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Favorite Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes 

My motto has always been, if you’re going to put the effort into eating and especially into cooking, make sure you enjoy every bite and never compromise on taste and quality.  Thanksgiving is revered for its succulent food and tantalizing dishes, and although some may cringe at the thought of a vegetarian holiday, I assure you there is no flavor missing from this table.  I’ve pulled out some of my family’s recipes that I think are the best, and put together a Vegetarian Thanksgiving menu that you are sure to enjoy.

 

Let’s dive right in….

 

Mom’s Spinach Salad with Egg:

 

I’ve been eating this since the days of church potluck as a kid.  Not only is it a winner on flavor (the dressing is to die for) but also on health with fresh spinach leaves, crunchy water chestnuts, tangy red onion and protein from organic eggs.

 

Recipe:

10 oz baby spinach

3 hard boiled eggs

sliced sweet red onions

1 can water chestnuts

soy bacon if wanted

 

Dressing:

½ cup veg. oil

½ sugar

2T worchester sauce

2T vinegar

3T ketchup

salt and pepper

 

Cranberry and Mango Chutney:

1-16 ounces/1 pound bag of fresh cranberries
2 ripe mangos
2 inches peeled fresh ginger
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, optional

Peel the mangos and cut them in to chunks. Chop the fresh ginger root in to smaller chunks. Rinse and clean the cranberries.  Place the fresh ginger, cranberries,  mangos and sugar into the bowl of your food processor and process until desired consistency.  Add red pepper if desired.  Pour into storage containers with lids and set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before using to allow the flavors to come out.

 

 

Grandma Vroon’s Sweet Potato with Pecan:

 

Ok I admit it, this is more like a pudding and is not the healthiest item on the menu.  But hey, it’s Thanksgiving and I have never as long as I can remember had one without this amazing dish….and you can’t discount the loads of Vitamin A !!!

6 cups cooked and mashed yams

1 cup organic cane sugar

½ cup milk

2/3 cup organic sweet butter

2 t vanilla

4 eggs

 

Mix above ingredients together and spoon into a lightly greased 9 x 13 dish. 

Combine topping ingredients:

 

1 cup coconut

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup organic butter

½ cup chopped pecans

 

Sprinkle over mixture and bake uncovered at 375 for 45 minutes

 

Grandma B’s buns:

 

These guys melt in your mouth like no other roll I have ever tasted.  Put a little fresh organic cream butter on one and you will be in heaven!

 

Dissolve 1 package of yeast in ½ cup warm water.  Set aside

Mix 1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

¾ tsp. salt

½ cup melted organic butter

1 cup warm water

 

Add yeast to mixture

Add 3 cups measured and sifted flour

Mix well

 

Measure 1 ½ cups more sifted flour.  Mix in with above until smooth and can be picked up.  Put into large greased bowl and let rise until doubled.  Make buns (small rolls) and put on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Let rise 1 hour.  Bake 8 minutes at 375.

 

 

Eggplant Yakhnit:

 

My favorite Middle Eastern recipe and perfect for thanksgiving because of the Allspice that gives it a cinnamon/nutmeg hint…  Simmered in extra virgin olive oil it is a warm comfort food that is incredibly healthy with a savory blend of tomatoes, eggplant, onion garlic and garbanzo beans 

 

1 lg eggplant

1 cup chickpeas (canned)

1 lb green beans

1 med onion, sliced

2 lg. ripe tomatoes

3 cloves garlic minced

Salt

½ T dry mint

Sprinkle basil, oregano

½ T allspice

Olive oil

 

Cut eggplant into cubes and sprinkle with salt.  Set aside for 30 minutes. Sauté garlic and onion in 3 T olive oil until soft.  Add beans, tomatoes, chickpeas and eggplant and sauté until tender.  Add spices and simmer until everything gets mushy-in a good way.  Serve with warm pita bread

 

Raw Pumpkin Pie

Its easy and super yummy, and best of all it is guilt free!

 

Crust:
2 cups almonds
1 cup dates, soaked 1 hour to soften
¼ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp cinnamon
splash of water if needed

 Place almonds in food processor and process until mealy. Slowly add in dates, water, vanilla, and cinnamon to form a dough consistency. Pat into a glass pie plate so that crust is at least ¼ inch thick.

 

Filling:
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 - 1 ½ cups dates
¼ cup raisins
½ cup cashews
½ - 1 tsp cinnamon
1 - 2 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cardamom
Dash of sea salt

Put peeled and chopped pumpkin in food processor . Add dates, raisins, and nuts and then the remaining ingredients.  Use a bit of water or orange juice if needed to moisten.  Scoop mixture into the crust and chill 2 hours before serving.

 

Enjoy your long weekend and have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

 

Remember, we don’t all have to be vegetarians but if everyone decreased their meat consumption by just 10% we would free up enough grain to feed every starving person in the world.   And doing your part can be fantastically delicious!!  

Tags: Recipes, Thanksgiving recipes, Vegetarian Kids, vegetarian recipes, Vegetarianism

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 26th, 2009 at 10:14 pm and is filed under Organic, PURE Life, Purposeful Eating, Raw Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.