Every major holiday many are faced with the prospect of another meat filled holiday meal. For many people this is a wonderful time full of meaty delights, however for us vegetarians we often feel left out of the joy (does everything in the world really need to include beef broth?!). This of course does not apply to Tess, as her family is always super amazing at producing veggy filled delights for me.
In an effort to make every one’s (vegetarians and people cooking for vegetarians) lives a little better this Thanksgiving, I have compiled my top ten Thanksgiving vegetarian recipes.
10. Stuffed Butternut Squash
You cant go wrong with a good stuffed squash. Nuff Said.
What you need
4 md Butternut squashes
2 c Water
3/4 c Wild rice, rinsed
3 tb Margarine
1 c Red onion, chopped
1 ea Garlic clove, minced
2 1/2 c Trn wholewheat bread
1 tb Sesame seeds
1/2 ts Sage & thyme
1 ts Seasoned salt
1 c Fresh orange juiceWhat you do
Preheat oven to 375F.
Halve squashes & scoop out seeds & fibres. Place them upside down in shallow baking dishes & cover tightly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil, stir in wild rice & simmer 40 minutes, or till the water is absorbed. Heat 2 tb margarine in a skillet. Add onion & garlic & saute till onion goes limp. In a mixing bowl, combine the rice with the remaining ingredients & the saute. When squashes are cool enough to handle, scoop out the pulp & chop it.
Stir into the rice mixture. Stuff the squashes, place in foil lined baking dishes & cover. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
9. Stuffing
Vegetarian stuffing is super easy to make. Just don’t add meat. Most people will never notice the difference. This stuff fills you up and makes your mouth happy, what more could you want from cooked soggy bread?
What you need
4 cups Pepperidge Farm Herbed Stuffing ( any style) or
4 cups of your own blend of breads,cubed.
Approximately 3/4 C. Vegetable Stock ( if making from scratch discard boiled vegetables) more or less depending on the texture you like for stuffing.
1 C. Butter, margarine or vegetable oil
1 C. Diced Carrots
1 C. Diced Celery
1 C. Diced Onion (yellow or white)
1/2 C. Chopped Parsley
1/2 Tbls. Poultry Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to tasteOptional Ingredients:
1 C. Toasted Pine nuts
1 C. Roasted and chopped Chestnuts
1 C. Dried fruit, cranberries, raisins , apples etcWhat you do
Place diced bread into a large bowl. Over medium low heat melt the butter or margarine until bubbly but not brown. Add the diced vegetables and cook stirring often until the vegetables are softened. The onions should be transparent but not brown.
Add this to the bread mixture. Mix in the seasoning. Ladle in the stock 1/2 cup at a time. When you have the desired consistency add the nuts and fruit if desired.
Place the stuffing in a greased shallow baking dish and cook for 45 minutes. For a crusty stuffing increase time to an hour, or until the stuffing attains the texture you prefer. If you like a softer stuffing cover the mixture while baking and uncover the last 10min. Serve with the veggie roast and gravy.
This stuffing can be prepared a few days ahead and baked the day you’ll be serving. The flavor will improve if left to sit two or more hours in the refrigerator before baking.
8. Cranberry Sauce
This stuff is great, and the garlic and onions along with orange zest makes for a really interesting taste.
What you need
* 2 cups vegetable broth
* 2 cups Oven Roasted Garlic
* 1/2 cup olive oil
* 5 medium onions, cut into wedges and roasted in oven with garlic
* 2 tsp. brown sugar
* 1 cup Craisins, dried cranberries
* 1/2 tsp. finely grated orange zestWhat you do
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a medium skillet, over medium-high heat, add onions and brown sugar.
3. Cook 6 minutes or until onions aer starting to become soft and translucent.
4. Add garlic and transfer to a roasting pan, dutch oven or sheet pan.
5. Slowly roast onions and garlic – stirring often for 45 minutes or until they reach a carmel color.
6. Remove onions and garlic from oven and place in sauce pan.
7. Stir in sweetened dried (or regular) cranberries, dry thyme, chicken stock, orange zest and fresh cracked black pepper to taste.
8. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until cranberries swell.
9. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
7. Stuffed Acorn Squash
This is one of my favorites. Squash is the epitome of fall food. Acorn squash can be super sweet if prepared correctly, but it also mixes well with salty or rich flavors. If this recipe seems like too much work, simply microwave squash halves on a plate of water and add butter and brown sugar….mmmmm good.
What you need
3 good-sized acorn squash
4 to 6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, strings removed, and diced
1 cup cubed squash (pumpkin, acorn, butternut, hubbard, or kabocha)
1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
3 to 4 cups stale French or country bread, torn into bite-sized pieces
2 eggs, lightly beaten (optional)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage (or 1 to 2 tablespoons crumbled dried leaf sage)
1/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)
2 cups (or more) vegetable broth, salted
1 cup (or more) hot apple cider or sweet white wine (optional)What you do
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Wash the whole acorn squash and cut them into halves lengthwise. (This will make six bowls.) Remove the seeds and stringy stuff and set aside the cleaned acorn halves.
In a heavy skillet, heat the butter or margarine. Add the garlic, onion, carrot, celery, cubed squash, and mushrooms. Saute this mixture over medium-high heat until vegetables are tender.
In a large bowl, mix the bread pieces, eggs (these give great texture to the final product), parsley, sage, and chopped nuts, if desired.
Add the bread mixture to the sauteed vegetables and stir to mix thoroughly, then add the vegetable broth (salted to taste). Continue to mix, squishing with your hands if you like, and adding broth as necessary, until the stuffing is very moist and soft.
(to make this part go a lot faster, microwave the acorn squash halves till they are tender, but putting them face down in a plate full of water for about 7 minutes, this will cut down oven time by about 50 minutes)
Mound the stuffing into the squash halves, place the stuffed squash bowls on a large baking sheet, cover with foil, and bake until the squash is tender and the stuffing is done, about 1 hour. Or you could place stuffed squash in a baking dish into which you have poured a cup or more of hot apple cider or sweet white wine, leave halves uncovered, and baste every 15 minutes with pan juices until done.
Serve hot.
6. Sweet Potato Casserole
Nothing goes better with squash than sweet potatoes. These sweet little guys are the perfect “desert” side dish. Long after I have grown sick of stuffing my face with any other thanksgiving treat, I manage to still find room for some sweet potatoes.
what you need
* 3 large sweet potatoes
* 3 tablespoons butter, softened
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 cup chopped pecans
* 1 cup flaked coconut (optional)
* 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon saltwhat you do
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Poke holes in the sweet potatoes with a fork, arrange the sweet potatoes on a cookie sheet. Grease an 11×7 inch glass baking dish.
2. Bake sweet potatoes for 1 hour. Let cool, then mash in a large bowl. There should be approximately 3 2/3 cups of mashed sweet potato.
3. Combine softened butter with brown sugar, nuts, coconut and flour; stir with a fork. Set aside.
4. Combine sugar, eggs, milk, orange peel, butter, vanilla, salt with the mashed sweet potatoes. Beat the mixture with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the brown sugar-nut mixture over the top of the mixture.
5. Bake for 35 minutes.
Stay tuned for the top five vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes.