Sunday, November 30, 2014

Thanksgivings

Being a vegan or vegetarian at Thanksgiving does not need to mean deprivation!  In recent years, I have been fortunate enough to have two feasts; one my mother cooks up and one I host for my friends.

My mom is awesome because she has figured out how to make a tasty green bean casserole and doesn't mind making changes to other staples, like making stuffing with vegetable broth and mashed potatoes with margarine and non-dairy milk. She also makes sweet potatoes and rolls that are vegan and will get one of the many easy turkey substitutes for the main dish (this year we went with this: http://gardein.com/products/savory-stuffed-turky-seasonal/). My step dad makes a vegan pumpkin pie and pie crust pinwheels that are addictive and dairy free as well. I know I am lucky!!
A plate of goodness from my mom's feast!
These cinnamon pinwheels are a thing of beauty, aren't they?

My feast started as a way to make sure my vegetarian and vegan friends could enjoy Thanksgiving because not everyone has a family who will make changes to leave out the meat/dairy. It eventually started to include a few non-vegetarian folks, then finally got to where it is today; about 50/50.

Things have changed with the recipes through the years, but I now have a solid bunch of staples I don't think I'll tinker with in the future unless new friends bring new food needs.

I always make a pair of faux turkeys (a slightly modified version of Bryanna Grogan's soy & seitan "turkey"), mashed potatoes & gravy (from the Compassionate Cook cookbook, but without mushrooms and swapping cornstarch for flour to make it gluten free), sweet potato casseroles (a recipe I may give out someday, if you're really lucky), two green bean casseroles (another secret recipe). The green bean casserole is best topped with homemade fried onions - do not let the gluten free label turn you away, they are really good! (http://thecountrybasket.com/gluten-free-crisp-french-fried-onion-topping-recipe/ with unsweetened soy milk and Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour mix), stuffing, rolls (from a photocopy of a recipe my mom gave me), and impossible pumpkin pie (this one, but with canned pumpkin, mace instead of nutmeg, and no clove: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/10/and-answer-is.html). This year, Emma made the rolls start-to-finish (they were PERFECT) and peeled all of the potatoes and sweet potatoes.



The table at my house is almost ready!

Fried onions

Sweet potato casserole with topping

Gluten-free green bean casserole

Faux turkey with stuffing



2 comments:

  1. IT WAS SO GOOD. Always. All of it. Every single year. Bravo, Melanie (and helpers)!!! :-)

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