Thanksgiving Recipes for Vegans (Part III)

Rounding out this series on vegan Thanksgiving recipes (see: Thanksgiving Recipes for Vegans Part I and
Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes Part II), here are four more good recipes for a full (or more than full) Thanksgiving dinner.

Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

I love a good shepherd’s pie and though we made a couple in the past year or so, we didn’t create a recipe from it and it’s hard to remember exactly what we used. So, in place of a perhaps incomplete recipe off the top of my head, here’s a good-looking shepherd’s pie recipe from VegWeb.com with very good reviews:

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

4-5 russet potatoes, peeled
nondairy milk, to taste
vegan butter, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
sprinkle garlic powder
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 head broccoli, chopped or grated, stems and all
2 carrots, chopped or grated
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 cup mushroom or vegetable broth
3/4 cup plain nondairy milk (I use soy)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon flour
nonstick spray
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 handfuls French fried onions

Directions:

1. Bake potatoes in oven or microwave. Mash cooked potatoes with as much milk as you need and lots of vegan buttery spread to make them nice and creamy. Add some salt and pepper and a sprinkle of garlic powder.

2. Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the garlic and onion over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add the broccoli, carrots, mushrooms and celery and cook until veggies start to wilt. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

3. Add the broth and 3/4 cup milk along with the cornstarch and flour. Let the mixture come to a boil, stirring frequently. Sauce will thicken up a bit. Season with salt and pepper if you need to. When all the vegetables are cooked, remove from heat.

4. Spray an 8″x8″ baking dish with nonstick oil spray and spoon the vegetable mixture onto the bottom. Cover with the potatoes and smooth them down.  Sprinkle the top with nutritional yeast and French fried onions. Heat in oven for 10 minutes or so until top is slightly firm and onions are browned.

Serve with garlic toast or fresh bread. Enjoy!

Another way to prepare this is to spread half the potatoes on the bottom of the dish, add the veggies on top, then spread the remaining potatoes on top of the veggies. Either way it is delicious!…

Serves: 6, Preparation time: 30 minutes

I might pass on the non-stick spray — not completely comfortable with that stuff.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I love some good mashed potatoes, but “garlic mashed potatoes” are even better!

Ingredients:

6 potatoes (you can get a mixture of the different varieties at the store)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1 tbsp. non-hydrogenated, non-dairy milk (optional
salt and pepper

Directions:

Rinse the potatoes to remove any dirt. Cut them into quarters. (Some people prefer potatoes that are peeled, but I like the texture and vitamins in the peel.)

Steam the potatoes and garlic cloves until the potatoes are fork-tender.

Remove them from the heat, strain the water, and then pour the potatoes back into the hot pan.

Add the non-dairy milk and butter (if you like a buttery mashed potato) and begin mashing with a potato masher until you reach desired texture.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6.

I might add some vegan butter and chopped parsley and dill into this recipe as well.

Vibrant Tasty Green Beans Recipe

What is Thanksgiving without some tasty green beans.

The following recipe is best made just before serving time. But as I mentioned in the main post you can make/prep this ahead of time by cooking the leeks and dill first and setting them aside. Instead of cooking the green beans in the skillet, blanch them in a pot of boiling, well-salted water for about a minute. Drain the beans and dunk them in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and place the beans in a bag or bowl in the refrigerator until ready to use. When ready, combine the components – you can do it at room temperature, or heated quickly in a skillet or pan.

4 leeks, well washed, root end and tops trimmed, sliced lengthwise into quarters and then chopped into 1/2-inch segments (see photo in main post)

1/3 cup fresh dill, well chopped
3/4 pound green beans, tops and tails trimmed and cut into 1-inch segments
extra-virgin olive oil
fine-grain sea salt

In a large thick-bottomed skillet of medium-high heat add a generous splash of olive oil, a generous pinch of salt and the leeks. Stir until the leeks are coated and glossy. Cook, stirring regularly until a lot of the leeks are golden and crispy. I stir every minute or two in the beginning, and more often as they brown using a metal spatula. All in all it takes me roughly 7 – 10 minutes to brown the leeks. At this point stir in the dill, and then stir in the green beans. Cook for a couple more minutes – just until the the beans brighten up and lose that raw bite. Turn out into a bowl or onto a platter and serve immediately. If you want to prepare these green beans ahead of time – read the head notes.

Serves about 6.

Vegan Apple Pie

This might be another simple one, but vegan apple pie is one of my favorites. I think it’s high time I made it again.

Bottom Crust Ingredients:

1 stick of non-dairy butter
1.5 cups of whole-wheat flour
a little bit of cold water
pinch of salt
1/2 cups of blended walnuts

Bottom Crust Directions:

• Pour flour into a bowl. Add chopped, cold butter, a little bit of water, salt, and walnuts and mix altogether. Form the batter into a little brick.
• Put the little brick in the fridge for one hour.
• Take it out of the fridge and put it on a pie pan. Spread evenly bringing it up to the edge of the pie pan. Make some little wholes in the batter with a fork.
• Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F.

For the top crust, follow the same process but using the amount of crust you want on top. (I’m not a big fan of the crust, so use it minimally.)

Pie Ingredients:

5 or so  medium-sized apples sliced into quarters
1/2 cup  brown sugar
2-3 Tbsp  whole-wheat all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp  lemon juice
1 tsp  cinnamon
1/4 tsp  nutmeg
2 Tbsp  non-dairy butter chopped into pieces
pinch of salt

Pie Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Combine all the ingredients above except for the butter in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.
• Pour the mixture into the crust and drop the pieces of butter on top.
• Bake for 30-45 minutes, until the apples are a bit soft.
• Let the pie cool and eat when ready.

Hopefully you enjoy some of these vegan Thanksgiving dishes this year. Let us know if you have any more great ideas or recipes in the comments below.

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Photo Credit: Vita Arina via flickr (CC license)