Thanksgiving is only nine days away! It's hard to believe it's gotten here so fast! Sticking with clean, vegetarian/vegan eating around holidays like this can be very difficult, but with the proper planning and a few great recipe ideas, you can be sure that no one at your table will be upset that there is no turkey. Here are three ideas that we will be trying out next week, and you can visit
VegKitchen.com for many more ideas for your holiday feast!
Sweet Potato Soup:
What you will need
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 large celery stalk, sliced
handful of celery leaves
6 cups of peeled and diced sweet potatoes
2 bay leaves
2 tsp seasoning blend (Mrs. Dash)
1/2 tsp of dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup of rice or coconut milk
salt and pepper
Add oil, onion, carrots and celery to a soup pot and sauté until onion is golden
Add the celery leaves and sweet potatoes and add enough water to cover all but about 1 inch of the vegetables. Bring to a simmer, then stir in the bay leaves and seasonings. Simmer gently, covered until the sweet potatoes and vegetables are tender (about 25 minutes). Remove the bay leaves.
With a slotted spoon, remove the solid ingredients and transfer to a food processor, with about 1/2 of a cup of the cooking liquid. Process until smooth, and return to the pot.
Add in the rice or coconut milk to give the soup a slightly thicker consistency and season with salt and pepper.
Mixed Greens with Apples, Carrots, and Pickled Beets:
What you will need
6 to 8 oz. of mixed baby greens
3 medium carrots, sliced
2 medium granny smith apples, thinly sliced
8oz jar of pickled beets, well drained
a handful of walnuts or almonds
extra virgin olive oil as desired
balsamic or red wine vinegar to taste
Combine everything into a large salad bowl, toss and dress with oil and vinegar.
Hearty Vegetable Pot Pie:
What you will need
8 medium potatoes
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, quartered and finely chopped
3 cups of diced veggies of your choice
2 tablespoons of white flour
1 cup of vegetable stock
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1 1/2 tbsp of all purpose seasoning
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 cup of minced fresh parsley
salt and pepper
Two 9-inch pie crusts
1 cup of bread crumbs
paprika for topping
Cook potatoes in their skins until done. Peel and dice four of them and coarsely mash the other four. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Heat oil in a large skillet and sauté the onion until golden. Add in veggies, and a little bit of water and cook until just tender. Sprinkle the flour into the skillet and then pour in the vegetable stock. Add the yeast and cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly until the liquid thickens. Stir in the diced and smashed potatoes, and heat through gently. Stir in the seasoning bled, thyme and parsley, and season with slat and pepper.
Pour contents into pie crust and pat in. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over each pie and and top with paprika. bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until crust is golden.
