A Very Vegan Thanksgiving

This year Atticus and I planned to celebrate Thanksgiving a week early with my mom and family, since we wouldn't be able to be together on actual Thanksgiving. It worked out that my best friend Bea, who was in the process of moving to Colorado was able to join us, along with some family members who happened to be in town! Since my mom is also vegan, we planned an entirely vegan Thanksgiving menu! Luckily it was a huge hit with vegans and non vegans alike!

Here is our menu (I apologize for the inconsistent photos - it was a bit hectic!):

Tempeh, ready to go in the Country Loaf

1) Country Loaf (Chloe's Kitchen)

Serves 8

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 cups diced celery
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 (8-ounce) packages tempeh
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 cup cooked brown rice, warm
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan.

Sautéing the veggies 

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large deep-sided skillet and sauté onion, carrots and celery until soft, about 15 minutes. If vegetables begin to stick, add a little bit of water to the skillet. Stir in garlic, thyme, basil and parsley. Let cook a few more minutes. Crumble the tempeh into the skillet and add soy sauce and broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

Add warm brown rice and bread crumbs to the bowl and mix thoroughly with a large spoon. The more you mix it and mash it, the better it will hold together when you bake it. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and pack it down very firmly using the back of a spoon. Cover the top of the loaf pan with foil. Bake for 45 minutes, covered, then remove foil, and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before unmolding. Run a knife around the edges of the cooked loaf to loosen, then flip onto a serving plate to unmold. Slice and serve.

Chef’s note: Recipe can be halved to serve 3 to 4 people. If halving, bake in an 8-by-4-by-3-inch loaf pan for 30 minutes covered, then 15 more minutes uncovered.

Beckett, acting as sous chef!

2) Creamed Kale (Kellie Anderson, Food to Glow)

Serves 6

1 kg (2 lbs) kale, tough ribs removed then leaves torn and washed 

1 sweet onion, peeled and finely chopped (as fine as you can get it)

2 tbsp rapeseed oil or coconut oil

1 batch of cashew cream – see below

¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

squeeze of lemon

2 heaped tsp white or yellow miso (optional, but good for depth)

salt (if not using the miso) and white pepper to taste

Put the chopped kale in a large pot of boiling water, return to the boil and cook for five minutes. Drain in a colander then squeeze well in a tea towel over the sink. Pop the squeezed kale onto a chopping board and finely chop (do not put in a food processor). Set aside.

Heat the butter or oil in a large pan, and when melted add the onion and nutmeg. Saute gently, stirring occasionally.

While the onions are cooking, make the cashew cream.

Cashew Cream

1 ½ cups raw cashews

2 cups of warm water

Pop the cashews and a little of the water into a small food processor bowl and blend until smooth, adding more water until you have the desired consistency.

When the onions are translucent add in the kale, cashew cream, lemon juice, miso and seasoning. Heat over a low flame for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Check seasoning then serve hot.

Hard at work (haha)

3) Stuffing

I just used the Whole Foods brand package (lazy I know!)

4) Dinner Rolls (Angela, Oh She Glows)

Makes 12 rolls

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast

1 cup very warm water

2 tbsp Earth Balance 

1 egg's worth of egg replacer 

Proof your yeast! In a small bowl mix 2 1/4 tsp of Active Dry Yeast with 1/4 cup of very warm water (between 110 and 115 degrees F). Stir and let dissolve. Now add 1 tsp of sugar and stir. Let it sit for a good 5-10 minutes. You will know the yeast is active when it is slightly foamy and smells like bread.

In a stand mixer or by hand, add 1 and 1/4 cup of flour, remaining sugar (1 tbsp + 2 tsp), salt, and yeast mixture. Mix briefly for 10 seconds or so. Now, add the remaining very warm water (3/4 cup), slightly melted Earth balance, and egg replacer and mix until smooth. Slowly add in the rest of the flour (1 cup) and mix until smooth.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. I put my bowl of dough in the oven with the light turned on (but not the oven itself!)

Grease a pie pan and set aside. After 30 minutes, remove the dough from the oven and knead with hands for a few seconds. Divide the dough into 12 balls with hands and place the balls into the pie pan

Cover pie pan with towel and place back into the oven with light on for another 30 minutes. The rolls will expand and fill the pie pan during this time.

After 25 minutes, remove from oven and preheat the oven to 400F. After 5 more minutes, it is time to bake the rolls for 15-18 minutes until golden and fluffy. 

5) Mashed Potatoes 

We do our mashed potatoes with a lot of earth balance and a lot of non-dairy milk or creamer! The best way to do them is in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Add a considerable amount of butter and slowly mix in your non-dairy milk/creamer until you reach the perfect consistency (that's a personal preference - I like mine super smooth!)

Apple Cider Cup

6) Apple Cider in Apple Cups (Ali, Gimme Some Oven)

Makes 10 cups

1 gallon apple cider
10 apples
10 cinnamon sticks
Cinnamon for dusting the tops

Carve out the innards of the apples creating a cup like appearance, making sure to leave enough apple so that the cider will not leak through (about 1/2 inch).

Pour in cider and add a cinnamon stick. Then dust with cinnamon!

Pretty easy and super cute!

Steaming the green beans

We also had green beans, butternut squash and mushroom gravy - the specifics of which are unknown to me as I did not participate in the making!

I only got one shot of all of the food - on my iPhone!

My first serving. From bottom left: roll, green beans, stuffing and country loaf (both smothering in gravy!), butternut squash, mashed potatoes and creamed kale. So good! 

And of course we had some pies as well- apple and pumpkin molasses, made by my mom! We served them with coconut whipped cream. I will try and get the pie recipes and add them here, in the mean time here is how to make coconut whipped cream if you have never tried it!

Apple pie

Coconut Whipped Cream

1 can of cold coconut milk (full fat)
Sugar
Vanilla

Refrigerate your coconut milk overnight (or at least for several hours).

As it gets cold the coconut milk fat will separate from the liquid and rise to the top. Depending on the can it will be the top 1/3 to 2/3rds of the can.

Scoop out only the coconut milk fat (the thick white part) leaving behind the liquid (clear, milky and thin).

Add in a few teaspoons of sugar and vanilla (I never really calculate it, I do it more to my personal tastes - for instance I use a lot of vanilla to help to cover the coconut flavor. Some people like it more coconut-y!)

Whip until it has a whipped cream like consistency (often it will not be quite as thick but should still resemble it!)

Hope everyone had a happy, healthy Thanksgiving!

Atticus, me, and Bea