MSM Highlights: Karma-Vore

Thanksgiving ‘Vegetarian Style’

Thanksgiving dinner, with its traditional turkey as the main course, can be difficult for vegetarians. Here are some ideas for your vegetarian Thanksgiving menu, from appetizers to dessert.

Enjoy!

Appetizers

Autumn Salad

Or fall salad, if you prefer. A colourful and flavourful salad to enjoy when the weather changes and the leaves begin to fall.

Yield	6 servings
Time	45 minutes
Tools	2 medium bowls whisk wooden spoon colander serving platter or 6 plates
Ingredients	6 T (3/8 c) orange juice 2 T balsamic vinegar ¼ c olive oil salt pepper ½ medium bulb fennel, cored and thinly sliced ¼ c pomegranate seeds 2 navel oranges, peeled and broken into segments 2 bunches watercress, washed and de-stemmed
Directions	Combine fennel, pomegranate, and oranges in bowl. Whisk the juice, vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper in the other bowl, pour over fruit, toss, and let marinate on the counter for 30 minutes. Strain through colander into the original dressing bowl. Add watercress to the dressing, toss, arrange on platter, top with fruit/fennel, and serve.

Notes

Adapted from Myra Kornfeld's The Voluptuous Vegan, in which this is called Fennel, Orange, and Pomegranate Salad.

Wild Rice and Cranberry Soup

An elegant soup made of wild rice and cranberries laced with sherry.

Yield	4-6 servings
Time	1½ hours
Tools	strainer heavy saucepan with lid Dutch oven or large saucepan wooden spoon whisk
Ingredients	½ c wild rice 2 c water ½ t salt 4 T butter 1 carrot, minced 1 stalk celery, minced ½ c onion, minced 3 T flour 3 c vegetable stock ½ c dried cranberries 1 c milk or half-and-half 2 T dry sherry (optional) salt pepper parsley
Directions	Rinse the wild rice, then place in heavy pan with water and salt over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 45-50 minutes, until slightly chewy. Drain and set aside. In the Dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter, then add carrot, celery, and onion. Sauté, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes, until carrot is tender. Stir in flour, then gradually add stock, whisking constantly. Increase heat to medium-high and continue whisking for about 5 minutes, until thickened. Add rice and cranberries, lower heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes, until cranberries are soft and rehydrated. Add milk and sherry and heat through, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, and serve hot, topped with parsley.
Notes	You can replace the entire first step with 1½ c of leftover wild rice. Adapted from A Beautiful Bowl of Soup: The best vegetarian recipes, by Paulette Mitchell. Wild Rice-Cranberry Soup is featured on the cover to the left.

Bread

Dinner Rolls

I find that the nicest meals are always nicer with some bread in my hand, preferably warm from the oven. We don't have a nice bakery nearby, so I have to make my own rolls, and this is the simplest recipe I've found.

Yield	12 rolls
Time	3 hours (including 2+ hours rising time)
Tools	2 large bowls wooden spoon electric hand mixer plastic wrap muffin tin pastry brush
Ingredients	1 package yeast 3 T warm water (110°) 1 c warm milk 6 T butter, softened 3 T sugar 1 large egg 1 t salt 3½ - 4 c flour 1 t oil
Directions	Combine yeast with water and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in milk, 4 T butter, sugar, egg, and salt. Slowly add 2 c flour and beat for 1 minute. Gradually add another 1½ c flour or more, until dough is still moist but no longer sticky. Turn out onto floured counter and knead 10 minutes, until smooth and stretchy. Form into a ball. Oil the other bowl, place dough ball in it, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap, place in warm spot, and let rise until doubled in size - at least 1 hour. Knead for one minute, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 36 equal pieces and roll into small balls.* Using a bit of the remaining 2 T butter to grease the muffin tin and enough plastic wrap to cover it. Place three dough balls in each muffin cup, cover loosely, and let rise until doubled, at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375. Melt the rest of the butter and brush the rolls. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
Notes	At this point you can freeze the dough. When you're ready to use it, let defrost, then follow above directions to let rise the second time, etc. Adapted from Jay Weinstein's The Everything Vegetarian Cookbook*, in which they are called "Simple Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls."

Main Course

Ratatouille

The perfect recipe to enjoy fresh summer vegetables and herbs; it can be served half a dozen different ways.

Yield	6 servings
Time	1¼ hours
Tools	knife several platters or plates large skillet or Dutch oven with cover wooden spoon
Ingredients	1 pound eggplant salt 3 T olive oil 3 cloves garlic, chopped 2 medium onions, roughly chopped 3 T fresh basil, chopped 3 T fresh parsley, chopped 1 t oregano ½ t rosemary ½ t thyme 1 pound zucchini, cubed 1 red and 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped or sliced 2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped black pepper
Directions	Slice the eggplant, sprinkle both sides of each piece generously with salt, and lay out on platters or plates. After 45 minutes,* rinse off the salt, pat dry, and cube. Heat olive oil over medium heat, add garlic and onion, and sauté for 5 minutes. Add eggplant and herbs, stir well, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, until eggplant is tender. Stir in zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, and black pepper. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes, until zucchini and peppers are cooked.

Notes

* Salting eggplant removes the bitter flavour, but you have to be careful. If you leave the salt on for too long, it will permeate the eggplant and - unless you're wild about salt - ruin the ratatouille. The general rule of thumb is that smaller eggplants are less bitter, so very small ones only need 30 minutes or so of salting, while very large ones may take up to an hour. The eggplant is ready when several tablespoons of tan-colored liquid have oozed out of each slice.

This recipe is quite versatile. It can be served hot, warm, or cold. It can stand alone as a stew; cover pasta, rice, polenta, mashed potatoes, or toast; or fill a crepe or sandwich. I once tried it with some leftover pesto - delicious!

The ingredients are also pretty flexible - just be sure that they are fresh!

Side

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Make the most of the sweet potatoes available in winter - these stuffed sweet potatoes are sweet and buttery.

Yield	8 servings
Time	at least 1 hour
Tools	baking sheet heavy saucepan wooden spoon knife spoon
Ingredients	4 large, dark red sweet potatoes 1½ T butter or vegetable oil ½ c onion, minced 4 T crystallized ginger, minced 2 T golden raisins 2 T prunes, chopped ½ t salt black pepper
Directions	Preheat oven to 450. Clean sweet potatoes, dry, and place on baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes to an hour, until soft. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter over medium heat, add onions, and sauté until clear - 8 to 10 minutes. Cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise, then scoop out most of the flesh, leaving at least ¼ inch along the entire skin. Combine sweet potato flesh with onion, ginger, raisins, prunes, salt, and pepper. Spoon into sweet potato skins* and bake until very hot, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
Notes	If you want to make the sweet potatoes ahead of time, you can cover and refrigerate them at this point and then bake for 30 minutes. Adapted from The Moosewood Collective's Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates: Festive meals for holidays and special occasions*. It's part of the vegetarian Christmas menu and called "Stuffed Yams" despite a note about actually using sweet potatoes rather than yams

Dessert

Cranberry-Nut Bread

A sweet-tart bread that is equally good for dessert, tea, or breakfast.

Yield	1 loaf or 18 muffins
Time	1½ hours
Tools	bread pan or muffin tin small, non-reactive saucepan wooden spoon 2 medium bowls hand mixer
Ingredients	2 c raw cranberries ½ c white sugar orange zest from one orange 1 T orange juice 6 T butter ¾ c light brown sugar, packed 2 eggs at room temperature 1 c buttermilk 2½ c flour 1/8 t cloves 1 t baking soda 1½ t baking powder ½ t salt 1 c walnuts or pecans, finely chopped
Directions	Preheat oven to 375° and butter/flour the bread pan or muffin tin. Combine cranberries, white sugar, orange zest, and orange juice in saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until most of the berries have burst and the sugar has dissolved. Cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy, beat in one egg at a time until smooth, then add the buttermilk. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients except nuts. Stir half of the dry mixture into the sugar/egg mixture, add the cranberries, stir in remaining dry mixture, then fold in nuts. Don't over mix. Transfer batter to bread pan or muffin tins and bake about 70 minutes, until brown on top and dry in the middle. Cool slightly and serve.
Notes	Adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

As seen in the October Issue of Main Street Magazine.

Printed in Canada, ISSN: 1920-4299 by Rain Enterprises

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