Vegan Thanksgiving Menu

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Thanksgiving is so much more than a delicious dinner. It’s about gratitude, appreciation, and joy for what we have.

Becoming a mom has made me incredibly nostalgic. As my girls get older and become more aware of the holidays like Thanksgiving and what they mean, it makes me remember going to the farm in New Brunswick with my rather large extended family and juicing apples and picking pumpkins.

I still see Thanksgiving as a time to spend enjoying good food and quality time with my family. But now I’ve swapped the traditional turkey, cranberry and stuffing for lentils and a huge pile of veggies:)

If you’ve decided to eat a plant-based diet or are looking for a twist on tradition, you should definitely try this one out!

THE MENU

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Umami Sauce

Holiday Kale Salad

Harvest Vegetable Casserole

Curried Lentils

Pumpkin Spiced Apple Crumble with Coconut Ice Cream

In past years I’ve made lentil loaf the focus of my Thanksgiving meal but with this menu, the standout dish is definitely the casserole! My lucky friends that got to come over and recipe test the menu couldn’t believe that a casserole made up of entirely veggies could taste so FREAKIN GOOD!

WHAT YOU NEED

  • Brussel Sprouts (1-2 lbs)
  • 2 Carrots (medium size)
  • 2 small Eggplants
  • 1 Zucchini Large or 2 small
  • 2 Onions
  • 1 small Cauliflower
  • 1/2 Butternut squash
  • 2 Red Peppers
  • 1 Bunch of Kale
  • 1/2 small fennel
  • 7-8 Apples
  • 1 can of pumpkin puree
  • 2 cups of Large Flaked Oats
  • 1/2 cup of spelt flour
  • 1/4 cup of potato starch 
  • 1/4 cup of organic cane sugar
  • 1/4 cup of maple syrup
  • 1tbsp of coconut vinegar (sub with balsamic vinegar if you’d like)
  • 1/2 cup of pecans
  • 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
  • 2 lemons
  • 1 cup of Almonds
  • 2 cups of dry green lentils
  • 3-4 slices of spelt ancient grains (or sub any bread)
  • fresh thyme (2-3 tbsp)
  • 1 cup of olive tapenade (I used PC brand)
  • 1 cup of Nutritional Yeast
  • 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tbsp of tamari (or Braggs)
  • 6-7 cloves of garlic
  • 1 cup of shredded soy cheese (sub-Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese)
  • Cumin, Tumeric, Curry powder.
  • lots of olive oil:) Roughly 3/4 to 1 cup worth.

ROASTED BRUSSEL SPROUTS 

  1. Cut the butts off the brussels sprouts and cut them in half. Toss in a little olive oil and salt and pepper and roast in the oven face down at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until soft and a bit crispy on the outside.

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HOLIDAY KALE SALAD with SUNFLOWER TAHINI

  1. De-stem and chop up the kale into small bite-size pieces. Message with a tsp of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon for a few minutes until the kale is tender and soft. 
  2. Shave the fennel (cut very thin).
  3. Grate the carrots.
  4. Chop up 1 apple into bite-sized pieces.
  5. To make the sunflower tahini, combine 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds, 1/8 cup of olive oil, 1 tbsp of coconut vinegar, 1/4 cup of water, 1 clove of garlic, a splash of maple syrup, salt and pepper and the juice of 1 lemon in a powerful blender or food processor and blend until smooth. (YUM) This recipe might make more than you need to store the remainder in the fridge.
  6. Now combine all the salad ingredients–messaged kale, fennel, apple, shredded carrot, 1/2 cup of pecans and sunflower tahini and toss until well combined. 

HARVEST VEGETABLE CASSEROLE

This casserole is built a bit like a lasagna. So I will go through the steps from the bottom to the top:)

  1. Start by slicing the eggplants into 1/2 inch slices (lengthwise) and sprinkle with a little salt and place on a paper towel. Don’t skip this step! img_6781
  2. While the eggplants are releasing all their extra liquid, chop up the butternut squash and cauliflower into small bite-size pieces.
  3. Chop the red peppers into small pieces.
  4. Using your vegetable peeler, make zucchini noodles. I used one large zucchini.
  5. In your food processor or Vitamix, pulse up 1 cup of almonds and the 3 pieces of bread. Don’t make it into fine flour but instead keep it crumbly. Add the fresh chopped up thyme to the breadcrumb mixture with a little salt and pepper.
  6. Grate your soy cheese or whatever cheese you fancy 🙂
  7. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  8. Now it’s time to get cooking! heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and saute the eggplant slices until they are tender, then transfer to a plate.
  9. Lightly oil a 3-quart baking pan (ceramic or glass works) and arrange the eggplant slices on the bottom of this dish. It’s ok if they overlap a little.
  10. Top the eggplant with the butternut squash, half of the red pepper and half of the olive tapenade.
  11. Next layer the zucchini noodles over the squash. Again don’t worry if they overlap.
  12. Top the zucchini with the chopped up cauliflower, the remainder red pepper and the other half of the olive tapenade.
  13. Sprinkle the breadCrumb topping and grated cheese and cover with tin foil.
  14. Bake for 20 minutes covered and 15-20 more uncovered. Remove and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

UMAMI SAUCE

This sauce is like the mystery sauce at Macdonalds but a million times healthier:) Most people cannot guess the ingredients, particularly the nutritional yeast flakes that give the sauce it’s rust like colour. I will make this again to just store in my fridge for roasted veggies or fish.

  1. Put the 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, 3 tbsp of tamari, 1/4 cup of water and the 1 cup of nutritional yeast in the blender with 4 cloves of crushed garlic and blend until well combined. Then with the blender on low, slowly add 1/2 cup of olive oil. The sauce should thicken up and be almost creamy in texture. 

This sauce stores in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Always shake well before using it again.

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CURRIED LENTILS

The easiest recipe ever really. People are sometimes apprehensive about making lentils from scratch so let me guide you through the most fool-proof way to make delicious, perfectly done lentils. 

DID YOU KNOW…. that you should never season your lentils (NO SALT) while they’re cooking? If you do, they take way longer to cook and toughen u. It’s true. Always wait until the very end to season your lentils.

  1. Start by lightly sautéing 2 onions (or one large) in a large skillet or pot. Once soft add 1 tbsp of cumin, 1/2 tbsp of turmeric and 1 tbsp of curry. Then add 4 cups of vegetable broth and 2 cups of lentils.
  2. Cook on low for 30 minutes or until soft but not mushy. 
  3. Cover until you serve so they don’t dry out.

PUMPKIN SPICED APPLE CRUMBLE

Very similar to a regular apple crumble but I’ve gone ahead and made it extra special with some pumpkin love and lots of spice.

  1. Peel and chop apples, roughly 6-7 cups of bit size apple chunks.
  2. Then add 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree to the apples in a 3-quart pan (or whatever you use for your apple crisps) and combine so that all apples are coated in pumpkin.
  3. In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup of potato starch with 1/2 cup of organic cane sugar, 2 tbsp of cinnamon, 1tbsp of ginger, 1 tsp of cloves, 1 tbsp of nutmeg and little coarse salt. Stir until all dry ingredients are well mixed.
  4. Now add the starch/spice mixture to the apples and pumpkins and stir until the apples are well coated.
  5. Now time to create the crumble on top. Mix 2 cups of oats with 1 cup chopped almonds, 1/2 cup of spelt flour, 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil and a little more maple syrup and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly and cover the apples.
  6. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes.

Serve with a little coconut ice cream and another sprinkle of cinnamon:) 

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