Thanksgiving is a huge holiday in the United States and a huge holiday for eating meat. Thanksgiving is always associated with mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and of course, turkeay. For people who follow a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle Thanksgiving can become a source of anxiety and often not include the types of foods suited to their diets.
This Thanksgiving if you know that one of your guests is a vegan or vegetarian make them feel welcome and less stressed out about the food situation by having dishes available that they can eat! Let them know what is and isn’t suitable to their diets so they can relax and have a good time along with everyone else. You don’t have to cater your entire Thanksgiving feast to their needs, but by just having a few simple dishes that they can pick from you’ll make that person’s Thanksgiving experience ten times better, and give them another thing to count their blessings for this year.
Here are some vegetarian-friendly recipes you can incorporate into your Thanksgiving dinner!
Apple Walnut Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette
Kick off your Thanksgiving feast with a delicious and nutritious salad to start!
Ingredients:
- 4 to 6 cups salad greens, like cress or arugula
- 3 tablespoons walnut halves or pieces, toasted
- 2 large apples, each cut into slices
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon guar gum
Directions: You’re going to start off by preparing the dressing. In a food processor combine water, balsamic vinegar, orange juice, cranberries and mustard. Mix together then add the guar gum and process again. Next add greens to a large bowl add dressing then put the walnuts, extra cranberries, and apples on top of your salad. Sprinkle with more dressing if you’d like.
Simply Delicious Green Beans
Looking for a delicious way to incorporate some color into your holiday meal? Then you won't want to miss out on this delicious Green Bean Recipe, which is as tasty as it is simple!
Ingredients:
- 8 oz. Green Beans (frozen or fresh)
- 1 Cup Shredded Carrots
- 1 Medium Yellow Onion, Diced
- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
- 1 tsp. Olive Oil (2nd Use)
- 1 tsp. Minced Garlic
- Salt & Pepper to Taste
Directions: Start off by cleaning your vegetables and preparing them as listed above. Get out a pan and heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in the pan. Next add in all of your vegetables, drizzle a tsp of olive oil on top, and mix. If you are using frozen green beans you’ll want to thaw them, add those to the pan first, cover them, wait 5 – 10 minutes and then add in the other vegetables. Cook and cover for approximately 20 minutes, mixing periodically.
Hearty Bread and Potato Stuffing
Don’t forget to save room for dessert after this filling, vegetarian stuffing mixture!
Ingredients:
- 5 or 6 large baking potatoes, cooked or microwaved in their skins
- 1 cup rice milk
- 4 average slices whole-grain bread
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon salt-free seasoning blend
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Begin peeling your potatoes then mash them in a large mixing bowl with ½ of the cup of rice milk. Take out your slices of bread and cut them into ½ inch dice. Place the cubed bread into a mixing bowl and pour the remainder of the rice milk on them and let them soak. Heat up the oil in a skillet and sauté the onion and celery in the same skillet over low heat, or until tender. Combine the celery and onion with the mashed potatoes in the large bowl then stir in the bread, parsley, seasoning mix, salt and pepper. Pour all of this into an oiled 2-quart baking dish and make for 50 minutes to an hour. Once you see the top of the stuffing has turned a crusty golden brown it’s time to take it out.
Squash Pumpkin Pie
Satisfy your sweet tooth with this perfect pie! Your guests won’t even be able to notice the fact you didn’t use eggs or dairy!
Ingredients:
- 9-inch pie crust
- 2 cups well-baked and mashed butternut squash
- 3/4 cup silken tofu
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup natural granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Directions: Combine the well-baked, mashed butternut squash and the rest of the ingredients, except for the pie crust, in a food processor. Mix together until the concoction is smooth. Pour this mixture into the pie crust and bake for approximately 45 minutes. Let pie cool then cut into wedges when ready to serve.
[Source: VegKitchen, VegKitchen]
Photo by Gerhard Taatgen jr. via Free Images