(Not-So) Vegan Thanksgiving

I will have approximately 24 out of town visitors for the whole of Thanksgiving weekend this year. This would be my first as a vegan. I'm the only vegan (one is a vegetarian) and I promised a traditional TG dinner for all.

However, all of my friends think I just barely sustain life on carrot and celery sticks (you should have seen the looks on their faces when I offered shots of wheat grass juice!!) I'd like to do a few vegan dishes that they can see we're well beyond rabbit food.

Does anyone have any suggestions. I mean, I can easily veganize all of the sides.. Sweet potatoes/yams, mashed potatoes, dressing, etc. I'm looking for some unique things to serve, which they would readily eat and the thought "this is vegan food" won't even enter their minds. If I tell them try this, it's vegan they'll be predisposed to thinking "this is ok, but...."

Vegan dessert ideas are particularly welcome. I like making tortes with various types of fresh fruits carefully sliced and arranged. Does any one know of a vegan rendition of crème Brulè? Perhaps terra cotta made from hemp seed milk or silken tofu.

It's gonna be fun, fun  fun!! and a LOT of work.

Shawn Maurer's Vegan Tiramisu

Borrowed from: http://www.heavenlytiramisu.com/rcp-322.htm

Ingredients:

Sponge Cake

1. WHOLE WHEAT PASTRY FLOUR, 2 cups
2. NATURAL CANE SUGAR, 1 cup
3. BAKING SODA, 3 teaspoons
4. ENER-G OR OTHER EGG REPLACER (corn or potato starch or tapioca flour should substitute ok),
5. 1 teaspoon VANILLA EXTRACT,
6. 1 teaspoon VEGETABLE OIL,
7. 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons WATER, 1-1/3 cups

"Mascarpone" Layer

1. SOY CREAM CHEESE, 8 ounces
2. SOY SOUR CREAM, 1/2 cup
3. SOY COFFEE CREAMER, 3/4 cup
4. AMARETTO(or other Kahlua liquor),1/4 cup
5. NATURAL CANE SUGAR, 1/3 cup
6. VANILLA EXTRACT, 1 tablespoon
7. VEGETABLE OIL, 1/4 cup

Coffee/Liquor Dip

1. ESPRESSO, 1 cup
2. AMARETTO (or other coffee liquor), 3 tablespoons
3. NATURAL CANE SUGAR, 3 tablespoons
4. BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE, 5 ounces

Directions:

• First make the sponge cake. Set oven to 375 F. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, and egg replacer together in glass 9-inch round or 8x8-inch cake pan. Add vanilla, oil and water to the dry ingredients. Mix until lumps are mostly gone then bake for 45 minutes.
• As sponge cake is cooking, prepare "mascarpone" layer. Blend together all ingredients until well-mixed and somewhat aerated and store in fridge. This is good time to grate the chocolate as well. I use Scharffen Berger bittersweet 70% cacao. Store grated chocolate in the fridge as well.
• To make the coffee/liquor dip, make 1 cup of espresso or strong coffee. Add the amaretto and sugar and stir while the espresso is still hot. Store this also in the fridge to cool down the coffee. Added benefit: the cook gets to drink any excess espresso.
• When the cake is done cooking, let it cool. When cool (and not any sooner), remove from the pan and cut into 1-inch x 1-inch x 3-inch strips.
• Lay the strips on a cookie sheet and bake 10-15 minutes at 400 F. Then, after the cake strips are cooled, assemble as you would any Tiramisu.
• Dip the cake strips in the coffee/liquor dip and lay in a bread pan.
• Pour some "mascarpone" layer over the top, sprinkle liberally with grated chocolate, and repeat.
• Garnish with cocoa powder if you like. Let sit overnight and then yum!

This has some delicious sounding ideas

 

http://www.dessertsmag.com/index.php?option=c om_flippingbook&Itemid=91&book_id=4

vegweb.com has a ridiculously large amount of awesome vegan recipes.

i took some gunpowder cookies to work today (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=17849.0) and they went over really well.

good luck =)

Here's a veg web recipe for creme brulee: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6448.0

They also have a pumpkin banana version: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=21240.0

Also, if you get VegNews magazine they have a great recipe in the current issue for a sweet potato cake with buttercream icing that sounds great!!  Best of luck to you  :)

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/ has everything!

If you want to impress your omnivore friends with vegan food, do not serve them anything that involves substitution ingredients in a traditional recipe. No TVP for meat in sauces, tofu for cheese in lasagna or creme in brulee, flaxseed for eggs in cookies, soymilk instead of cowmilk in white sauce. Your friends will compare your vegan versions to the dishes they know and love and yours are very likely going to be unfavorably rated, even if they are good.

For appetisers, offer home baked French bread and wheat crackers, pesto made without the cheese, black olive paste, red pepper and walnut spread.

In the main meal, try a nutty grain salad with citrus and herb dressing (this could be your main). As you said, veganising the sides will be easy.

On the dessert buffet offer a range of fresh fruits, fruit compote, your tarts, fruit pies, candied nuts, popcorn balls.

Last holiday season, I wrote a recipe pamphlet called "Almost Vegan" that you are welcome to use for ideaas. http://www.mediatinker.com/blog/archives/0104 54.html

I've done a vegetarian Thanksgiving a couple of times.  The problem is the idea that you have to have the turkey or a substitute for it as the centerpiece of the meal.  I completely rejected that.

What I did was make a huge, very colorful platter of every variety of vegetable I could think of.  There were broiled tomato halves, roasted baby beets, roasted tiny potatoes, roasted baby carrots, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, raw pepper strips of every color along with roasted peppers, acorn squash halves stuffed with brown rice and pine nuts, braised shallots and leeks, and lots of fresh herb garnishes.  It looked spectacular.  I did several sauces on the side.  I baked 3 kinds of bread, pumpkin and pecan pies and a gooey chocolate dessert too.  For starters we had fresh fruit cup. 

Nobody mentioned the missing turkey (or the missing disgusting tofurkey either)

edited to add:  If your friends absolutely must have the turkey and trimmings, ask them to bring it.  You could make cranberry sauce and a vegan stuffing casserole.

Hey folks. Thanks for all the great ideas.  I think Tinker is right, not to pass off meat substitutes.  I do have to give them a traditional T.G. dinner, or none of them would come!  (You should have seen the looks on there faces when I was making wheat grass juice last time they visited.  You'd think I was trying to poison them.  haha)

So I will have a turkey, which I won't eat.  And I can veganize all the rest, including the gravy, so I can enjoy a TG dinner that's somewhat familar.

But, thank you all for the suggetions.  I haven't read through all the links yet, but I'll start digging through.