If you wonder what a vegan Thanksgiving in the southeastern United States looks like, I have photographic documentation to share with you. The following foods were created for a small family gathering. At first glance, this looks like a typical Thanksgiving meal. But there are a few odd details.
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| Vegan Thanksgiving 2023 |
This homemade meal included:
Portobello mushroom steaks with homemade chimichurri sauce
I made this one by marinading large portobello caps in soy sauce with fresh minced garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper. I tried to char them in the skillet, but they were just too moist with the time I had. This was good but needed more time in the skillet.
I made this one by marinading large portobello caps in soy sauce with fresh minced garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper. I tried to char them in the skillet, but they were just too moist with the time I had. This was good but needed more time in the skillet.
Sliced root casserole
This was made with slices of rutabaga, sweet potato, onion, cassava, cashew milk, and seasonings.
Stuffing
I believe this is Pepperidge Farm stuffing with extra spices and small tomatoes added. I'm not sure, but it was very good.
Collard greens with Indian spices
I cut what's left of the fresh collard greens from the garden. I let those simmer on medium heat in salt water while I cooked sliced onion in the skillet with avocado oil and a small amount of cardamom, curry spice, cumin, and garam masala. After the greens darkened, I drained most of the water and tossed the onions into the greens. This blend of spices really added interesting layers of flavor to one of my favorite foods. Excellent!
Mashed potatoes
I have no idea how these vegan mashed potatoes were made, but I heard they included Follow Your Heart Vegenaisse. I thought that sounded a bit nasty, but I open-mindedly ate them. The Vegenaisse gave it a fuller home-made flavor. I prefer more basic mashed potatoes, but these were good.
Corn of the cob
I didn't get a photo of this one. I just melted vegan margarine on it. Excellent!
Pumpkin pie
This amazing vegan pumpkin pie was made with a premade graham cracker pie crust, a can of pumpkin, maple syrup, brown sugar, corn starch, nutmeg, cinnamon, garam masala, cloves, and salt. I topped it with crushed almonds and baked it for an hour. This was the best pie I have ever made! The flavor was so unexpectedly wonderful. Perfect!
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| Vegan Pumpkin Pie with almonds |
Thanksgiving 2023 included some pleasant surprises. Two of my contributions were surprising successes thanks to my recent experimentation with Indian flavors. This is just further evidence that I'm the weirdo of the family. Check out my other Thanksgiving posts to see more "creative" Thanksgiving foods.
