Thanksgiving Recap

Our first vegetarian Thanksgiving was absolutely amazing.  I figure it took me 7 hours to make 2 vegan pies, sweet potato rolls, stuffing, soup and pumpkin banana bread ALL  from scratch (thank god, I took the day before the holiday off from work).  Add to that another 2 hours to makes the kale mashed potatoes, butternut squash gratin and Jim’s infamous guacamole while we were at his parent’s house on Thanksgiving, and that adds up to a HUGE effort on our part, one we’ve hardly come close to before.  9 hours of salving away oin the kitchen was completely worth it.  From explaining how you make vegan ANYTHING to my grandma and older relatives at Thanksgiving breakfast, to joining forces with John and Tracy and making even MORE vegetarian fare to the feast at Jim’s parents house, we felt more grateful than ever this holiday to be living this lifestyle.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and would love for you to share your holiday recipes.  These amazing dishes aren’t just for Thanksgiving and should be enjoyed heavily throughtout the winter!

Here’s what our Thanksgiving menu looked liked:

BREAKFAST: Vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread

APPETIZER: Guacamole

THE MAIN EVENT: 

Vegan Stuffing

Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Au Gratin

Vegan Sweet Potato Rolls

Kale & Chive Mashed Potatoes

Southwest Sweet Potato Soup

DESSERT:

Vegan Sweet Potato Pie

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Healthy Fudge (courtesy of Tracy & John)

          (day before cooking- all the ingredients)

(cooking….)

           (ready to share!)

              (us post-meal…me, mid-beers…)

 

 

 

Pan Fried Chickpeas with Leeks

Another yummy adaptation from 101cookbooks 🙂

3 cups cooked chickpeas

1 cup sliced leeks

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup plain chopped red onion

1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp white wine

Zest of 1/2 lemon

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp white pepper

• Saute oil in a large frying pan over medium heat for 1 minute
• Add chickpeas and leeks and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes or until they begin to brown
• Then add garlic, white wine, lemon zest and lemon juice and cook for an additional minute
• Remove from heat and mix in red onion and cilantro
• Whisk together the yogurt, salt, mustard and white pepper
• Add yogurt blend to chickpea mixture and stir together well

 

A Different Breed of Recipe: Homemade Shampoo!

So 10 months into my vegetarian lifestyle and I’ve come to believe a few sterotypes that go along with sustaining this healthy diet.

1.  Vegetarians do yoga.  People I’ve met in person and through this community GENERALLY take great physical care of themselves and that translates into excersice of some kind.  For most meat-free people I know this means yoga.

2. Vegetarians are GENERALLY more intellectual and spirtitually inclined.  Maybe it’s because the don’t have all that shit food weighing them down and they see things more clearly, but I tend to believe that they’re more open-minded, intelligent and overall have better brains than meat eaters.

3.  GENERALLY, vegetarians are more eco-friendly, earth conscious and “green”.  They have a better understanding of the effects we have on the world around us through our food, energy and lifestyle choices.  Sustainability is usually a priority for vegs, and hence, the whole point of this post.

I recycyle relentlessly.  I tried to reuse and donate as much of our stuff as much possible.  We try to grow our own food as best we can, make compost with our food trash and buy as much organically made clothes and products as possible.  We’ve got a shitload of those onbonxious reusable bags laying around, and I get SO pissed when I forget them and are subjected to using paper bags from Whole Foods.

That being said, we’ve now branched out into making our own at home products.  We’ve used vinegar and baking soda as our sole apartment cleaners for quite some time now, and we’ve got our sights set on homemade shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste and deodorant.  Abstaining from buying these sometimes pricey products that are usually still full of chemicals even if they’re “natural” or “organic” not only helps the earth, but helps us find new (and cheap) ways to use up common household products.  I actually REALLY love this shampoo recipe and it was so easy to make.

1 cup castille soap

1 bag chamomille tea

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp nettle leaves (optional for dry, brittle hair)

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 1/2 cups water

• Boil water, then add tea bag, nettle and rosemary into a large coffee mug or bowl and steep for 30 minutes
• After 30 minutes mix in honey and castille soap, then let sit in the fridge for an hour before transferring to a shampoo bottle-enjoy!

                             

Chickpea, Quinoa & Veggies in a Lemon Ginger Sauce

I’ve started cooking daily meals for Jim’s chiropractor, who is too busy to eat and cook healthy for himself but is desperate to get nutritious food in his system.  We worked out a deal, and I prepare vegan dishes every day for him.  Seems simple enough- except he can’t eat onions, garlic OR peppers and those are a main staple in almost EVERYTHING Jim and I cook.  It hasn’t been as easy as I though, but he is VERY pleased with the simple lunches and dinners I’ve come up with.  This easy quinoa and chickpea dish is a little too boring for me, but it is SUPER healthy and really does taste good!

2 cups cooked quinoa

2 cup cooked chickpeas

2 cups broccoli florets, steamed

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 cup diced carrots, steamed

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette

1 tsp grated ginger

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

• Combine all ingredients and toss together-that’s it!

             

 

Vegan Sweet Potato Pie

Not a far cry from the vegan pumpkin pie, but we got a bit lazy with the crust this time.  Having to make about a dozen dishes to share on Thanksgiving had us taking the easy route and using store bought crust this time in stead of making it homemade.  Still delicious!

2 cups masked sweet potatoes

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup cornstarch

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp molasses

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp grated fresh ginger

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Combine all ingredients and whisk together
• Pour into prepared pie crust and bake at 400 degrees for 55 minutes

   

     (coconut mik plus molasses equals a pretty picture!)

       

Butternut Squash, Tomato & Corn Soup

If our Southwestern Sweet Potato Soup, Roasted Creamy Tomato Soup and Butternut Squash & Apple Soup had a baby together, we imagine this is what the outcome would be.  A great  dish for vegans at Thanksgiving, this hearty soup was inspired by a quaint restaurant Arikka and I recently visited in Salem called “New England Soup Factory“.  Not having many other dining options, we quickly chose this place and LOVED their squash, tomato, corn soup.  I tried to recreate it as best I could, but I suggest you check out the factory version if you’re in the area.

6 cups vegetable broth

1 butternut squash, halved

4 large tomatoes, quartered

1 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cup corn

3/4 cup carrots, chopped

3/4 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup olive oil, plus 2 tbsp for coating

1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp dried thyme

1 cayenne pepper, minced

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• In a baking pan or sheet, place butternut squash halves face up and drizzle with 1 tbsp oil
• In another baking sheet or pan, lay tomato quarters face down, and top with onions and  1 tbsp oil
• Roast both the squash and tomatoes at 400 degrees for 40 minutes
• Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring cayenne pepper and 1/4 cup oil to medium heat and saute for 3 minutes
• Add carrots, celery and garlic and cook for 5 more minutes
• Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil
• Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes
• When squash and tomatoes are done, chop squash and add them both to vegetable broth mix, bring to a boil then simmer for another 20 minutes
• After 20 minutes, pour soup into blender (I had to do it in about 3 batches) and puree until smooth and creamy
• When all of it is blended, return to saucepan over medium heat and add coconut milk and corn
• Cook for 7 more minutes, then serve

Vegan Pumpkin Pie with Homemade Graham Cracker Crust

We made this pie in an effort to “wow” our families with all of our vegan dishes and blow their unhealthy Thanksgiving offerings out of the water.  This would have happened with this amazing pumpkin pie…except I forgot to let it sit overnight and it wasn’t anywhere NEAR settled enough to eat for my  mom’s mini Thanksgiving celebration we held on Saturday since she’ll be gone for the actual holiday.  Everything else got rave reviews and now we know what we have to tweak for this Thursday.  And this time I’ll cook the pie the night before.

NOTE: In case you skipped reading the intro, MAKE THIS PIE THE NIGHT BEFORE SO IT HAS TIME TO SETTLE!

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST

                

2 1/4 cups ground graham crackers (I just used a potato masher to crumble about 10 full crackers)

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup honey OR maple syrup

3/4 tsp cinnamon

Dash of salt

PUMPKIN PIE

     

(sad, lonely piece of pie…Jim had ate all of it before I got around to taking pics)

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup coconut milk (almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, whatever floats your boat)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 tbsp molasses

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Pulse graham crackers, oil, honey, cinnamon and salt in the food processor
• Spread crust out evenly into a greased pie pan
• Bake for 7 minutes at 375 degrees
• Meanwhile, mix together all ingredients for pumpkin filling until smooth
• After 7 minutes reduce heat to 350 degrees and remove crust from oven
• Pour pumpkin mix into crust and bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes
• Let sit for 1 hour after cooking and then refrigerate overnight

Black Bean, Quinoa and Sun Dried Tomato Burgers

2 cups black beans, cooked

1 3/4 cup quinoa, cooked

1 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (soaked in 1/2 cup olive oil for 30 minutes)

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1 cayenne pepper, minced

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a frying pan over medium heat, saute onions, garlic, cayenne pepper and tomatoes with the oil and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally
• When cooked, add the mixture with remaining ingredients and pulse in a food processor until thick and chunky
• Shape mixture into burgers and place on a greased baking sheet
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then turn over and bake for 10 more minutes

              

Sweet Potato Oat Pancakes

Our new favorite pancakes! ( I think we enjoy them even more because they’re vegan!)

            

2 cups mashed sweet potatoes

3 cups rolled oats

2 cups coconut milk

3/4 cup whole wheat flour (add a little more if they turn out too moist)

2 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Dash of sea salt

• Mix together all ingredients
• Pour into on greased frying pan on medium heat and cook on each side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown

Gingersnap Molasses Cookies

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg

4 tbsp molasses

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Mix together all ingredients except the flour
• When everything is mixed, slowly stir in the flours 1/2 cup at a time until thoroughly mixed
• Roll dough into balls and SLIGHTLY press them down onto a baking sheet
• Bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes