vegetarian thanksgiving Iron Cheff

In My Humble Opinion
1

As you can tell by the alternate spelling, this is not an official SDMB Iron Chef thread. Rather than a theme ingredient, this IC spin-off has a theme theme: T-day. Next week or so the winner will be chosen and awarded.

I’m hosting a dressy Thanksgiving dinner party next week for my vegetarian friends et al. We could just eat what I do every year (dry stuffing, canned cran sauce, potatoes,…basically all the sides) but I’d like to make it more special than that. What great meat-free (and vegan if possible) Thanksgiving-type recipes do y’all have?

I will collect the recipes and choose the most appealing, appropriate, and feasable to actually cook, then we shall create and indulge at my apartment and vote on our favorite dishes. Keep in mind that taste, efficiency, and presentation all count heavily.

This is not a one-on-one competition, it is open to everyone. Please include only one dish per post unless the second is a necessary companion dish. If you can make it to Burlington, VT next week you are welcome as a judge.

Happy Cheffing!

2

I found that All Recipies has heaps of Vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes.
happy cooking!

3

I have this posted on Opal’s Vegetarian site and on my cooking site as well, it sounds mighty tasty and might add a good umph to get away from the normal everything but the turkey thing and if my memory serves me well, soup is a good addition to any Thanksgiving meal.

Vegetarian White Bean Soup
[ul]
[li]1 cup small white beans-dried[/li][li]1/4 cup butter-unsalted or vegetable oil, or both[/li][li]1 large yellow onion-chopped[/li][li]1 clove garlic-finely chopped[/li][li]1 large carrot-finely chopped[/li][li]1 celery stalk-finely chopped[/li][li]5 cups vegetable stock[/li][li]1 can plum tomatoes with their juice[/li][li]1 tsp summer savory-dried[/li][li]1 tsp thyme-dried[/li][li]1 tsp sugar[/li][li]1 bay leaf[/li][li]salt and freshly ground pepper[/li][li]2 tbsp fresh parsley-finely chopped[/li][/ul]
In a large saucepan, warm the butter and/or oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery and saute until the onion is translucent, 2-3 minutes.

Drain the beans and add them to the saucepan along with the stock, tomatoes, savory, thyme, sugar and bay leaf.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally to break up the tomatoes, until the beans are very tender, 2-2 1/2 hours. Discard bay leaf. Transfer about half of the soup to a food mill, a food processor fitted with the metal blade or to a blender.

Puree taking care to avoid splattering. Stir the puree back into the pan, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into warmed bowls and garnish with the parsley.

Yields 4 servings.

I don’t recall where I got this recipe but even as an omnivore it sounds like a tasty addition to any fall or wintertime meal. Also, I am not sure if the porportions are for a main course dish or first course dish. Plus with the time to cook it, it might seem like cooking a bird. :wink:

Even if it doesn’t seem like a dish you want to experiment with on Thanksgiving it might suit your needs for the future.

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Here’s two:

Mushroom Barley Casserole
[ul]
[li]½ c margarine[/li][li]1 c chopped onions[/li][li]1 c sliced fresh mushrooms[/li][li]1 ½ c pearl barley[/li][li]¼ tsp salt[/li][li]1/8 tsp pepper[/li][li]3 c vegetable broth[/li][/ul]
Preheat oven to 350° F. Melt margarine in skillet. Add onions, mushrooms, and barley. Cook on medium heat until browned. Place in casserole dish. Stir in salt, pepper, and broth. Cover and bake one hour or until barley is tender

Miniature Pumpkin Soup
[ul]
[li]8 mini pumpkins[/li][li]1 c thinly sliced onion[/li][li]1 Tbs freshly grated ginger root[/li][li]1½ Tbs margarine[/li][li]1½ c vegetable stock[/li][li]1½ c water[/li][li]2 tsp vegetable oil[/li][/ul]
Cut the top ¼ off 4 pumpkins, reserving the lids, and discard the seeds. Cut the remaining 4 pumpkins in half, reserving the seeds from 2 of the pumpkins. Bake the pumpkins, cut side down, on lightly oiled baking sheets in a preheated 350° F oven for 40 minutes or until they are tender. When they are cool enough to handle, scrape all the pulp out of the halved pumpkins. Scrape most of the pulp out of the remaining pumpkins, leaving just enough in each pumpkin so that it retains its shape. In a skillet cook the onion and the ginger root in the margarine over low heat, stirring, until the onion is softened. Add the pumpkin pulp, the vegetable stock, and the water and simmer the mixture for 20 minutes. Puree the mixture in batches in a blender and transfer it to a saucepan. Stir in salt and pepper to taste and water to thin the soup if necessary. Reduce the oven heat to 250° F. In a bowl toss the reserved seeds with the oil and salt to taste and spread them out on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake the seeds in the middle of the oven, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour to 1½ hours or until they are golden and crisp. Heat the soup and warm the hollowed-out pumpkin shells in the oven. Arrange the shells in 4 soup plates, fill each shell with some of the soup and ladle some additional soup around the shell. Sprinkle some of the seeds on top of each soup and serve with the lid on top.

5

I don’ t know if it’s too late or not, but, my family is vegetarian and this is what we always have instead of turkey. It’s not vegen, but it’s VERY good.

Walnut Loaf with Mushroom Gravy

Walnut Loaf

2 cups Walnuts, Grind in blender
3 cups whole wheat bread crumbs (lightly toasted)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1 cup tomato juice
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350

1.) Sautee onions and celery in the oil
2.) beat eggs and tomato juice
3.) mix all ingrediants really well
4.) bake for 55 to 65 minutes

Mushroom Gravy
1cup sliced mushrooms
1/2cup finely chopped onions
1or 2 tablespoons oil
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
pinch of pepper or oregano
2 tablespoons flour

1.)suatee onions and mushrooms in oil
2.)add flour. stir over medium heat until foaming
3.)let cool
4.)add soy sauce to water
5.)slowly mix into mushrooms and onions
6.)cook until thickend
7.)add herbs while thickening

All Done!

6

My sister-in-law (bless her heart) has been making this dish for years now for my vegetarian self at our turkey-centered Thanksgiving feasts. It is from the venerable Moosewood Cookbook.

Arabian Squash-Cheese Casserole:

2 medium/large butternut or acorn squash, baked, scooped and mashed.
1 heaping cup chopped onion
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1 heaping cup chopped peppers (the recipe calls for mixed red and green; we prefer all ripe)
3 Tbs butter
1 tsp salt

2 beaten eggs
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt (we use the yogurt)
1 cup feta cheese
black and red pepper/hot sauce to taste

1/4 cup sunflower seeds or chopped nuts, for the top

Saute the onion and garlic, lightly salted, in butter. When the onion is translucent, add the chopped peppers. Saute until peppers are just under-done.

Beat eggs with buttermilk or yogurt. Crumble in the feta cheese. Combine everything and mix well. Add salt, black pepper and red pepper or hot sauce to taste.

Spread into butterted casserole or baking pan. Top with seeds or nuts. Bake at 375F, covered, for 25 minutes.

It is a very simple recipe, (which can easily be altered to taste) but it seems to hit all the “comfort food” buttons for me.

7

This is not a recipe but if you don’t mind spending a lot of money, a Tofurkey is perfect for Thanksgiving. They are usually $25-30 at health food stores, big supermarkets, etc. It comes with a turkey that feeds four, as well as gravy, ‘drumsticks’, and a wishbone - all vegan.

In addition to the standard fare of yams, cranberries, stuffing, potatoes, etc. I think they have a website, probably tofurkey.com. I am a vegan so I usually get one of these every Thanksgiving to eat with my family.

8

http://www.tofurky.com/main.htm

Vegetarian Thanksgiving Central has some good ideas, too.