The holiday season is looming. Thanksgiving is one of the coziest and warmest holiday normally spent in the circle of your closest friends and family. It’s time to remember what you are grateful for and time to start planning your goals for the next year. However, if you are vegan, you might feel a great deal of anxiety, anticipating this one day every year, when you awkwardly sit at the table and try to answer why you're hesitant to eat most of the food.
This, my friends, is the experience of a vegan at Thanksgiving. It's hard, especially for first-time vegans. It's something millions of Americans have to experience every year. You don’t want to hurt the feeling of your host. The best way to avoid any uncomfortable situations is to let the host of the party know that you are vegan, and you will be bringing your food. Bringing couple dishes is your best bet! This way you don’t make a receiving party work extra and worry about you. And let’s face it, even if the host assures you that there will be some vegan options, you will probably end up with a bowl of spinach, or dishes that contain dairy, as many people don’t really make the difference between “vegan” and “vegetarian” To save all you fellow vegans from the hardships of Thanksgiving, here are a few dishes you can master and join your family members in the Thanksgiving food coma. So, without further ado, here are some lifesavers for your Thanksgiving party.
1. Brussel sprouts
▪︎ Spread the aluminum foil on the tray. Sprinkle some olive oil. ▪︎ Warm up your oven to 425 C ▪︎ Remove the stems from the Brussels sprouts and cut each of them in two halves. The most important thing when it comes to cooking Brussels sprouts is the dressing. My favorite one is pretty simple. You will need: Honey, liquid aminos, apple cider vinegar, olive oil. The ratio is 3:3:1:3. It just depends on how many portions you are counting on. For example, it can be 3 table spoons of honey, 3 table spoons of liquid aminos, 1 table spoon of vinegar, 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
▪︎ Blend all of the ingredients together with a spoon. ▪︎ Spread the dressing evenly on top of the Brussel sprouts and leave in the oven cooking for 30 min.
2. Butternut squash soup.
What can be better than a hot bowl of butternut squash soup?
▪︎ Sauté 1 chopped onion with olive oil till the onions are soft.
▪︎ Add finely chopped garlic (1 tea spoon) and add grated ginger (1 table spoon). Sauté for 5 more min. Add one chopped butternut squash to the pan, reduce the heat and sauté everything for 10 more min.
▪︎ Meanwhile bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. I normally do 6 cups of water. Note, that I’m not using a veggie broth as I don’t really like the taste of it.
▪︎ Once the water is boiling, add onions, garlic, ginger and butternut squash, reduce the heat to low and leave it simmering for 10-15 min. I normally add 2 table spoons of miso paste, 1 can of garbanzo beans, 2 table spoons of soy sauce, salt, pepper to my soup. When the butternut squash and garbanzo beans are cooked and soft, turn off the stove and let the soup cool down before you add it to the blender and blend it. I usually garnish my soup with chopped herbs (cilantro, dill, parsley), and gluten free French fried onions.
3. Potato salad.
The easiest and the most delicious recipe ever!
▪︎ Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Place pot on the stove over high heat and cover. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are very soft. Cool down potatoes and remove the peel.
▪︎ Add veganaise mayo, corn, salt, chopped olives! Mix everything with the spoon. You don’t even need to chop potatoes. When they are soft, they will naturally crumble when you mix them with the dressing.
I hope you will have an amazing Thanksgiving, eat good food, enjoy your family!!!!! If you have any question, email me or ask them on my Instagram @natalie-aley