Thanksgiving Dinner 2015

A couple of people have asked me to post what I was making for Thanksgiving dinner since it is a vegan affair. And gluten free.

So I have included a few links below..

First up, this wonderful website for getting ideas for an entire vegan thanksgiving meal:  Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner (vegetarians welcome!)  I got my ideas for organization and basically the whole meal from here.

For entree:

Butternut and Wild Mushroom Lasagna with Pecan Parmesan

You know it is good when even eating the layers raw are amazing. The tastes are balanced and delicious. Paired with a New Zealand Viognier.

Salad:

Jicama Salad with Watercress and Orange

Jicama is a crunchy light tuber that has the same crunch qualities as a turnip. The flavor is much lighter though, and goes well with acidy flavors. It is difficult if not impossible to find organic jicama around here. So I have tried it with turnip and green apple. Not the same, but depends on if you are strict about organic.

Sides:

Maple Sriracha Glazed Brussel Sprouts with Cranberry Wild Rice

This Brussel sprouts dish was fantastic by itself. Would make a great entree. I would add sunflower seeds for texture and a little extra je ne sais quoi. 

Mouthwatering Mashed Potatoes with Groovy Onion Gravy

Garnet Yam and Chard Fritters – I had to modify this one…and boy is it good. I roasted 1 Garnet yam, 1 parsnip and had extra 1 cup roasted pumpkin from Halloween. Exchanged wheat flour for gluten free flour mix. Squeezed in juice from 1/2 a lemon and used lacinato kale instead of chard. Wow.

For the kids: Green beans with nothing but a pinch of salt because that what I was asked to make. And…Corn Dogs. Paired with Jus de Pomme. Sigh. Ok. No fancy palette here. No herbs, no balancing on the tongue…unless you are thinking in terms of salt and sweet. In which case, after the salt, the sweet.

Dessert:

Blueberry pie. No link for that because that is what is being brought. I know they are wild blueberries and it is a spelt crust, and it is one of the best blueberry pies I have ever eaten. So that works.

Pumpkin pie. I roasted our pumpkins. Yes. I did. So we have to eat it now. It is not so hard with the Gluten Free Goddess. Having tried several recipes, this is another go to:

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2010/11/gluten-free-pumpkin-pie-with-praline.html

The crust was hard not to eat just by itself. The pie was great too but next time I would add lemon zest. 

And another pumpkin pie. No crust. Because I wanted something without nuts. And I still have another 8 cups of pumpkin to use.

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/10/vegan-pumpkin-pie-worthy-of.html

Which leaves me with another 4 cups of pumpkin. Hmmm.

And lastly, because my favorite pie in the world is (you’d never guess it with the lasagna)…Pecan. This recipe is from the Post Punk Kitchen…she has a wonderful Lime pie by the way, I made it one year and then several times over the next couple of months because Robbie loved it so much. But I digress:

http://www.theppk.com/2011/08/maple-pecan-pie/

So my friends. Enjoy. Share what you have with others. Be well, lay aside your differences, and just for today, this moment, have peace.

Let me know if you tried any of them and what you think! Better yet, let the recipe developers know as well!