My Veg Thanksgiving

So after much agonizing about what to make for Thanksgiving, everything ended up coming together easily.

I started off with some Spinach Dip to munch on while cooking and to ply the guests with while they waited for the ornery turkey to be done. I just mixed a garden variety onion dip mix with a container of Tofutti sour cream and a package of frozen spinach, thawed and patted dry. It was perfect with whole wheat crackers.

For my main course, I tryed the NY Times recipe for Roasted Squash w/ Sage Cornbread Stuffing and Vegetable Ragout. I used seitan rather than tempeh, because seitan is more turkey-esque to me. The cornbread stuffing, studded with sage and roasted chesnuts, was very sweet and crunchy, while the stew-like ragout on top was filled with savory leeks, parsnips, carrots, seitan and shrooms. Next time I would have added a little soy sauce or tamari to add a bit more salt to the ragout. It was pretty much perfect though, and definitely centerpiece-worthy.

On the side, I had all the delicious dishes that my parents had thoughtfully prepapred with earth balance and soymilk. (After I bugged them about it all day, that is. And swore not to tell my brothers.) We had green bean casserole, Mashed potatoes, and my Aunt Mary's sweet potatoes (recipe here.) In addition, I made the cranberry sauce recipe from Veganomicon which was magic, like everything else in that cookbook. I also made the Mushroom gravy from Dreena Burton's awesome cookbook The Everyday Vegan, which has always come out perfectly the last 20 times I've made it. (Love her, btw.)

All in all, my fabulous meal definitely disproved the notion that vegans have to feel sad and neglected on holidays. And I didn't have anyone trying to ply me with turkey this year, either--- my plate was too full as it was.

After dinner, everyone sat around the outdoor firepit my Dad built last year. My little brother passed around his guitar and we all sang Bob Dylan songs and drank bourbon. Considering the hell on wheels most Thanksgivings are, I can't imagine a better dinner or night!