Socially Just Dining: Special Holiday Edition

One of the most beautiful holidays I can remember since I became vegan happened in the earlier days of my vegan advocacy. It was 2002, and a non-vegan family I had been recently introduced to, made the most heart-warming and functional suggestion a non-vegan family could possibly make to welcome a vegan into their family. They invited me to share the holidays with them, yet the invitation alone, wasn’t what blew me away. It was the fact that, not only were they curious about veganism, they wanted to know ALL about it. It was also the fact that they asked me to share with them all my favorite vegan holiday recipes, and most amazing, was that they volunteered to get ALL the ingredients necessary, and to all pitch in to make a completely vegan ThanksLiving dinner! It was a fantasy come-true. If that fantasy family does not happen in your life, you can always go to meetup.com (and/or Facebook) and join The Columbus Vegan Meetupgroup and attend one of the many gatherings that are happening in throughout the holiday season.

I thought I would share some of my most cherished vegan holiday recipes and preferred sources of vegan alternative ingredients.

Eriyah’s Favorite Veganized Holiday Menu

Drinks & Cocktails

o Holiday Nog

o Cocktails

o 6 Vegan Nogs

Appetizers

o Olive Walnut Spread (served with greens and your favorite crusty bread)

o Cheese and Crackers

Sides

o Mashed Potatoes

o Winter Greens with currents and pine nuts

o Stuffing

o Cranberry Sauce

o Mushroom Gravy

o Mac and Cheeze

Mains

o Field Roast En Croute

o GardeinTurk’y Roast

o Tofurkey

o Ham

Desserts

o Apple Pie

o Rum Cake

RECIPES:
Appetizer:
Olive Walnut Spread (Chef Del Sroufe) www.chefdelsroufe.com

Makes about 4 cups—about 8 servings

1 pound extra firm tofu*

6 tbl almond butter*

3 tbl miso*

3 cloves garlic or 1 T. minced garlic*

1 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

1 cup kalamata olives, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons dill

½ red onion, minced

Place tofu, almond butter, garlic and miso into the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Remove the tofu mixture to a mixing bowl.
Add the remaining ingredients to the tofu mixture. Serves 6-8.

Mashed Potatoes (Dianne Flynn)
Serves 6-8, 20 minutes prep

4 medium organic Russet
1 TBSP organic whipped Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread
½ cup plain silk creamer
salt and pepper to taste

Peel (if preferred without skins) and quarter potatoes and boil for approx. 15-20 minutes till soft enough to easily pierce with a fork. Strain potatoes, place in bowl add remaining ingredients and smash with potato masher or blend with hand mixer. Serves 4-6.

Stuffing (Flynn Family)
Serves 12, 40 minutes prep,

10 cups cubed crusty bread
1 stick (1/2 cup EBNBS)
3 med onions
4 celery stalks
1 cup pecans or walnuts
1 cup diced apples
½ cup dried cranberries
2 tsp fresh rosemary (1/2 tsp dried)
2 tsp fresh sage (1/2 tsp dried)
3 tsp fresh thyme (1 tsp dried)

Cube the bread and let sit out to dry out over night or, toast in oven for 30 minutes at 325 degrees F. Melt butter in a large frying pan, cook onions and celery until soft, 12 to 15 minutes, add herbs (if dried) now, (otherwise, add fresh herbs last) Toss bread mixture with vegetables from pan, add stock/broth, chopped apples, pecans/walnuts, and dried cranberries mix and place in a large pan to bake. Cover pan with foil and bake 20 minutes at 375.

Cranberry Sauce (Flynn Family)
serves 8, 30 min prep minutes prep- 10 minute cooking, additional 15 processing, plus chilling time.

Soak berries in a large bowl in warm water for 10 minutes. Rinse off in a colander and checks to make sure berries are hard; toss any soft berries away. Rinse off again and measure out:

4 cups cleaned cranberries
2 cups water (bring to boil)

2 cups sugar

In a large saucepan bring water to boil, then add cranberries.Boil about 7 minutes stirring the whole time. Pour into colander that is sitting in a wide and deep bowl or pan.

Begin pressing berries though the colander till the only thing that is left is a dry paste of berry skins. About 15 to 20 minutes. Scrape off the entire remaining cranberry from the outside of the colander and stir till sauce is clear. Pour into serving dish. Mix well, then refrigerate several hours to gel.

Kale and Currents (Flynn Family)
serves 6-8, 15 minutes prep- 10 minute cooking

1 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP EBNBS
2 TBSP dried currents
½ cup hot water
2 bunches of kale
1 clove fresh garlic
salt and pepper
½ cup pine nuts

First, add hot water to currents and set aside while preparing the rest of the dish. Peel, and slice or mince garlic. In a pan, add olive oil and EBNBS, and garlic, and sauté over medium-low heat for about a minute, stirring frequently, then add pre-cleaned and chopped kale continually stirring, add salt and pepper, and increase heat to medium-high and sauté 2-3 minutes until bright and tender. Lower heat to medium and add currents (and water soak) and pine nuts, sauté a minute or two more. Remove from heat and place mixture in warm bowl to serve.

Herbed Mushroom Gravy (Flynn Family)
Prep Time 20 minutes serves 8

6 TBSP flour

7 TBSP olive oil

¼ cup onions diced

¼ cup carrots diced

¼ cup celery diced

2 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried thyme

1 cup mushrooms thinly sliced

3 cups vegetable stock

2 TBSP soy sauce

½ tsp maple syrup

1. Sauté mushrooms in 1 tablespoons olive oil until browned and liquid is evaporated. Set aside.

2. Make a roux by heating 6 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy skillet at medium high heat. Add 6 tablespoons of flour one at a time stirring constantly. Cook 5 to 7 minutes until flour is lightly browned.

3. Add onion, carrot, celery and dried spices to roux. Lower heat to and cook for 2 to 3 minutes,

4. Slowly stir in the stock, ½ cup at a time, blending as you go. Add soy sauce, maple syrup and mushrooms. Stir and cook for 15 minutes over medium low heat until sauce is thickened.

Mac and Cheeze
http://www.food.com/recipe/the-best-vegan-macaroni-and-cheese-ever-180878

1 ½ cups plain soymilk
1 cup water
1⁄3 cup tamari or 1⁄3 cup soy sauce
1 1⁄2 cups nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
3 ounces firm tofu
1 cup canola oil
1 1⁄2 lbs macaroni noodles2 teaspoons mustard (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Boil water in a big pot for the pasta. All of the ingredients sans pasta can easily go in a blender (liquid and powdered) -- this is by far the easiest way. Once pasta is cooked, drain and put it in the baking pan pour the cheese sauce over the pasta. Bake until the top of the pasta looks slightly browned and crispy about 15 minutes.

Apple Pie (Flynn Family)

Pre heat oven to 450 degrees

Line a 9 inch pie pan with Achatz vegan pie sheet.

6 Medium sized apples (Pippin or Granny Smith). Peel and core then slice in very thin pieces.

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice sprinkled over apple slices.

Combine in separate bowl all dry ingredients:

¾ cup of packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 ½ tablespoon organic flour

(Optional)

1 cup whole walnuts (grated- I use the old fashioned hand nut grinder my grandmother used).

Sift dry ingredients over sliced apples and gently mix until well coated. Place apple slices in layers in the pie shell. Top slices with three or four dollops of Earth Balance Original or Organic Buttery Spread. Top with 2nd crust, seal and trim edges, flute and cut slits to vent. Cover edges of crust with tin foil to keep from burning. Place in the middle of oven on third shelf from the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Take the foil off the edges 10 minutes before done. Let rest for 20 minutes after removing from oven.

Rum Cake (Curtiss Stewart)

Cake Ingredients:

1 18oz. Yellow Cake mix

1 Small Box (4-6 servings) instant vanilla pudding

1 12oz. Silken Tofu (medium firmness)

1/2 cup soymilk

1/2 cup EBNBS (softened)

1/2 cup dark rum

1/2 cup walnut or pecan pieces

Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) EBNBS

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup dark rum

Cake Preparation: Set oven to 325*F. Oil and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan then sprinkle nuts on the bottom. Liquefy tofu, soymilk, vegetable oil/soy butter, and rum in a blender until smooth. Empty the contents of the cake mix and pudding mix into a large mixing bowl. Add blended ingredients to dry ingredients and beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Scoop batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake for 1 hour-1hr 15mins. Insert wooden skewer into the thickest part of the cake to test doneness. Allow cake to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Invert cooled cake on a serving plate and glaze.

Glaze Preparation: Melt soy butter in a medium pot. Stir in sugar and rum. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and spoon or brush glaze onto the cake.

Grocer abbreviations:
Bexley Natural Foods (BNF)
Clintonville Natural Foods (CNF)
Earth Fare (EF)
Fresh Thyme (FT)
Its All Natural (IAN)
Lucky’s Market (LM)
Raisin Rack (RR)
Whole Foods (WF)

*Order online in advance. (Some mainstream stores such as Giant Eagle, Kroger, Meijer, Target and even “big box” stores are starting to have many of these items in their “Natural/Specialty Foods” sections). If your local store does not carry what you want, they do take requests, please take the initiative to request items where you shop.

Notes:

There are now a myriad of brands for the same alternative products that each have varying base ingredients (grain, nut, seed, bean or pulse) and flavored profiles (plain, vanilla, chocolate hazelnut, etc.), with and without sugar added etc.

Also, while manufactured/processed items on the market are more convenient, they are also more expensive in both their environmental and personal health tolls, and they often don’t taste as good or save as much money as homemade options. If you decide you have plenty of time, enjoy adventuring in the kitchen, and want to save money, you can find recipes online or in vegan cookbooks for just about every vegan alternative on the market no matter what your individual needs/preferences/restrictions are, (Gluten-Free, Nut-free, Soy-free, Sugar-Free, Raw, Macrobiotic, Paleo, Keto, ERFYT {yes, paleo, keto, Eat Right for Your Type (ERFYT) vegans exist] Etc.) Just start running Internet searches for whatever it is you would like to replicate and there will most likely be a vegan alternative recipe or product on the market that can meet your requirement. My go to favorite sources for recipes are:
The Gentle Chef.com: https://thegentlechef.com/vegan-holiday-recipes-roasts-sides-desserts/
One Green Planet: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/channel/vegan-recipe/

Shopping List:
[Eriyah’s recommended/personal specific brand favorites]

- bread [One Degree Veganic Bread] (EF, LM) 2 loaves (1 for each the appetizer and stuffing)
- tofu extra firm [Twin Oaks Tofu{plain}] (CNF, IAN) (1 16 oz)
- almond butter (1 small container or make fresh)
- miso [South River Sweet Tasting Brown Rice] (BNF, IAN) (1 jar)
- kalamata olives (halved/pitted)
- walnuts (organic, local) or pecans (2 12 oz bags)
- pine nuts (8 oz)
- dill (organic, fresh)
- garlic (organic, fresh) (1 whole clove)
- fresh white button mushrooms (1 lb)
- fresh rosemary
- fresh thyme
- fresh organic celery (1 bunch)
- carrots organic (1bunch)
- onions yellow (1 bag)
- greens (organic, purple Swiss chard or purple kale)
- cranberries fresh organic (2 bags)
- potatoes (russet, organic) (1 Bag)
- kale
- Silk plain creamer 1 QT
- Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread (2 tubs or 2 boxes of 4 sticks)
- sugar (1each 3-5 lb bag)
- plant-milk of choice (soy or almond are my favorite) (1/2 gallon)
- maple syrup (100% pure, grade B)
- soy or tamari sauce 1 bottle
- mustard
- macaroni noodles
- nutritional yeast (BNF, CNF, IAN, EF, FT, LM, RR, WF)

- Cherrybrook Kitchen Yellow Cake Mix (1 box)

- Dr. Oetker’s Vegan Vanilla Pudding (1 box)
- silken tofu (1, 12 oz box)
- Rum (1 each 750 ml bottle)
- walnuts or pecans (2, 12 oz bags)
- organic granny smith apples (1 bag or 8 apples)
- fresh organic lemon
- cinnamon
- garlic powder
- paprika
- vegetable bullion Rapunzel (1 box)
- brown sugar
- salt
- flour (regular or gluten free) 1 bag
- vegan crackers your need preference

100% plant-based alternatives to conventional products on the local market (*=online)

- vegan vegetable bouillon: [Rapunzel] (CNF, IAN, RR,WF)
- vegan butter (organic/whipped) [Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread{EBNBS}] (CNF, IAN, RR,WF)
- vegan cheese [Chao creamy original, Follow Your Heart Smokey Gouda, Miyokos*] (CNF, IAN, RR, WF)
- vegan condensed milk (sweetened): Nature’s Charm (BNF, CNF, IAN, EF, FT, LM, RR, WF)
- vegan cream cheese: Tofutti
- vegan creamer (plain): Silk(it is soy based- there are other brands and flavors) (WF)
- vegan eggs: for cookies, cakes, and other recipes where egg is not the primary feature: EnerG egg replacer powder(BNF, CNF, IAN, EF, FT, LM, RR, WF) or The Vegg(CNF, IAN) For scrambles, omelets or quiche: The Vegg, Follow Your Heart(CNF, IAN) vegan egg, or silken tofu. For meringue, see below
- vegan gelatin: BakolJel Dessert (CNF, IAN)
- vegan ham: Vegetarian Plus(IAN) or make it yourself: The Gentle Chef
- vegan marshmallows: Dandies (CNF, IAN, RR, WF)
- vegan meringue: aquafaba recipes
- vegan pie crust: Achatz pie crust (WF)
- vegan ricotta: Tofutti*
- vegan seafood: Sophie’s, Gardein, Match Meats(CNF, EF,
- vegan sour cream: Tofutti(BNF, CNF, IAN, EF, FT, LM, RR, WF)
- vegan turkey: Tofurkey, Gardein, Match Meats(BNF, CNF, IAN, EF, FT, LM, RR, WF)
- vegan whipped cream: Soyatoo(BNF, CNF, IAN, EF, FT, LM, RR, WF)