A Vegetarian Thanksgiving

This year is going to be my first Thanksgiving without my family.  In my house, my mother usually cooks for everyone and the relatives on my father's side come over.   We start with the hors d'oeuvres and wine around 1:30, and then eat dinner at 4:00.  My mother always has a large turkey with leftovers that last all weekend, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, cranberries, dinner rolls, and a few different desserts.  My aunt always brings a peanut butter pie, which is heavenly, but probably not the healthiest thing.  Then again, it's Thanksgiving and the whole holiday is about eating and being gluttonous, so calories are the last things we should be worrying about.  For me, Thanksgiving is about being with my family, and following my mother around the kitchen with a full glass of chardonnay at all times.

This year will be different. My coworkers and I will be celebrating potluck style.  I'm in charge of mashed potatoes, asparagus, and a dessert-- of course, all will be made without dairy.  For the best vegan mashed potatoes ever, I use Yukon Gold potatoes because they have a natural buttery flavor.  I cut up the potatoes pretty small, and throw them in boiling water until they break apart.  After draining the potatoes, I return them to the pot and reduce the heat to simmer or low.  Instead of butter, I use just a little bit of Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread with Olive Oil.  Rarely I use plain soy milk, but if I don't have that on hand, I'll use Galaxy Foods Veggie Shreds Cheddar instead.  It melts quickly and adds a nice, creamy texture.  For extra flavor, I use the Penzey's Fox Point seasoning, which is absolutely amazing!  It's a blend of shallots, chives, garlic, onion and green peppercorns.  I'm obsessed with Penzey's spices.  Sometimes I'll turn the mashed potatoes into a meal by adding steamed broccoli and vegan bacon bits.

I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do with my asparagus yet.   I have to wait and see if it's even in season and if I can find good asparagus to cook with.  I was thinking of experimenting with Panko crumbs.  I found one recipe for a Panko-pecan asparagus, but that might not delight everyone's taste buds.   Another recipe for roasted asparagus calls for dijon mustard, lemon juice, black pepper and Panko crumbs.  I actually might try that one instead, but replace the mayonnaise with olive oil.  If I can't find asparagus, I'm going to make roasted sesame and garlic green beans or balsamic roasted brussel sprouts.

As for desserts... I stumbled across Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet and found this fantastic recipe for chocolate peanut butter cups.  They seem relatively fool proof and sound delicious!  My other option is from the 30 Minute Vegan by Mark Reinfeld and Jennifer Murray.  The vegan chocolate ganache pie requires six ingredients, but might be a little more difficult than the peanut butter cups.  Although my mother did just send me a new food processor in the mail and I would love to try it out on this recipe which requires the maple syrup, tofu, vanilla and sea salt to be pureed.

I will keep you all posted.