Our cruelty free Thanksgiving!

Oh the smell of Tofurky roasting in the oven, veggie broth simmering in the pans, and a pumpkin pie cooling off by the window.

Papa Veg Peeling Potatoes

I must say I had a LOT of fun cooking this meal. It was such a nice change after attending our families Thanksgiving dinners all weekend and not being able to eat much because it was all smothered in chicken broth.

So for an appetizer I cooked Roasted Beets with Yogurt and Dill Dressing. To make it you preheat the oven to 400F, peel 4 medium sized beets and place them in foil wrappers. Roast them until tender, about 45 minutes, open packets and let cool. Slice the beets and transfer to a platter or bowl. Whisk 1/4 cup of plain yogurt, 1tbsp of fresh dill, 1/2 tsp honey and 1/2 tsp of lemon zest and 1/8 tsp of salt. Drizzle the dressing over the warm beets and serve! Mmmmm it was delicious.

For the main course I cooked mashed potatoes with sauteed garlic and mixed in some mozzarella cheese, mashing with butter and milk. Very delicious.

I also cooked Vegetarian Stuffing. Combining celery, onions, mushrooms and green pepper in a pan and frying it, adding about 3 cups of vegetable broth and I bought a box of Paxo Stuffing Mix for the bread which I added in and seasoned with rosemary. Next time I would forgo the Paxo mix and use stuffing bread instead, it could have been a lot better.

I made a mushroom gravy for the mashed potatoes and Tofurky by sauteing mushrooms and onions in butter while boiling 1/2 cup of flour, 2bsp oil and 4 cups of vegetable broth in another pot. Once boiled you add 1tbsp of soy sauce and 1/4 tsp of black pepper. Cook until it's thickened then add the mushrooms and onions. It wasn't bad but could have used some more flavor.

Then the Tofurky! Well...it wasn't terrible. It was chewy, had a meat-like consistency to it, next time I will make my own baste and not use the recipe on the box, it wasn't very flavorful.

All in all it was an excellent cruelty free Thanksgiving!