A Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dinner

[babka]

another pie. It's on the table at a different time anyway, and it's beautiful and tasty. the leek tart is good, but I love the butternut squash gallette from her "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone." just add lots of blue cheese and ginger, which isn't in the recipe but makes it into a magical dish.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Because my daughter is a vegetarian for some 12 years now, I have made a number of vegetable dishes which she enjoys and, of course, there is the selection of entree recipes offered by the one and only:

Epicurious

• Lentil Croquettes

• Neo-Classical Thanksgiving Dressing with Apricots and Prunes, Stuffed in a Whole Pumpkin

• "Pot Roast" of Seitan, Aunt Gloria-Style

Fabulous Foods website has recipes for appealing Thanksgiving entrees such as:

Baked Pumpkins with Wild Rice Stuffing, Butternut Squash with Sage Stuffing,

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

Food Network's ideas for a vegetarian Thanksgiving

[Pan]

How about ratatouille?

[beccaboo]

I make a pie for Christmas every year that would also be good for Thanksgiving. It has pearl onions, pears, carrots, and chestnuts in a cider gravy. The pears and carrots are left pretty big. I bake it in a deep pie pan, and it has an herby crust on the top only. It doesn't really seem like too much pie, even though there's pumpkin and apple pie afterwards.

[jgm]

We won't have a big crowd for Thanksgiving this year -- only 5 or 6 people. One of them, however, is a fairly strict vegetarian. We'll deep fry a small turkey for the rest of us (it'll be our first turkey frying experience), and we'll have plenty of side dishes, but I do want something that's "main dish" enough for Leo and side-dishy enough for us. Frankly, the turkey is the visual centerpiece but it takes up only a tiny percentage of plate space.

We've been mostly veggies at different times, so our friend doesn't have to worry. (Some years ago, a friend reported that it was common to be a houseguest at dinner and hear, "We knew you were vegetarian, so we made a chicken!")

I've been looking at the fresh corn timbale or asparagus timbale from the Greens cookbook. I've also made the leek-mustard tart on multiple occasions, though I'm not sure about throwing another "pie" onto the table. And years ago, in our most Moosewood days, we used to bake acorn squash with apples and herbed ricotta cheese. But I feel as though there are better options that I haven't yet considered.

For what it's worth, the other certain elements in the meal include an appetizer plate of mixed salads; ginger-sweet-potato souffle, cranberry-ginger chutney (that's already made!), a stovetop mushroom gravy, a turkey-stock-based gravy, and bread dressing (in which we'll use veggie stock). Probably mashed potatoes, though we haven't decided in what way to experiment with it. Cipollini onions glazed with balsamic vinegar. And we'll make 3 pies for 5 people, along with homemade ice cream. (So far. Our idea of compromise is "let's make both.")

So: what would you make for the vegetarian?

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The current Cooking Light magazine features a roasted squash lasagna that looks wonderful.

[Stone]

I would think that there are some South Asian dishes that share "Thanksgiving" spicing.

[estherschindler]

another pie.  It's on the table at a different time anyway, and it's beautiful and tasty.  the leek tart is good, but I love the butternut squash gallette from her "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone."  just add lots of blue cheese and ginger, which isn't in the recipe but makes it into a magical dish.

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That gallette has the right sound to it -- I'm afraid the leek-mustard tart (wonderful as it is) would be too creamy. (In previous years, we've added up the butter in the meal... and usually hit 4 or 5 pounds of it.) I'm off to the library to check out that book *again.*

[estherschindler]

I make a pie for Christmas every year that would also be good for Thanksgiving.  It has pearl onions, pears, carrots, and chestnuts in a cider gravy.  The pears and carrots are left pretty big.  I bake it in a deep pie pan, and it has an herby crust on the top only.  It doesn't really seem like too much pie, even though there's pumpkin and apple pie afterwards.

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That sounds great. Recipe, recipe!

[Jason Perlow]

How about felafel sandwiches, but with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce stuffed into a pita instead of the traditional israeli condiments?

Although there is the problem of the gravy and the stuffing. Maybe a mushroom gravy or stuffing made with a vegetable stock instead of poultry stock?

I'm drawing a blank here.

Hey, what about a fresh pasta or risotto made with Pumpkin or Squash? Like a Squash/Pumpkin Gnocchi with parmesan/butter?

[slbunge]

We have cooked 'Corn Squash and Rice Loaf' from Nava Atlas' Vegetarian Celebrations cookbook. As I type it I realize that it tastes and looks far better than the name sounds. Essentially it is served unmoulded from a loaf pan and it should be bound well enough to slice. Quite tasty.

[Lexica]

A pilaf of some sort served in a hollowed-out pumpkin or squash is tasty and attractive, and it's flexible enough to be adapted to fit whatever else you're serving.

[edited to add:]

Found a couple of recipes on the Vegetarian Times website. I think I made the quinoa-and-wild-rice-stuffed squash one year - if I'm remembering the right recipe, it was a hit with the omnivores and vegetarians alike. There's also a recipe for delicata squash stuffed with curried wild rice and one for stuffed Thanksgiving pumpkins.

Edited November 2, 2004 by Lexica (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

A pilaf of some sort served in a hollowed-out pumpkin or squash is tasty and attractive, and it's flexible enough to be adapted to fit whatever else you're serving.

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perhaps this one will do perfectly??click here

a spectacular looking recipe that makes a wonderful main course for a Vegetarian Thanksgiving (or a Thanksgiving side dish). You can use a larger (as in 5 or 6 lb.) pumpkin to feed a family, or stuff small individual pumpkins for each person.

[Ling]

maybe homemade ravioli?

[Ling]

this sounds good..fits the thanksgiving theme too

sweet potato ravioli with sage butter sauce: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/104709

[Behemoth]

I did glazed onions stuffed with a lentil goat cheese salad one year when I was veg, that went over very well.

[beccaboo]

I make a pie for Christmas every year that would also be good for Thanksgiving.  It has pearl onions, pears, carrots, and chestnuts in a cider gravy.  The pears and carrots are left pretty big.  I bake it in a deep pie pan, and it has an herby crust on the top only.  It doesn't really seem like too much pie, even though there's pumpkin and apple pie afterwards.

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That sounds great. Recipe, recipe!

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Christmas Pie

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

-------- ------------ --------------------------------

2 tablespoons olive oil

500 grams pearl onions -- peeled

1 sprig thyme

1 bay leaf

4 stalks celery -- cut into 6 cm lengths

6 small pears -- such as seckel pears, peeled, cored, and quartered

2 cloves garlic -- crushed

500 milliliters vegetable broth

330 milliliters strong cider

3 sprigs sage -- leaves roughly chopped

125 grams prunes

350 grams self-raising flour

175 grams vegetable suet -- (or use 100 g vegetable shortening if you can't find vegetable suet)

1/2 teaspoon salt

225 milliliters water

3 tablespoons minced parsley

2 tablespoons cornstarch -- mixed with 1 tablespoon water

250 grams cooked chestnuts -- (canned or vacuum-packed)

salt and pepper

2 egg yolks -- beaten, or water and soya milk if you want this to be vegan

fresh bay leaves and cranberries -- for decoration

Heat the oven to 350F.

Heat the oil in a big, deep pan and fry the onions, thyme, and bay leaf till the onions are golden-brown. Add the celery, carrots, garlic, pears, broth, and cider. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the sage and prunes and cook for another 5 minutes.

Mix the flour with the 1/2 teaspoon salt, parsley, and suet (if using shortening, rub it in). Mix in enough of the water to make a soft-but-not-sticky dough.

Roll 2/3 of the dough out into an shape 5 cm bigger than your pie dish (I use an old semi-rectangular Le Creuset dish that's about 18x28cm, and this recipe just fits). Using your dish as a guide, cut out first a piece of dough the shape of the dish's top, then a second piece around the outside that's a strip about 2.5cm wide.

Mix the cornstarch slurry into your pear mixture, bring to a boil, and cook till thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste and pour into the pie dish, picking out the thyme sprig. Scatter the chestnuts artfully over the top. Dampen the rim of the dish and stick the strips of pastry to it. Brush with some of the egg yolk (or water) and affix the dish-shaped piece of dough, pressing it to make sure it's stuck. Brush with more egg yolk.

Roll the rest of the dough out into a rectangle and cut into six little strips and six long ones. Arrange the little strips on top of the pie to make a decorative lattice, and use the long ones to make two long plaits to stick around the edge of the pie. Brush with egg yolk (or soya milk) and bake for 40 minutes.

Garnish with bay leaves and cranberries.

Source:

"Adapted from BBC Vegetarian, December 1998"

NOTES : You can make the up the day before and keep it in the fridge till you're ready to bake it. It'll take a little longer to cook that way, though.

[intraining]

how about a nice thick sage and onion stuffing, with some kind of legumes for extra 'weight', maybe even to tight mashed potatoes?? should go along with the theme. cook separately

fakin bacon? is that still around?

[NulloModo]

What type of vegitarian? Will they eat cheese/eggs/etc?

[Moopheus]

maybe homemade ravioli?

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I was thinking of doing that this year (being the veg that comes to dinner); but our family dinner usually includes ravioli in any case. A couple of years ago I made an eggplant parmesan (recipe from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone) that went over well--my aunt's mother-in-law also brought one but mine was the one that got eaten.

[daniellewiley]

Have you asked Leo? My sister-in-law and Thanksgiving cooking partner is vegetarian, but she absolutely does not want any special entree. She is so enamored of all of the side dishes that she wants nothing else.

In addition to our bbq'd turkey, we serve:

cranberries (from Cook's Illustrated)

cranberry horseradish relish

creamed corn made with Cope's dried corn

mashed potatoes

mashed sweet potatoes

green beans with roasted onions in a balsamic glaze

roasted brussels sprouts

turkey stuffing

vegetarian stuffing

[ludja]

I did glazed onions stuffed with a lentil goat cheese salad one year when I was veg, that went over very well.

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Good idea; I have to remember this. Sounds like a nice way of having a discrete item that can be served as an entree--also fits well with the abundance of carbs already on the menu. Plus, it sounds good tasting!

[ruthcooks]

When I had a vegetarian at my first restaurant, where the menu was set, I would make an individual quiche/souffle/flan sort of thing in a ramekin. Seemed to go well with almost any menu I was serving that night.

The "meatiest" offering I can think of would be a stuffed Portobello mushroom.

[adoxograph]

Lots of good ideas here, but I'll add another anyway. You could also do a savory strudel - mushroom, roasted red pepper, maybe some kale or goat cheese.

[Mabelline]

Seeing as how you're in Scottsdale, and Thanksgiving=Native American= how about a tamale pie ? They are good and you will surely find vegetarian tamale pies in N.A. recipes at your library.

[estherschindler]

Have you asked Leo? My sister-in-law and Thanksgiving cooking partner is vegetarian, but she absolutely does not want any special entree. She is so enamored of all of the side dishes that she wants nothing else.

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We did ask Leo... in particular, we asked Leo if there was any dish that "it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without." Apparently there isn't. In answer to someone else's question, he does eat cheese and eggs; in fact, he'll eat fish if he's in a restaurant with paltry veg options.

Despite the delicious list of ravioli and lasagne dishes here, I want to add something with protein to the menu. God knows we have enough starch, with two kinds of potato and two dressings.

At the library yesterday, I picked up a copy of the above-recommended Deborah Madison book (thanks again for the suggestion!). Although the squash gallette does sound good, we're leaning towards another recipe we found therein, with walnuts, brussel sprouts, baby red onions, and fennel. The walnuts add protein, and it's more veggies on the table. (I'd probably cancel the glazed onions in that case.)

On the other hand, that chestnut Christmas pie sounds awfully good, too. Knowing our idea of compromise, we'll probably end up making BOTH. (All this for five people...)