My Traditional Thanksgiving Recipes- Veganized

This holiday season I am finding myself unable to find creativity in the kitchen.  Mostly this is due to my cat being very sick and towards the end of his life.  It has been a very tough month.  So instead of sharing new recipes, I want to once again share my classic recipes that are sure to please.  I plan to make most of these recipes myself for my family this year.  Be thankful of your friends and family (especially the furry and fluffy ones) and enjoy the recipes!



Traditional Stuffing

3 1/2 cups Bread Crumbs

1 cup Vegetable Broth

1/4 cup Earth Balance

6 Celery Stalks, chopped

1 small Onion, chopped

2 tsp Sage, rubbed

1 tsp Marjoram

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Melt the margarine over medium high heat in a skillet and add the onion and celery. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. In a medium sized pan, heat the vegetable broth until boiling. In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, herbs, salt and cooked celery and onion. Stir all of this to combine thoroughly. Slowly add the vegetable broth, stirring occasionally to cover all the bread crumbs. Place stuffing in a greased 9-inch square pan bake at 375°F for about 30 minutes.

*To make your own bread crumbs, cut a loaf of bread in cubes. Place on a large cookie sheet and bake at 300°F for about 20-30 minutes, using a spatula about every 5 minutes to move around the bread so it will dry out evenly.



Miso-Maple Tofu

1 1/2 blocks Tofu*
1 cup Walnuts
2 Tb Miso
1 Tb Maple Syrup
1 Tb Sesame Oil
2 Tb Tamari

Cut the tofu into 1/4 inch slabs. Combine the sesame oil and tamari. Coat the tofu in the oil/tamari combination and place on baking sheet. If any oil/tamari is left, pour over top of tofu. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, flip tofu and bake an addition 10 minutes.

In a food processor, combine the walnuts, miso and maple syrup until it is a paste-like consistency. Spread the paste evenly over the baked tofu. Bake an addition 15 minutes.

"Buttermilk" Biscuits

4 cups Unbleached White Flour
1 Tb. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1 Tb. Sugar
1 cup Soy Margarine
2 cups Soymilk + 1 Tb. Lemon Juice

Combine the soymilk and lemon juice and let stand a few minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Using a pastry cutter, cut the soy margarine into the flour mixture until pea sizes or smaller. Pour the soymilk mixture and blend until combined. Place dough on a floured work surface and knead a couple times. Spread the dough out to about 3/4 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 375°F for 15-18 minutes. Makes about 20 biscuits.

Pumpkin Pie

1 - 15 oz can of Pumpkin Puree

1 - 12.3 oz package of Mori-Nu Silken Tofu (Firm)

3/4 cup Organic Cane Sugar

1/4 cup Cornstarch

1 tsp Vanilla

1 tsp ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground Ginger

1/4 tsp ground Cloves

1 prepared Pie Shell or Flaky Pie Crust (below)

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor until creamy.  Spread into a pie shell.  Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.  Allow to sit a couple hours before serving.

Flaky Pie Crust

1 ½ cups Unbleached White Flour
½ cup Soy Margarine (Cold)
½ tsp Sea Salt
4-6 Tb Ice Water

Place flour and salt in medium-size bowl. Break up margarine and cut into flour with a pastry cutter until there are pea-sized pieces of dough. Slowly add ice water and blend with fork. Do not overwork; blend until just mixed and dough holds together. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to be slightly larger than your pie pan. Place in pie pan and form dough as desired. Add pie filling to the crust and bake according to pie instructions. Makes one 9-inch pie crust. 

Other Thanksgiving Recipes

Gluten Free Buckwheat Stuffing
Thanksgiving Gluten Roast
Gluten Free Pumpkin Silk Pie

A Thanksgiving story and some favorite recipes

Looks like Obama's daughter may get there is something wrong with eating turkey.
- Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images North America

My very first all vegan Thanksgiving was about 15 years ago. I was in college and talked my family into allowing me to make the entire meal, so it would all be vegan. My sister picked me up in Eugene to head to Portland and she broke the news that my parents had a "thanksgiving" meal the week before since they would be missing out that year.

I was devastated! I loved my family and was glad to be visiting, but the whole point of me working so hard to create a delicious vegan meal was to save a turkey! This is the biggest fight I can remember having with my parents as an adult. I was over the top agry, and they were apologetic. The next 10 years, I don't think they ever ate turkey, so it may have made up for the life taken so many years back.

My parents are not vegan, or even vegetarian, but I will say they have been tremendously supportive of my activism over the years. This even includes when I get arrested or clubbed by a police officer (during the Seattle WTO protests)! Ok, that last part actually made my dad super proud!

Anyway, in case you are still desperate to find the perfect Thanksgiving recipes, here are some of my personal recipes I use every year.

Stuffing (my personal must-have Thanksgiving dish)

Thanksgiving Gluten Roast (bottom of post) or Miso-Maple Tofu

"Buttermilk" Biscuits

Pumpkin Pie

Seitan 101

I taught a class about seitan through NW Veg and their Veg 101 series. A class about seitan is great to teach since there is so much more involved than just a recipe. Seitan has a certain texture you are looking for, so seeing it first-hand can make a difference.

Gluten is the protein found in some grains, especially wheat. Vital Wheat Gluten is a flour made from a concentration of the protein in wheat and contains 75-85% protein. Do not get this mixed up with high gluten flour which is used for baking.


There are many different types of recipes you can make using gluten. Seitan is basically a gluten dough which is cooked through a boiling process, while gluten is when you bake the dough. For this class, I sampled and shared recipes for basic seitan, thanksgiving gluten roast (including a buckwheat stuffing) and restuarant veggie burgers; recipes below. You can also make BBQ gluten strips which are always popular at potlucks.


Basic Seitan

2 ¼ cups Vital Wheat Gluten Flour
2 tsp Poultry Seasoning
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
2 cups Hot Water
2 Tb Tamari

Broth:
8 cups Water
3 Tb Tamari
2 Tb Molasses

In a medium bowl, blend together the gluten flour and seasonings. Add the hot water and tamari and blend with a sturdy spoon until combined. Knead the dough for about a minute, making sure all the flour is absorbed, but there no excess of water in the dough. Cut the dough into two-inch pieces.

Combine the ingredients for the broth and bring to a boil. Add the cut pieces of gluten to the broth, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 1 hour. The gluten will float to the top, so stirring the gluten often will allow the pieces to cook evenly. Drain the liquid and use for stews, stir fry, sandwiches and so much more.

Restaurant Veggie Burger

1 ½ cups TSP (Textured Soy Protein)
6 oz Tomato Paste
1 ½ cups Hot Water
2 Tb Braggs
1/3 cup Olive Oil
½ tsp Liquid Smoke (optional)
¾ cup Gluten Flour
1 cup Quick Oats
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 Tb Onion Flakes
2 tsp Poultry Seasoning
1 tsp Garlic Granules

Combine the hot water and tomato paste. Pour into the TSP and mix; let stand 5 minutes. Add braggs, oil and liquid smoke to the TSP mixture. *TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) can replace TSP in any recipe.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and mix until all is combined. Form into patties and place on a greased baking sheet.

Bakes at 350°F for 20 minutes, flipping burger after 10 minutes. Makes 8 burgers.

Thanksgiving Gluten Roast

Gluten:
2 cups Vital Wheat Gluten
1 ½ tsp Marjoram
1 ½ tsp Onion Powder
1 ½ tsp Sage
1 ½ cups Water, warm
2 Tb Tamari
2 Tb Oil

Tahini Mixture:
1/2 cup Onion, chopped
1 tsp Paprika
2 Tb Oil
½ cup Tahini
¼ cup Nutritional Yeast
2 tsp Salt

Basting Liquid:
2 Tb Sesame oil (toasted)
1 Tb Tamari

Gluten: Mix together all wet ingredients in one bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring quickly. This will form a sponge-like dough. Squeeze out any excess liquid.

Tahini paste: Fry onion in oil until soft and golden. In a small bowl, combine the cooked onion and the paprika, tahini, nutritional yeast and salt.

In food processor, process ¼ of gluten dough and ¼ of tahini mixture. Set in bowl and do the same with the rest of the gluten dough and tahini mixture. Place dough in a greased bread pan if baking alone. If forming dough over stuffing, or to bake with vegetables, place is a 9-inch square baking pan. Pour basting liquid over the roast and bake at 375°F for 1 hour.