Vegan Thanksgiving: Cranberry Sauce, Stuffing, Gravy

Homemade Cranberry Sauce Two Ways

One way ... Traditional Cranberry Orange Relish (serves 4)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 bag fresh cranberries
1 medium orange

Zest the orange and juice it. Set aside zest and juice.

Mix sugar and water in medium saucepan; stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to boil. Add cranberries. Return to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes while stirring occasionally. Stir in orange zest and juice. Cook 2-3 more minutes.

Another way ... Cranberry Horseradish Cream
Add 3/4 cup vegan sour cream and at least 1 tablespoon (or more to taste) into recipe above.

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Vegan Stuffing with Chestnuts, Dried Plums (aka prunes), Sage, Thyme, and Rosemary
(Serves at least 8 hungry people)
(this might be one of my fave dishes I've ever made!)

12 cups bread cubes, toasted
1 large onion, diced
about 4 stalks celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
about 1 to 1 1/2 cups chestnuts, quartered
about 1 - 1 1/2 cups prunes, quartered
4 cups vegetable stock
about 1 cup mixed chopped herbs (fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary)
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 9" x 13" baking pan with cooking spray. Heat olive oil in a large, high-sided skillet. Add onions and celery and cook until onion is translucent and celery is softened. Add garlic, chestnuts, prunes, and herbs and cook about 2 more minutes, stirring frequently. Mix onion celery mixture with bread cubes in a large bowl until well-combined and pour into 9" x 13" baking pan. Drizzle vegetable stock over mixture in pan evenly. Cover with foil and bake 30-35 minutes. Remove foil and cook an additional 20 minutes (until top is browned). Let stand 10 - 15 minutes before serving.

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Insanely Delicious Vegan Gravy (makes a lot)
(recipe from Vegetarian Times Magazine Dec 2012 issue, p.36)

2 x 8oz russet potatoes
12 button mushrooms
3 carrots, cut into chunks
3 celery stalks, cut into chunks
2 small onions, cut into eighths
3 cloves garlic, smashed
olive oil
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh sage
2 bay leaves
12 peppercorns

Preheat oven to 425F. Quarter 1 russet potato and place in a large Dutch oven with mushrooms, carrots, celery, onions, and garlic. Toss with olive oil. Roast 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or until vegetables are deep brown on edges.
Transfer Dutch oven to stove top and stir in wine, tomato paste, and 8 cups water. Add fresh herbs and peppercorns and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.
Strain liquid and discard solids (though I kept mine and ate them, yum!). Peel and chop remaining potato into small cubes. Return broth to pot with potato and season with salt and pepper (to taste). Simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes or until liquid is reduced to about 2 1/2 cups. (Mine never made it to 2 1/2 cups ... mine was more like 4 cups, but it was just fine. I added a bit of cornstarch at the end to thicken it.) Blend liquid and potato in blender or using an immersion blender. Reheat before serving, if necessary.

I made this a day ahead and reheated it on the stove before the meal. It was wonderful! :)

Vegan Thanksgiving!

Lucas and I decided to have a "warm-up" Thanksgiving yesterday. ;)
Tofurky, Cranberry Sauce, Sage Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Celery Root Slaw (recipe for slaw in entry below) ... yum!

Basic Cranberry Sauce

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
12 oz bag fresh cranberries
1 medium orange

Zest the orange, squeeze, set aside.
Mix sugar and water in medium saucepan, stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to boil. Add cranberries. Return to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer 10 mins. Stir occasionally. Stir in orange zest and juice. Cook 2-3 minutes more.

Sage Sweet Potato Mash
I'm always looking for new ways to eat sweet potatoes!


4 sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons vegan butter
8 fresh sage leaves
4 scallions, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Boil or steam sweet potatoes until very soft. Mash once soft and transfer to a serving dish. Meanwhile, brown butter in a skillet and add the sage leaves. Fry until crisp. Transfer to a plate. (Mine didn't actually get crisp, so I recommend doing a chiffonade with the sage leaves.) Cook 4 chopped scallions with salt and pepper in the browned butter. Drizzle butter mixture over the mashed potatoes. Enjoy!

Recipe from Food Network Magazine December 2010.

Tofurky Roast!
Before and After!


1 packaged Tofuky® roast with gravy
1 onion
some carrots
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Preheat oven to 350F. Unwrap fully thawed Tofurky® roast and place in a dish that you've already sprayed with cooking oil spray. Surround roast with chopped onion and carrots. Mix olive oil and soy sauce in a bowl. Pour half of the olive oil and soy sauce mixture over the roast. Cover whole dish tightly with aluminum foil. Place in oven for 1 hour 15 minutes. Take out and unwrap. Pour the rest of the olive oil and soy sauce mixture over the roast. Put back in the oven for 10 more minutes. Meanwhile, heat the thawed gravy in a saucepan until warm. Remove roast from oven and enjoy sliced, with gravy on top! yum!

Not so healthy, but ... Easy Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

Recipe Source: PETA's "Vegetarian Starter Kit" Pamphlet p.20
Available online here: http://www.petaliterature.com/VEG297.pdf

Thanks to whatever girl handed my boyfriend this packet one day on the street. haha.
This was kind of delicious! :)

4 medium potatoes
2 tablespoons margarine
1/2 cup soy milk
Salt and Pepper to taste
12 oz bag of Boca veggie crumbles
1 can vegetarian mushroom gravy (I used Campbells brand)
1 can peas
3-4 carrots, chopped into small rounds
Garlic Powder and Cayenne Pepper to taste

♥ Preheat oven to 350°F
♥ Boil the potatoes for 20 mins or until tender. Drain and mash with the margarine and soy milk. Add salt and pepper.
♥ (I lightly steamed my chopped carrots until just a bit tender.)
♥ In a medium bowl, mix the crumbles, mushroom gravy, peas, carrots, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Pour into a rectangular pan. Top with potatoes, spreading them to the edges of the pan. Bake for 30-40 mins or until the potatoes are browned a bit.
♥ Makes 4 servings.

Cranberry Glazed Vegetarian Meatballs, Spaghetti Squash, and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I'm not a big fan of imitating meat, but I do love vegetarian meatballs. I couldn't find the ones I usually get at Trader Joes, so I made my own. This actually turned out to be absolutely delicious!

Cranberry Glaze Cooking...


16oz can jellied cranberry sauce
12oz bottle of chili sauce (I used the 10oz one from Trader Joes and it was fine)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally.


Mashed Sweet Potatoes


4 sweet potatoes, peeled, and cut into cubes
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons butter, cubed
1 cup mini marshmellows* (yes, these contain gelatin so omit if you're a strict vegetarian)

Set oven to 425°F
Boil sweet potatoes until tender, drain, return to pot
Toss in all other ingredients and mash
Put mashed mixture into oven safe dish and top with mini marshmellows
Bake for about 10 mins ... or just until top is slightly brown


Spaghetti Squash


Since I had to use the oven for the veggie meatballs and the sweet potatoes, I baked this in the microwave. It worked just fine ...

1 medium sized spaghetti squash, cut in half and deseeded
grated parmesan cheese* (some parmesan contains rennet so omit if you're a strict vegetarian)
olive oil
freshly ground pepper

Put squash in bowl with about 1/4 inch water, cut side down
Microwave for about 15 minutes
Squash pulp should break up easy with a fork when done.
Scrape squash pulp out of skin and throw into a casserole dish
Toss with a little olive oil, pepper, and parmesan cheese


Vegetarian Meatballs


2 packages 12oz prebrowned veggie crumbles (I used Boca brand)
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup italian style bread crumbs
4 cloves minced garlic
grated parmesan cheese* (I eyeballed it)(*some parmesan contains rennet so omit if you're a strict vegetarian)
1 tsp each of your fave italian herbs (I used dried parsley, dried basil, and dried oregano)
1 tsp (or so) of fennel seeds

Preheat oven to 350°F
Thoroughly defrost veggie crumbles in a skillet over medium heat.
Remove from heat and combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Form mixture into about 24 balls. (My mixture made 24 small balls and 4 medium balls)
Bake in baking pan or on cookie sheet at 350°F for about 15 mins or until firm
(I baked mine in a mini muffin pan.)

Two things that make me happy ...

Beers ... and a quick veggie patty melt!


So, there's a Polish supermarket a couple of blocks from my house that has a beer section that is just awe-inspiring. ;) They have beers from nearly every country in the world that makes beer. They even had the beer I had in Casablanca, Morocco (pictured above)! I also picked up the Zywiec Porter which is a delightful brown-sugary dark beer with 9.5% alcohol. tee hee hee.

I made this delicious, quick, and low-fat veggie patty melt for dinner yesterday to accompany my Casablanca beer.

I was quite pleased with the results.

Ingredients:
1 Boca® burger patty (or other veggie patty)
1 yellow onion, sliced in thin strips
olive oil to fry onion
1 slice 2% white American cheese
2 slices bread
mustard

Preparation:
1. Sauté the onion in a bit of olive oil until it's brown. Mmm.
2. Microwave your veggie patty and toast your bread
3. Spread mustard on toast and layer burger, cheese, onions.
4. Serve with your fave side and a nice cold beer.

MMmmmmm.