A Very Vegan Thanksgiving
So, your menu is set—the usual suspects, turkey, favorite sides, pumpkin and pecan pie when the phone rings. Your Vegan neighbors, cousins, friends have accepted your invitation. A quick twist of just a few things can turn a regular menu into a vegetarian one, but vegan requires a bit more though. You see, vegans do not eat dairy—the primary difference between their dietary needs and those of vegetarians.
The vegetarian resource website www.wrg.org notes that while vegetarians do not eat meat, fish or poultry, vegans, do not even use other animal products and by products such as eggs, honey, or dairy products (milk, cheese, butter, etc.)
A vegan thanksgiving will require a bit more adjustment to my basic menu than inviting a few vegetarians to the feast. For the vegan guests I need to offer an entrée and sides with no cheese, all dairy in fact, or even honey. I will adjust several of my traditional items, and instead of a second turkey breast or ham, I will make a vegan alternative main course item. The turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy will remain for the meat lovers who are attending. My homemade cranberry sauce would be safe—cranberries, sugar, water and a sprinkle of salt. Basically the recipe on the back of the bag of fresh berries. No gelatin cranberry sauces—gelatin can contain animal by-products.
A quick review of my recipes gave me a do-over for three recipes, carrots, sweet potatoes, and artichokes. The carrots with honey—quick shift to using either coconut or olive oil for the fat and maple syrup for the sweetness. Sweet potato medallions—same fix. Now comes the hard part, finding a good vegan main and developing some vegan side dishes that will appeal to my meat eaters as well as to the vegans. It is a tradition at our house to serve artichokes for Thanksgiving and I have modified that recipe so all of my guests can enjoy them (recipe below)
For some help in selecting a vegan main and at least two vegan side dishes, I turned first to vegan friend and author, Sue Ann Jaffarian, whose Odelia Gray mysteries have kept me laughing through eleven delightful books. I also consulted Mark Renfield, author of Healing the Vegan Way and several websites. From these sources, I found main course, side dish and dessert solutions that will have my vegan guests feeling loved when they come to table and my non-vegan guests happily surprised. For those who still have room enough for dessert I simply added Jeffarian's favorite pumpkin flavored vegan option to replace the pumpkin pie and serve it alongside my decidedly non –vegan (loaded with butter) pecan pie.
Both Jaffarian and Renfield offered delicious sounding main course options. Jaffarian told me that this year she is going to order a textured meat substitute called a "Celebration Roast"as the main course. Jaffarian orders form a company called Field Roast. The main or first listed ingredient after water is vital wheat gluten. Jack Barrow, Director of Marketing for Field Roast answered all of my questions about other ingredients, assuring me that their products are MSG free and non-GMO. The product comes ready to heat and eat and can be purchased for delivery from www.fieldroast.com. It’s a heat and eat option.
Lentil loaf, made at home is the other really great option for a vegan main course, specifically, Lentil Walnut Loaf with Oil Free Mushroom Gravy from Renfield's Healing the Vegan Way. He says, "I started serving vegan Thanksgivings in the mid-1990s because I wanted the food I served to reflect my core values." Leftovers from this baby will be as delicious as the first servings, I think. He and his editors have graciously allowed us to reprint the recipe below.
I still want a more sides that both the vegans and non-vegans can enjoy. Renfield's book offers many delicious options as does the website www.oldwayspt.org. I
settled on two more, their staff favorite oat risotto with mushrooms and a cornbread option from the site's Vegetarian Network advisor, Sharon Palmer. Both are listed below.
Food and football often take center stage on this holiday, especially if you go to the extra work of making your table vegan friendly and meat friendly. However, when you sit down to eat with your friends and family, remember the name of the holiday, stop for a few moments, hold hands and give thanks.
Joan’s Artichoke Heart Casserole
Use an eight by eight glass-baking dish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (can use toaster oven)
Ingredients
6-ounce package of frozen artichoke hearts. If you have to use a can of quartered artichoke hearts, rinse well and cut the hearts into smaller pieces)
Five tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup bread crumbs (vegan bread)
2 Tablespoon McCormick Italian herbs (no gmo, all natural)
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Put one tablespoon of olive oil on the bottom of the pan
Mix the artichokes, breadcrumbs, herbs, salt and pepper
Put into pan
Bake for 20 minutes
(Note: if you do not have any vegans coming to dinner, add one quart cup grated pecorino Romano cheese to the mixture for the hearts
Steel Cut Risotto and Mushrooms
Courtesy of www.oldwayspt.org, adapted from a Sharon Palmer recipe
http://wholegrainscouncil.org/recipes/steel-cut-oat-risotto-mushrooms
INGREDIENTS
3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
½ cup white wine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ cups sliced white (button) mushrooms
1 cup steel cut oats (uncooked)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
Salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat the broth and wine in a small pot over low-medium heat until warm, but not boiling.
2. While the broth mixture is warming, heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat, then add the onions and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the garlic and mushrooms to the onions and cook for an additional minute.
4. Stir the oats into the vegetable mixture, and add ½ cup of the warm broth mixture into the pot.
5. Stir frequently over medium heat until all of the moisture is absorbed. Repeat, adding ½ cup of the broth mixture at a time, until all of the broth mixture is used, and the oats reach a creamy consistency (approximately 20-25 minutes).
6. Taste and adjust seasonings. Then, divide the risotto into four bowls, and garnish with fresh sage.
Cornbread with Ancient Grains and Cumin
Courtesy of the oldwayspt.org and Sharon Palmer.
Ingredients:
1 cup cornmeal
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup ancient grain flour, such as amaranth, quinoa, or millet
4 teaspoons baking powder pinch salt
1 teaspoon cumin pinch black pepper
2 tablespoons honey (use maple syrup to keep it vegan)
¼ cup canola oil, expeller pressed
1 cup plant-based milk (almond milk, for example)
1 tablespoon egg replacer (EnerG)
¼ cup frozen corn, thawed
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Combine cornmeal, flours, baking powder, salt, cumin, and black pepper in a mixing bowl.
3. Combine honey, canola oil, plant-based milk, and egg replacer in a bowl and stir together vigorously. Fold into dry ingredients and stir only until combined. Stir in corn.
4. Spray an 8-inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray and pour batter into pan.
5. Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown.
6. Slice into squares and serve immediately.
Makes 9 servings
Lentil Walnut Loaf with Oil Free Mushroom Gravy
Reprinted from Healing the Vegan Way with permission from author Mark Renfield and Publisher, Perseus Books
Ingredients
¾ cup uncooked short grain brown rice
1 ½ cups water or vegetable stock
¾ tsp sea salt or to taste
2 teaspoons coconut oil
¾ cup diced yellow onion
4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
½ cup thinly sliced celery
¾ cup diced shitake mushrooms
2 (15 ounce) cans of lentils or 3 cups cooked
¾ cups rolled oats (try gluten free)
½ cup walnuts
¼ cup water or stock
2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh, flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chiffonaded fresh sage
1 teaspoon wheat free tamari or other soy sauce (optional)
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Oil for pan
Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Place rice first helping of water and the ¼ tsp of salt in a pot over medium high heat. Cook until all water is absorbed. (About 40 minutes)
Put coconut oil in sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for one minute. Add the garlic, celery and cook two more minutes. Add mushrooms and cook five minutes more adding a small bit of water to prevent sticking if necessary.
Place the lentils, oats, walnuts, and the next amount of water in a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to pan with all rest of ingredients. Add salt and pepper or tamari to taste.
Transfer to an oiled 8 by 4 loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes. Cool before slicing
Oil Free Mushroom Gravy
Reprinted from Healing the Vegan Way with permission from author Mark Renfield and Publisher, Perseus Books
Ingredients
2 ¼ cups water or vegetable stock
1 ¼ cups thinly sliced onions’
¼ cup thinly sliced celery
4 large garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 cup thinly sliced shitake mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped raw cashews
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons wheat-free tamari or soy
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Salt to taste
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons finely chopped flat Italian parsley
Method
Place ¼ cup of the water or stock in a pot on medium high, Add the onion, celery, and garlic and cook for two minutes stirring constantly , adding water if necessary. Add mushrooms, Cook for one more minute. Add remaining water or stock and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly,
Transfer half of contents to a strong blender, Add cashews and blend until creamy. Return to pot.
Lower the heat to medium low. Add yeast tamari, pepper, salt and nutmeg and crushed red pepper., Cook five minutes stirring occasionally. Add water to thin if you like. Add parsley and stir before serving.
This story was originally published November 21, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "A Very Vegan Thanksgiving."