need headstart with ideas for thanksgiving

With a dozen people going to eat thanksgiving dinner, I need some help making sure that there is food to satisfy every picky eater.

I haven't cooked a HUGE dinner for quite a few years, and this year I'll be doing it with a very SMALL oven, 1 microwave & 2 slow-cookers.

 

invite me i'll cook and bring a tofurky.

 

i think this next thanksgiving wont go so well with me.

 

I can never understand why the turkey holds up the whole dinner....meaning that you can't start eating anything else until the turkey is done and on the table.
Actually I have never had a tofurky.

 

Found these at www.earthyfamily.com



Sweet Potato Soup

From In A Vegetarian Kitchen with Nava Atlas

SOULFUL SOUPS
The following recipe is adapted from Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons.

Have you ever noticed how often the phrase "soul-satisfying" accompanies the word "soup"? I happen to agree that a good soup does as much for the spirit as it does for the stomach. I can think of no other food that gives as much comfort.

Generally, the process of making soup is nearly as satisfying as the enjoyment of the result. Soup-making, of all forms of cookery, is to my mind, the best exercise in mindfulness. And its usually a simple process, too. Even if there are a number of ingredients, generally, little more needs to be done with them than to cut them and throw them into the pot.

6 servings

A warming soup with an appealing golden color. The natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes gives this soup a surprising flavor twist.

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Sweet Potatoes
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2 tablespoons light olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 large celery stalk, diced
Handful of celery leaves
6 cups peeled, diced (about 1/2 inch) sweet potatoes
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup low-fat milk, rice milk, or soymilk, or as needed
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and sauté over low heat until the onions are golden. Add the celery leaves and sweet potato dice. Add just enough water to cover all but about an inch of the vegetables. Bring to a simmer, then stir in the bay leaves and seasonings. Simmer gently, covered, until the sweet potatoes and vegetables are quite tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.

With a slotted spoon, remove about half of the solid ingredients and transfer to a food processor along with about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Process until smoothly pureed, then stir back into the soup pot. Add the milk or soymilk as needed to achieve a slightly thick consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer over very low heat for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Serve at once, or let stand off the heat for an hour or two before serving, then heat through as needed.

Roasted Squash & Carrot Soup

1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp ground cumin seed
¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
½ Tbsp marjoram
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
½ medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small chunks
2 Tbsp sunflower or safflower oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
5-6 cups vegetable stock (reserve 1 cup)
1 Tbsp tamari
sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Toast spices and marjoram in a hot pan on the stove until they become fragrant.

Toss carrots and squash in 1 Tbsp of the sunflower oil, spread evenly on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes in preheated oven, until they soften and start to turn golden. Remove from heat.

While veggies are roasting, heat remaining oil in a soup pot. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft and translucent. Add toasted spices, stir to coat the onions and cook 2-3 minutes.

Add roasted veggies, stir to blend with onion mixture, then add 5 cups of soup stock. Boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat, blend smooth in a food processor, and then return to stovetop. Add reserved stock if too thick , season with tamari, sea salt and pepper and serve garnished with fresh cilantro.

Apple Pumpkin Shake

A scrumptious shake rich in protein, vitamins and taste. Great for breakfast or as an after-school or work snack.

½ Cup of Cooked Pumpkin (canned will work)**
¾ Cup soymilk
¾ Cup organic apple cider
1-2 Scoops Protein Powder (Natural Factors makes a great mix called Learning Factors)
1-2 Tbsp ground flax seed
¼ tsp Nutmeg
½ tsp Cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a blender and enjoy! For a slightly sweeter treat, you can replace the soymilk with apple cider. Adjust spices to your taste and liking – ginger can also be added, or you could try using pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice.

**To cook a pumpkin, you can boil it whole (if it’s small enough and you have a pot big enough) until soft, or cut it in half, seed it and bake it until it’s very soft. Cool it enough to handle, peel and mash. It’s actually a lot easier than one would think.

Cornbread

This is absolutely sublime when made in a cast iron skillet and served hot from the oven. Combine it with soup and/or salad made from garden veggies for a hearty harvest meal - truly a meal designed to leave you feeling divinely connected to the cycle of the seasons.

2 Cups Corn Meal
4 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp salt
1 egg (or equivalent in egg replacer)
1 ½ cups milk (cow, soy, rice, or whatever you normally use)
2 Tbsp cold-pressed vegetable oil (canola, safflower or sunflower preferably)

Pour the oil into a cast iron skillet or 8 inch square baking pan. Place in a cold oven and preheat to 400 F.

Mix the corn meal, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl. In a 2-cup measuring cup, whisk the egg and milk together, then pour into the dry ingredients. Stir the mixture smooth, pour into the heated skillet or baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm.

 

i made that apple pumpkin shake and it was absolutely delicious! i used twice as much pumpkin though (1 cup) and i also used an apple. in fact, i poured cider into the pumpkin and then put apples in the pumpkin and baked it yummy!

.....hours later....

whoa, i just made the roasted squash and carrot soup....incredible! i think i'm going to make it for the family thanksgiving. squawkers, do you have the recipe book these were in? are they all this good?

 

I need a good VEGAN STUFFING recipe. I LOVE stuffing, I LIVE for stuffing at Thanksgiving...and this will be my first VEGAN thanksgiving so if any of you have delicious stuffing recipes for vegans...I will love you forever.

Also, where the hell do you find tofurky?!

 

most stores now sell tofurky year around..because they make more than just the thankgiving "bird" now..

i think www.tofurky.com can tell you which store near you carries them.

22 more days.. i don't know if i can wait that long

 

I cook a vegan Thanksgiving feast every year. I do all of the cooking myself and I invite about 6-12 vegan friends of mine, along with my brother who is also vegan. The menu varies a bit each year, and I have introduced a new dish every year while subtracting another. Here's a list of the staples.

Salad
One UnTurkey
One or Two Tofurkys (depending on size of party)
Mashed potatoes
Gravy (mixture of tofurky and unturky gravy with mushrooms added)
Steamed Greens (usually kale, collards or mustard greens)
Mochi-Greenbean casserole
Butternut squash
Stuffing
Desert (Usually a pumpkin or chocolate pie with hip whip)

The Thanksgiving feast will be basically what I just listed with the addition of the surprise dish I add each year. I have found that dinner rolls don't do too well because everyone said they fill up on them too fast, so I stopped serving them. The same thing with my pumpkin soup, it's just too much food. My cranberry sauce is good, but not everybody likes it with their tofurky. My special 59-rice is a hit, but it takes away from the stuffing so I alternate between the two. My maple-sweet potatoes are good too, but it's silly to have that with the regular mashed potatoes and butternut squash, so I took that out as well.

 

Thank you!! I'll check it out. I have heard so much about tofurky and always wanted to try it.

 

I looked, and there isnt anywhere nearby where I can get tofurky but it says you can order online, do you think that would even be a wise idea?

There is a store about 45 mins away that sells it... maybe I'll just do that. I hate driving to the city though, that's why I rarely ever go to Vegan Essentials.

 

The list of markets on the Tofurky website is far from complete. As a matter of fact, there's a market that sells Tofurkys only five minutes from my house, but it's not listed on the website. You can call the local markets in your phone book and see if they carry it. You might even be able to put in a request and they will order it for you.

 

yeah last thanksgiving i got on the phone and started calling stores "do you carry any vegan "turkeys"?" i found about 3 stores not listed on tofurky.com


theres also unturkey

 

I intend on giving thanks this year that I don't have any food neuroses.

 

Yeah, UnTurkey is really good. If you are feed a lot of people then an UnTurkey is the way to go because they are huge! Now they sell a smaller one without all of the extra stuff, so if it's too much food you can go that way.

I recommended letting the Tofurky defrost in the fridge for two to three days before cooking it. Put it in a small baking dish, surrounded with diced potatoes, carrots and celery. Baste with a mixture of 1/4 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup low sodium tamari, 1/8 cup 100% cranberry juice, pinch of ground coriander and cumin. Spoon mixture over Tofurky, cover with foil, bake at 300 F for two hours.

When it's done, use a baster to suck up the juices and baste the Tofurky before serving.

That's one of my favorite, easy methods anyway.

 

Wow, Tofurky is made in Oregon...I never knew that. I've never had this stuff. Sounds interesting.

 

hmm, I'll definitely check around. If not, I suppose I'll suck it up and dare to drive through the crazy city. Or, order it over the internet.

I would think that this one store nearby would carry tofurky or unturkey during the holidays, because it carries tons of vegan products I've never even seen in my life otherwise. I wrote that store an email asking them whether they were going to carry it or if I could have them order some, but I haven't received a response yet, so I suppose I'll just go in there.