Thanksgiving, my third favorite holiday.

I’m craving real/traditional comfort foods for this, my second vegan, Thanksgiving. So, while I can easily “cheat” and have the non-vegan (but mostly vegetarian) versions of these foods, I’m making my own. I think this will be easier than last year’s meal of the traveling Tofurkey with sides.

Vegan Stuffing

I’m using a “Yankee” recipe that calls for sliced bread instead of the typical Southern cornbread dressing. I’m making it one notch healthier with whole grain bread. Maybe next year, I’ll make a vegan cornbread stuffing.

Vegan Green Bean Shoe Peg Corn Casserole

This is my mom’s standard side dish for the holidays. I’ve made it for various potluck dinners over the years and I’ve always tweaked it to my own tastes. This year, I had to make the “Cream of” soup since I can’t buy a vegan version of it. The soup alone is yummy. It’s also quite thick with a nice texture. I think it will do quite well in the recipe.

Mashed Garlic Faux-tatoes

Mashed potatoes are the dog-diggity-bomb and I do allow myself an occasional cheat when we are out to dinner, but I can’t eat these for Thanksgiving (two meals) and leftovers for a few days without risking feeling ill from all that dairy I’m not used to. And, I want the “faux”-tatoes so they are less carby since I tend to eat more of these for holiday weekends. I’m going to modify the recipe to add mashed cauliflower just to give it more good veggies. I’m not going to tell anyone that these aren’t potatoes and see if they notice.

The Recipes

Vegan Stuffing

3/4 cup vegan margarine
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cup celery, chopped
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3 tsp sage
3 tsp thyme
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 c fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
16 cup bread cubes
2 cup vegetable stock

Preheat oven to 350
Melt margarine, saute onion and celery until golden.
Add spices, herbs, and vinegar. Mix well and remove from heat.
Combine bread cubes with onion mixture. Mix well.
Toss with half the stock. Check consistency. Stuffing should be moist but not soggy. Add more stock as needed. Taste. Adjust seasonings.
Grease the casserole pan, add stuffing, cover, and bake for 45 minutes.

Vegan Cream of ___ Soup

(This is an ingredient for the green-bean casserole. I made it, today.)

1 large onion, chopped
4 cup water
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 Tbs soy sauce
2 cup ___ veggie (spinach, mushrooms, celery)
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 c hot soy milk (this weakened the taste and didn’t add much to the texture. I’ll leave it out next time.)

Boil and then simmer onion, potatoes, water, and soy sauce about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender
Add ___ veggie, garlic, pepper, and nutmeg. Cook for 2 more minutes
Purée the soup, (stir in the soy milk), adjust seasonings (I had to add a lot of salt to make this stand on it’s own, but in recipes, that won’t matter).

Green Bean Shoe Peg Corn Casserole

1 can shoe peg corn
1 can French style green beans
2/3 can cream of ___ veggie soup (make ahead of time)
(1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese – omit)
1/2 cup vegan sour cream
1/2 cup chopped onions (I’ll use 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup chopped celery
Salt and pepper to taste

Topping:
1 “stick” vegan margarine, melted
1 stack (36) Ritz crackers, crumbled

Directions:
Mix together all ingredients and pour into greased casserole dish.
Mix together topping ingredients and place on top of casserole.
Bake at 350º for 45 minutes.

Mashed Garlic Fauxtatoes

2 pounds turnips, peeled and cut into chunks
(add 1 pound of cauliflower)
8 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 Tbs vegan margarine
2 Tbs horseradish
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
3 Tbs fresh chives, chopped

Bring to a boil and then simmer the turnips and garlic (about 15 minutes) until the turnips are quite soft.
Drain well.
Mash the turnips.
Add the vegan margarine, horseradish, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Adjust margarine and seasonings as necessary.
Top with chives.