Vegan Thanksgiving Spread!

I'm very excited to share my Thanksgiving with you! I was completely psyched everything turned out so well, and that my family enjoyed it too. I was crazed cooking all day, and the pumpkin pie didn't even get put in the oven until after the meal, but hey, we had tons of great food! I think we have some new traditions on hand...

Our little table for 5!

I made a number of dishes I had planned to. It was a lot of work; the minute we got back from our turkey trot, I was in the kitchen chopping, prepping, and cooking away. Definitely didn't sit down all day until the meal, and I was worried the whole time I'd still be trying to pull stuff together when my husband's turkey was ready to eat. In the end, it kind of worked out the other way around: the turkey took a little longer than my husband expected, so we all sat down to a fully-vegan first course. Nice! (Then, yes, the meat eaters had turkey for seconds; but everyone was really happy with the vegan dishes, which made me happy!)

Here's what I made: 

Herb-Seasoned Stuffing with Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Squash, Apples, Pears, Figs, and Cranberries

I loosely followed this recipe for Butternut Squash & Brussels Sprouts Stuffing, but added a few figs, a pear, and used less fresh herbs because I used a bag of Pepperidge Farm Herb-Seasoned Stuffing cubes. I'll post my veggie stuffing recipe soon!

Sweet Potato and Parsnip Puree

I adapted from my old vegetarian sweet potato & parsnip puree recipe, using just 2 Tbsp vegan margarine, and plain unsweetened almond milk instead of whole milk. Creamy sweet, and with that great parsnip taste. Mmmmm.

 Roasted Cornmeal-Crusted Cauliflower Slices with Mushroom Gravy

When I saw Veg New's recipe for mushroom gravy with truffle oil in it, I knew it would be gracing our table this year. In the magazine, they served it with cornmeal-crusted seitan cutlets, but since I don't like pho-meats so much, I served it over roasted cauliflower "steaks" instead. It was somewhat involved to make, but really worth it. My brother in law, who might be the least likely guy to like vegan food, commented a couple of times how much he liked it, so I knew it was a crowd pleaser. Made with King Oyster mushrooms and a teaspoon of truffle oil, how could you not love it? It was thick, creamy, and deliciously flavorful. I'll post this recipe soon too!

I also made my Winter Kale Salad, but instead of apples I included fresh cranberries, and I added thyme mushrooms with a little black truffle salt. It was a great addition, and went perfectly with the rest of the meal.

Kale Salad with Cranberries, Oranges, and Thyme Mushrooms

Finally, I whipped up some quick cranberries, with fresh squeezed orange juice, orange zest, and cinnamon. Simple and delicious.

Sigh. After all that cooking, I could sit down to enjoy this with family:

My Vegan Thanksgiving Plate

But wait, then there was dessert! Actually, I didn't even finish the pumpkin pie until after dinner, but that worked just fine since we were all so full. I used a Wholly Wholesome pre-made crust (which luckily I'd remembered to thaw) and the filling from this Vegan Pumpkin Pie recipe (and subbed out some sugar for Xyla, it worked great!). It was really good- perfect consistency, flavorful, pumpkin-y, and just the right amount of sweet. I prefer my pumpkin pie cold, so was happy to eat a slice the next day!

Pumpkin Pie

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving too! Check back soon for recipes!