For this holiday dinner we hosted a young college person who stayed in the dorm over the holidays. She is vegan, and amazingly, making this feast was less wearing on me than a more traditional one. It also tasted great, was way less expensive, and just as filling.
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A Vegan Meal
I have had people contact me and ask, with sincere concern, what do I serve to a vegan? What is a vegan holiday meal, and how is it different than a vegetarian meal? And many other questions like these. So let me give some pointers, based on a holiday meal we made in 2023.
To keep it simple I start by explaining that vegetarians do not want to eat the actual flesh of animals, but will consume what animals can provide like milk, eggs, honey, yogurt, cheese, butter, etc. Pescatarians are like vegetarians, but will also consume fish (just check to see if this includes shell fish). Whereas, vegans will not eat any flesh, nor anything produced by animals, they are fully plant based.
Thanksgiving Meal
The Menu
I thought about a main dish to take the place of a large turkey or ham, then what sides I could make that were complimentary taste-wise. Our main decision was to have a fall harvest feel at the dinner.
So, we decided that our vegan holiday meal would feature small, herbed baked, and then stuffed acorn squash. The filling would be an herbed + veggie quinoa mixture. Sides would included orange-cranberry sauce, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, and rye German farmers bread. For desert we made apple pies, using fruit from our Pink Lady apple tree. All very healthy and yet comfy Fall food that filled us all up.
We also wanted to make enough she could take leftovers back with her to the dorms.
Seasoning, Herbs + Spices, and Fat
I use kosher salt regularly, and this year I have been into India’s long pepper (Piper longum) crushed with my pestle and mortar. This pepper is great and provides a longer aftertaste of pepper oil.
Dinner was based on the American basic holiday seasoning of sage, oregano, rosemary, and thyme. I chose to have all fresh herbs this year, the rosemary and thyme coming from my garden.
As is my habit, I already knew that any unused fresh herbs I would dry and use to refill my herb jars.
- One big savings tip is to never throw out or compost unused herbs. They are so easy to dry in your sunny spot in the kitchen, and give them a second use as dried herbs. It just takes some space on the counter, daily turning over, and a few days of waiting.
- Just make sure the herbs are fully dried before putting in storage jars.
The dessert spices were focused on cinnamon and cardamon, with brown sugar. And the cranberry sauce had an orange citrus flavor. Nice warming spices to end the meal.
The only things I bought that were specifically vegan were the pie crusts, one box of soy plant milk and a box of Miyoko’s Creamery European Style Salted Plant Milk vegan butter. Everything else served was regular, everyday organic food.
The Squash
I chose stuffed acorn squash, thinking it would be the easiest, and nothing says Fall to me like squash.
Because these acorn squash were especially small, I bought 1 per person. Washed the outside, removed tags, then cut them in two, about 1/4th of the way down from the top so there would be a lid. Then I cut a very small bit from the bottom so the squash could stand up in the parchment lined baking pan.
I removed all the inside fiber and seeds, and oiled the squash inside and out by hand with avocado oil. Then I added a sprig of each herb to the inside, put on the squash lid, and baked them at 350F for 45min. Or until a fork could easily pierce the skin.
But do not throw out the squash innards, as they can become a nice, salty treat.
- Roasted Squash Seeds Snack
- Preheat oven to 325F
- Transfer the acorn squash innards to a colander and separate the seeds
- Rinse and clean the seeds as much as possible.
- Then dry the seeds on a paper towel lined baking sheet
- Once dry, place in a bowl and drizzle some olive oil over the top, and mix well
- Add garlic salt or other dry spice if you like, and again mix well
- Then spread the seeds on a parchment lined baking sheet
- Place the baking sheet into the preheated oven, and for 15-20 minutes, or until the seeds are golden brown.
- Occasionally toss the seeds while cooking, spreading them back out in an even layer.
- There may be a popping sound and that is ok, just continue to cook until the seeds are brownish
- Remove from the oven, taste and season with additional spices or seasoning, as desired; but allow the seeds to cool before eating
The Squash Filling
Meanwhile, I cooked the quinoa in veggie broth, and sautéd onions, garlic, celery, and added some other finely chopped veggies for color and taste. Pay particular attention to making a good veggie broth for the quinoa, as the broth is critical to flavoring the overall quinoa dish.
Then I toasted walnuts, and prepared pomegranate seeds. Once the quinoa was done, I mixed all these ingredients together (after removing the spent herbs in the squash), and stuffed the squash, put the lids back on, and put the lidded and filled squash on a baking sheet and back in the oven to integrate flavors and keep warm.
Orange Cranberry Sauce
I made my favorite orange cranberry sauce, by once again following my own recipe of frozen or fresh cranberries, fresh orange zest and juice, and sugar. I absolutely love the taste of this dish.
Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes were specifically requested, so I peeled and boiled quartered potatoes in salted water. Then ran them through a ricer and added MiYokos vegan butter and some soy milk for creaminess. Adding a little salt and pepper, and it was ready to eat.
Chopped Salad
My spouse made a Greek-influenced chopped salad.
- Chopped salad
- 2 chopped romaine lettuce
- 2 Persian cucumbers where we partially removed the skin, leaving stripes
- 1 chopped small fennel bulb
- 1/4C chopped fronds
- 1/4 thinly chopped small red onion
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas but be sure to rinsed the beans
- 1C fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 1C chopped and toasted walnuts
- 1C pomegranate seeds
- Mixed with a raspberry oil + vinegar dressing
Cornbread Stuffing
I then turned to making the cornbread stuffing. First, I poured the dry ingredients into a large bowl. From then on it was all a matter of adding flavoring and nutritious ingredients. Of course I had to then place the finished dressing into baking pans so they could cook in the oven.
- Cornbread dressing ingredients
- 4C dried cornbread chunks or buy a box or bag from the store
- Thinly sliced hearts of celery (with the leaves)
- Thin matchstick carrots
- 1/2 diced sautéd yellow onion
- 2C sliced sautéd mushrooms
- 1C toasted roughly chopped walnuts
- 2T each finely chopped oregano, sage, rosemary, and thyme
- Liquids: 1 stick vegan butter, and 1-2C vegan mushroom gravy
Mushroom Gravy
Then there was the gravy. I started with a rue of AP flour and vegan butter, and once it turned the color I wanted, I added ~1/2C soy milk and importantly 1-2C vegan broth; this is where the desired umami flavor comes from. I started with 1C broth, then it was a matter of whisking the gravy to assure no lumps, and added more broth when needed.
- Quick Vegan Broth for gravy use
- 3C water (evaporates a bit while cooking)
- Stems from the mushrooms, the brown skins from the onions, some squirts of vegan Worcestershire, and if you have any left-over veggie broth in the fridge add it
- I added a cut of celery, carrot, some fennel fronds, and sprigs of each herb
- This mixture was brought to a boil, then lowered to a simmer, tasted + seasoned, and then strained and added to the gravy rue as needed
At the last minute, I added slices of a hot and good farmer’s bread, a thick and hearty loaf that I buy from Brot Box. It turned out to be a good choice.
The Dessert
We have an over abundant Pink Lady apples on our tree this year, so decided on apple pie, with some twists.
Since I am not a baker, I wanted to buy uncooked pie crusts. After looking carefully at the ingredients, I found that the gluten-free crusts available at our local natural grocery store were vegan. So I bought those. Then we peeled and sliced our apples and put them in a bowl with fresh lemon juice from our tree, ground cinnamon, ground cardamon, and brown sugar. Then I added 1/2C of the cranberry sauce, and some toasted walnut crumbs.
Once the mix was in the piecrust I added a few pats of vegan butter. So we had two pies ready to cook, when I decided at the last minute to top them with some biscotti crumbs. Those crumbs included almond nuts and flavor. Made for a uniquely tasty pie.
Thankfulness
Gratitude is all about taking a moment to reflect on how lucky we actually are when something good happens, whether big or small. The sharing of what we are grateful for happens around our holiday table, and this year was no different. For me, the exchange triggered a reflection on the large list and excitement of gratitude from our youthful guest who has the world in front of her, and from us was gratefulness for (in order) health, home, and friends.
I am very conscious of the many benefits I and my family receives. We have a home, good health care, plenty of available and nourishing food, a level of financial security (fingers crossed) to support the luxury of retirement.
Early on my life was very different, my birth-family was placed into a situation of having next to nothing to our name, having to rely on others and governmental support for basic necessities. During those times, it was people’s generosity, and the skills of my mother, that could turn a meal into a feast.
So, I wish you a hearty, holiday feasting full of love, healing, and gratitude.
— Patty
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