November 25, 2011

A Vegan Thanksgiving Feast


I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day yesterday! My mom wasn't able to visit, so it was just me, my husband and my daughter this year. It was also the first time I have ever been responsible for the entire meal, all by myself. I was a little bit nervous, but luckily I was able to veganize my mom's fantastic sweet potato casserole recipe, I made our old favorite Mac N Nooch recipe, along with some homemade bread, and I found some great packaged items to fill in the gaps. I completely forgot to roast the fresh organic corn I had bought, but oh well...

My pictures aren't too great, but you can get the idea. I took them in haste while my hungry family looked on with desperation in their eyes. They were all, "C'mon! Let's eat!" while I snapped away. I'm so mean.


MOM'S SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
This stuff will change your life, I kid you not!

CASSEROLE
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, boiled, mashed and slightly cooled
1/4 cup vegan butter*
1/2 cup agave nectar (or brown sugar)
1/4 cup vegan creamer (I used Silk Hazelnut)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
TOPPING
3/4 cup date sugar (or brown sugar)
1/3 cup vegan butter, melted
2 cups walnuts, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Put all casserole ingredients together in a large bowl and stir until mixture is creamy. *If your potatoes have cooled completely, you may need to pre-melt or soften your butter. But if your potatoes are still warm the butter will melt nicely as you stir.
  • Stir topping ingredients together in a separate bowl until all walnuts are coated.
  • Place the casserole mixture into a deep 8 or 10-inch circular casserole dish. 
  • Spread topping evenly across casserole.
  • Bake for 45 minutes.
  • Makes about 8 big servings.
  • Enjoy!
NUTRITION INFO (per serving):
Calories: 316.1 / Total Fat: 22.3g (Saturated Fat: 4.2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 12.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4.7g) / Cholesterol: 0mg / Sodium: 102.3mg / Potassium: 179.4mg / Total Carbohydrates: 28.2g (Dietary Fiber: 2.8g, Sugar: 15.3g) / Protein: 3.8g


OUTRAGEOUSLY EASY BIG BREAD
This is my go-to bread recipe. I've been making it for years. It's so fluffy and delicious, and requires very little (if any) kneading. And if you have a Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook, it's even easier!
Go HERE for the recipe.


CREAMY MAC AND 'NOOCH' CASSEROLE
Fantastic, creamy mac and "cheese" with a crunchy topping you can't resist.
Go HERE for the recipe.


HERB STUFFING WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE
I used Arrowhead Mills Organic Savory Herb Stuffing. I prepared it as directed on the bag, but it came out a bit dry, so I added a quarter cup of melted butter. Once I poured some gravy on top, it was perfect!
I also lightly browned some of Tofurkey's fantastic Italian sausages and tossed them into the stuffing. It made a great "meat" entree for our table.

MASHED POTATOES WITH VEGETARIAN CHICKEN GRAVY
These mashed potatoes were so easy and really tasty! I purchased them at a health food store for only two dollars a box. Nice!









DESSERTS
I purchased three delicious pre-made pies from Sprouts Farmer's Market. We didn't go with the traditional pumpkin and sweet potato pies because I was doing this whole shindig all by myself (next year I'm going to look into pre-making and freezing homemade pies), but the cherry, strawberry with rhubarb, and dutch apple pies I snagged at just $3.99 each were totally vegan and absolutely delicious.


Well, I hope this gives you some inspiration for your next big holiday feast. See you at Christmas!

5 comments:

dreaminitvegan said...

That bread is so fluffy and beautiful! I can't wait to make it. Your meal looks wonderful, you did a great job cooking it all by yourself.

kristin said...

Looks delicious!! FYI though.. that chicken gravy has milk in it. Their dark version is vegan though.

Jennifer M. said...

Does it really? I looked at the ingredients and didn't see any milk stuff. Here's the ingredient list:
Corn Starch, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Natural Flavors (Soy, Wheat), Cane Juice Powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt, Rice Flour, Spices, Malt Extract, Spice Extractives, Extractives of Turmeric, less than 2% [Safflower Oil (Adds A Negligible Amount of Fat) Anti-caking Agent].

Does one of the weirder-sounding ingredients come from a dairy source?

kristin said...

Perhaps your area has different ingredients. Here it has milk as the natural flavorings and even says contains milk and wheat at the end.

Jennifer M. said...

I think I've solved this mystery! You are correct, Kristin. The current version of this product does indeed have milk. The older version, the one that I had, did not have milk in it. I bought my packets at the salvage store (at 3 for a dollar - woot!) and Lord only knows how old it was... A lot of the stuff they sell there is long expired. So, yes, this gravy does have milk. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm going to remove it from the post.