I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and, if you're American, I hope your Thanksgiving was stress-free and delicious!
We had such a fabulous Thanksgiving and I would just like to take a minute to thank my family for being so wonderful and supportive. I was thrilled that everyone ate the food and even liked it! I think for some of them it was their first time having tofu, and if not then it was definitely their first time having 'wheat meat' (more on that later). It was not without the usual jokes and comedy, though, especially from the guys, but it was all in good fun. "Pass the peameal bacon and pork chops, please", was one of their favorite things to shout. But as long as they ate it, I didn't care what they called it. They also kept asking me when we would be eating Raphael... my turkey that I adopted. Ha, ha, so funny. I think they're just jealous that they didn't adopt one too!
Anyway, I promised some photos and recipes of our dinner, so here goes... Just a heads up, I don't have photos of all the food because I'm usually the only one who takes pictures at these functions, and I was kind of busy. (ha!) So I have some photos of the appetizers and dessert, because I made them ahead of time. Sorry about that!
Appetizers:
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| Grilled Cheese and Apple |
So easy and yummy!
Grilled Cheese and Apple on a Baguette
1 Whole Grain Baguette
1 large apple, thinly sliced (I used Honey Crisp)
Dijon Mustard
Vegan Mozzarella Cheese (I used Daiya)
To make:
1. Slice the baguette on a diagonal and toast in the oven on 350, turning once, until slightly crispy.
2. Remove baguette from the oven and turn the oven setting to Broil.
3. Spread about 1/2 a tsp or so of Dijon mustard on each baguette slice.
4. Add a slice of apple and a sprinkling of Daiya cheese.
5. Put the baguette slices on a baking sheet and place it in the broiler. Leave it in for a few minutes, until the cheese has melted and is a bit bubbly.
Serve warm.
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| Mmm... | | | | |
|
Cheese Log
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| Cheese plate with walnuts, pumpkin seeds, chestnuts, and cranberries. |
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| Cheese log with walnuts, pumpkin seeds, chestnuts, and chili flakes. |
Stuffing
Chestnut, Cranberry and Sausage Stuffing
Makes about 10+ Servings
10-13 cups of bread cubes (any variety you’d prefer) (day old or toast in oven for 15 minutes to dry out)
3 - 5 Tbsp
of Earth Balance (vegan butter)
2 cups celery, chopped
1 1/2 cups onion
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup parsnip, chopped
1 cup flat parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp “poultry seasoning” spice blend
1 1/2 cups chopped chestnuts (cooked)
salt (to taste)
1 cup apple, chopped
2 cups veggie broth
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup vegan sausage, chopped into bite-sized pieces (I used Tofurky brand Vegan Polish Sausage, but you can use whatever you like.)
To make:
1. Prep all your ingredients.
2. Saute the diced sausage in a pan until a bit crispy and slightly brown. Set aside.
3. In a large pot on medium heat, melt the vegan butter and add your celery, onion, carrots, parsnips and seasonings. Saute until veggies have softened.
4. Add in the parsley, chestnuts, cranberries and apples. Mix together and saute until tender.
5. Add in the walnuts and veggie broth. Let simmer for a minute before adding your bread cubes.
6. Carefully fold in your bread cubes until just moistened. Do a taste test and adjust your seasonings. You may also need to add a bit more bread or broth depending on how wet or dry your stuffing is
7. Finally, add in your sausage bits and then transfer your stuffing to a baking dish.
8. Bake at 350 for about 20 - 25 minutes or until the stuffing has toasted and browned a bit on the outer layer.
"The Main"
Chickpea Cutlets
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| Photo from the PPK website |
Instead of making the Tempeh I decided to make some Chickpea Cutlets that I found on
The Post Punk Kitchen website. Check the recipe out
here.
The Dessert
Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
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| Before going in the oven... |
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| After baking... so yummy! |
I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the food we had on Thanksgiving. There was so much more food but this post is long enough already! Ha! Oh, and here's a look at me with a photo of my turkey, Raphael!
Love,
Ves xx
