft and fragrant. Add breadcrumbs to the mixture, mixing in a a little olive oil if it's too dry. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stuff the mushrooms with the mixture and bake in the oven at 375 for 20 - 30 minutes, until they're tender. These area always a hit at gatherings!

Like what you're reading? Then sign up for my healthy living newsletter!

Vegan Thanksgiving: Brussels Sprouts

My friend Jenna and I were supposed to teach a vegan Thanksgiving cooking class yesterday, but unfortunately we had to cancel it. My cat Schroeder hasn't been feeling well lately, and the vet just discovered a tumor in his intestines. The stress of having a sick cat and preparing for a class at the same time is too much for me, and I didn't think it would be a good idea to have 15 people in my house with a sick kitty.

Schroeder had surgery on Wednesday. The vet was supposed to remove the tumor, but he found that it's in a bad spot it would be too risky to remove. Schroeder's been recovering from the surgery and he rested all weekend. Hopefully we'll get biopsy results tonight and find out if there's anything we can do for him. I'll be sure to post updates.

Before we found out about the tumor, I had been preparing for the cooking class and I had bought a lot of the groceries needed in order to test the recipes one last time before showing other people how to make them. So I decided to make it all for dinner over the weekend. Since it's almost Thanksgiving, I thought I'd share the dishes with you this week.

Let's start with brussels sprouts. I used to totally hate brussels sprouts. My mom used to buy frozen ones and microwave them with butter. Blech. But Dennis likes them, so years ago I decided to give them a try and find a way to cook them that we would both like. Over the years my taste buds have changed, and I really like them now. My favorite way to make them is to roast them with olive oil, salt and pepper. I really love the crispy edges. Chef Chloe recently did a blog post with vegan Thanksgiving recipes, and she has a recipe for maple roasted brussels sprouts that looked really good. It's starts out pretty much the same way I make roasted sprouts, but maple syrup is added towards the end of roasting. I used almonds instead of hazelnuts, because hazelnuts make my mouth itch. The end result was really, really tasty, and I think I'm going to make this dish for my friends on Thanksgiving.

Like what you're reading? Then sign up for my healthy living newsletter!