Thanksgiving Palooza

My oh my. It's amazing and sometimes weird how Thanksgiving changes from year to year, but this one was definitely a smash! We hosted Friendsgiving at our place with 3 other couples and had a blast. We also proved that we were totally adult by putting on a fantastic Thanksgiving spread. I'm going to start with the veggie recipes, because personally I think my thanksgiving would have been perfectly complete with no meat substitutes. I also made seitan, however, as a way to give the non-vegans a flavor of something new, and as a way to keep Thanksgiving traditional for my hubby, who has been so supportive in this journey of mine. What a champ :)

Also, I did not calculate nutrition for these. I no longer think of Thanksgiving as a "splurge," but as a time to fully enjoy hours of cooking and the community that comes from a table of homemade food. I focused on choosing all whole food ingredients, and it felt great knowing how much healthier this Thanksgiving was than Thanksgivings past.

*Note: I have moved away from using Earth Balance butter sticks in my cooking and baking, since they are soy based. Instead, I have been using coconut oil/spread. In these recipes, however, since I was cooking new recipes for others and didn't want to risk compromising flavor, I used Earth Balance buttery sticks.

Let's get to the recipes!

Sweet Potato Casserole
5 medium-large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons Earth Balance (vegan butter)
1 tsp. vanilla
5 tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. cinnamon

Topping:
1/4 c. Earth Balance
1/2 c. Sucanat (or brown sugar)
1/3 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut sweet potatoes in half, puncture with fork, and bake for 45 minutes. When cool enough, dice into 1 inch cubes and place in large mixing bowl. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add all ingredients (not topping ingredients) and mash together. Transfer mix into small casserole dish. In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients until chunky. Top sweet potatoes with topping, and bake for approximately 50 minutes. Adapted from Oh She Glows recipe.

Green Bean Casserole
1/4 c. Earth Balance
1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c. vegetable broth
1 tbsp. Bragg's liquid aminos
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
2 14.5 oz. cans French style green beans, drained
1 2.8 oz. can French-fried onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium saucepan over low heat, melt Earth Balance. Add flour and whisk until it forms a roux. Add vegetable broth, soy sauce, and garlic powder, whisking continuously for about 2 minutes, or until the sauce is thick and bubbly. Add the nutritional yeast. Whip again until smooth. REMOVE FROM HEAT. Pour the sauce into a small casserole dish. Add green beans and stir to coat. Bake for 10 minutes, then top with French-friend onions and bake another 10 minutes. Adapted from PETA recipe.

Sage and Pumpkin Seed Encrusted Seitan w/ Roasted Garlic Pumpkin Sauce
Marinade:
1.5 c. olive oil
3/4 c. Bragg's liquid aminos
1/2 c. dijon mustard
3 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. pepper
1 tbsp. lemon juice

For the seitan:
1 lb. seitan, chopped
1 c. pumpkin seeds
3 tbsp. sage
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. paprika
salt and pepper to taste
6 tbsp. olive oil

For the gravy:
1 half pound pumpkin/squash, peeled and diced
4 pearl onions
1/4 c. Earth Balance
1 sprig thyme
1 1/2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp cinnamon
1.5 c. vegetable stock

For the marinade: whisk all ingredients together in large mixing bowl. For the gravy: preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a baking dish, combine squash, onions, Earth Balance, thyme, garlic, and cinnamon. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until squash is tender. In a blender, combine the squash mixture with the vegetable stock, and blend until smooth. Serve warm. For the seitan: add the seitan to the marinade bowl and refrigerate overnight. In a food processor, blend the pumpkin seeds until they form a powder. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add sage, flour, paprika, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Heat 3 tbsp. of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add half the seitan to the flour mixture, toss to coat, and use tongs or slated spoon to remove and add to heated oil. Use spatula to stir/flip until browned. Drain on paper towel. Add 3 tbsp. olive oil and repeat with second half of seitan. Serve hot with gravy. Adapted from PETA recipe. *Don't worry about flipping the seitan, as some pieces will be very small. Just sauté it and stir it around until it's evenly browned.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie
For the crust:
1 c. rolled oats
2 c. raw pecans
2 tbsp. sucanat
3 tbsp. ground flax
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. honey
1 tbsp. Earth Balance

For the filling:
2 1/4 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. sucanat
1/4 c. coconut milk
1 tbsp. Earth Balance
1/3 c. maple syrup
3 tbsp. arrowroot powder (or corn starch)
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves

For the crust: preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a blender, process your oats into a fine flour. In a food processor, add pecans and process until it starts to clump and oils start to release, but don't make pecan butter. Melt earth balance with honey for about 30 second in microwave. Transfer pecan mix into large bowl and mix with rest of ingredients. Combine the dough thoroughly. You should be able to form a ball with it. [If it's not sticky enough, add a bit more honey or oil.] Add crust mix to pie pan and press down firmly to form a crust, bring it up along the sides as you go. Prebake for 10 minutes. Remove and cool for 10 minutes. For the filling: In a large bowl, whisk the maple syrup and arrowroot powder. Add all other ingredients and whisk together. Scoop filling into pie crust and smooth. Cover edge of crust with aluminum foil to prevent burning. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Place on cooling rack for one hour, then transfer to refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. Slice and serve! Adapted from Oh She Glows recipe.

THE SPREAD!!!

From left to right: cornbread, green bean casserole, olive oil herb potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, sage and pumpkin seed encrusted seitan, and roasted garlic squash gravy. Thanks to our great friends for adding their home cooking to this beautiful display!

My vegan plate :) Potatoes, seitan with gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, and stuffing. Thanks to our guests for making the stuffing and olive oil herb potatoes vegan!

Homemade pumpkin pie with Trader Joes' soy cream vanilla ice cream. 

Today's mantra, in the words of Kris Carr: "Consistency is important, but you don't have to be perfect. Health is about keeping in an over-all 'right' direction. Will you travel the same straight highway every day for the rest of your life? Snoozeville! You'll take scenic byways and even stop at honky-tonk bars. You may have a beer and chips in the afternoon followed by a shot of tequila for dessert. This is life - it's sweet, fun, and unpredictable. I am not perfect and I never will be. Perfect is beige. I am red hot! So are you. Red and Wild. You don't politely sit at tables - you dance on them. And after last call, you get back out on the health highway."

Cheers to the holidays,
Vegan [Wanna-Be] Housewife