Since I knew I would be traveling abroad during Thanksgiving this year, I was sure to cook my Thanksgiving meal early and wanted to share with you! Last year’s vegan Thanksgiving ideas is HERE.
This year, I made stuffed acorn squash, mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts. It was DELICIOUS! The house smelled some amazing while I was cooking and even all the non Vegans were dying to try it and did get my left overs since I was traveling the following day! To view the recipes I used, see below:
Stuffed Acorn Squash
This was an awesome recipe. Since I did a butternut squash last year, I wanted to change it up with another type this year. Most of the stuffed acorn squash recipes I found had cranberries and were sweet, but I wanted to find a more “savory” recipe, and found this one by Karissa’s Vegan Kitchen, but changed several things in it up.
Ingredients:
2 acorn squash
2 tbsp maple syrup
pepper
tempeh sausage (ingredients and instructions below)
1/4 cup pepitas
1/2 cup brown rice
2 cups chopped kale
1/2 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp allspice
vegetable stock
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the squash in half horizontally. After removing all the pulp and seeds, cut the bottom pointy end off of each piece so it sits upright.
Place on baking sheet and brush with maple syrup and add black pepper.
Bake for 45 minutes until squash is tender (mine was a little less time as my squash were pretty small).
Next, we make the tempeh sausage.
Ingredients:
8 oz package of plain tempeh
1 1/2 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp sage
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
pinch of chili flakes
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
Start by crumbling tempeh into pan.
Add water and all other ingredients except oil into pan and simmer on medium-low heat. Continue to simmer until the tempeh soaks up all water.
Add oil into pan (this is optional) and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes.
While tempeh is cooking and acorn squash is baking, combine vegetable stock and brown rice into medium-sized pan. I used rice packets from Trader Joe’s.
Add in chopped kale and cover until kale is tender, about 5 minutes.
Lastly, combine the brown rice & kale with the tempeh sausage and pepitas.
Scoop this filling into the acorn squash and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
Serve!
Balsamic Brussels Sprouts with Pine Nuts
I started with THIS recipe from Kalyn’s Kitchen and made my own changes.
Ingredients:
1 lb brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp pine nuts, roasted.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Trim brussels sprouts and cut into halves.
Put olive oil and balsamic vinegar together in bowl.
Add brussels sprouts to mixing bowl and toss.
Arrange in single layer on roasting pan and roast for 15-20 minutes. I personally like my brussels to have a little bit of burnt crisp on the outside, so I let them go the full time.
While they are roasting, put pine nuts in a dry pan on medium heat and continue to turn as they start to brown. They will burn quickly, so keep an eye on them.
Combine with brussels sprouts and serve!
Mashed Potatoes
This was a very simple recipe from The Minimalist Baker and turned out great! Only a couple very minor adjustments made.
Ingredients:
6 medium yukon gold potatoes, cut in half
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
3-4 tbsp earth balance
1/4 cup chives
Directions:
Put potatoes in large pot with water and cover.
Bring to boil over high heat and keep covered until tender.
Once tender, drain potatoes and put them in large mixing bowl.
Mash the potatoes with potato masher or hand mixer.
Add earth balance, garlic, and pepper. Taste and adjust as necessary.
Top with chopped chives and enjoy!
Hope you enjoy this vegan Thanksgiving idea! Let me know if you try it out.. in the meantime, have a GREAT Thanksgiving. There is so much to be grateful for!
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