Here's a weird fact about me. Not only am I vegan, I'm actually allergic to turkey. It's a weird thing to be allergic to, I've never found another person out there who is allergic to turkey. But this means I have been doing thanksgiving without turkey for a long, long time.
Back before I went plant based I would try to cook duck for these types of holidays. I was always pretty worried about under-cooking it and getting food poisoning and ducks are so fatty they would catch on fire in my oven occasionally. Fortunately the seitan recipe I replaced it with will do no such thing. My go-to holiday feast recipes are all pretty easy. In the morning I make the cake first, set it aside, then make the seitan in the slow cooker, then the stuffing which I put in the fridge. That way we can go out for an afternoon walk and enjoy some family time together. When we get back I just pop the stuffing and seitan in the oven with some carrots to roast while I make mashed potatoes and gravy. That gets the food onto the table (and me out of the kitchen) nice and quickly. I don't want to miss out on everything just because I'm the one who does the cooking.
I've included all the recipes I use here. There is no gravy recipe because I just use a packet. There are a few accidentally vegan gravy packets out there to choose from and it's one less thing to make from scratch.
Cinnamon Cake with Maple-Apple Compote
I make dessert first because if I leave it to the end I'll get tired and skip it. Desserts make meals feel more special, especially to the wee ones, so I don't want to get lazy and skip it. This cake is modified from a basic white cake recipe from allrecipes.com. It's my go-to white cake recipe.
What you need:
1 cup soy milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
What to do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Add 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to the 1 cup of soy milk and set aside.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a separate, medium sized bowl.
Add the oil, water and lemon juice to the soy milk. Mix together then add to the dry ingredients.
Mix to combine then pour into a greased cake pan or 9 x 9 inch pan.
Bake for 30 minutes (or until cooked through, oven temperatures may vary).
For the Maple-Apple Compote
What you need:
2 apples, peeled and diced
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
What to do:
Bring to a boil in a saucepan on medium heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and maintain simmer until the apples are tender.
Slow Cooker Seitan Roasted
I find a lot of seitan recipes turn out too hard. This one is a bit on the too soft side but roasting it helps dry it out making it better. If you want it even drier you could roast it longer than this recipe calls for. My son liked this seitan better than any other version I've tried so far. I think being a bit softer makes it easier for kids to eat. I based this recipe off of one found here but with a few modifications.
What you need:
For the Broth:
8 cups of hot water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke
3 tbsp brown sugar
For the Seitan:
2.5 cups of vital wheat gluten
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups water
What to do:
Add all the broth ingredients to a slow cooker on high.
Add all the dry seitan ingredients to a large bowl and mix.
Add the 2 cups of water to the dry ingredients and mix. I used my hands to mix this part.
Cut the seitan in half and add both pieces to the broth in the slow cooker.
Cook for a few hours until firm, I think I cooked it for 5 hours in the slow cooker, but you could get away with less.
Place the seitan in a roasting dish and pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.
Vegan Sausage Stuffing
My mom would make this stuffing recipe for thanksgiving when I was a kid. She used butter and meat sausage but the recipe is easily made with no butter and vegan sausage. I would recommend the Yves Breakfast Links for this recipe. I have tried the sausage patties and they don't taste sausage like enough.
What You Need:
4 tbsp oil (plus more if its too dry)
1 pkg vegan sausages. Breakfast links work well
1 chopped onion
2 stalks of chopped celery
1 large potato, diced and cooked (I cook it in the microwave because its easy)
1 cup bread crumbs, panko works well
2/3 cup water
Salt, pepper, sage to taste
What To Do:
1. Mash the vegan sausage in a bowl with a potato masher.
2. Fry the onion and sausage in the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until the onion is translucent.
3. Add remaining ingredients and cook until the mixture starts to fry brown. Stir frequently. You can add a bit more oil or water if the dread crumbs leave it too dry.
4. Serve immediately or let it cool and warm it up in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes before dinner.
That's pretty much it for the big recipes. I also make mashed potatoes and lightly roasted carrots. While the seitan and stuffing are in the oven, roasting and warming up respectively, I put some peeled carrots in a little pan and pop them in the oven to cook at the same time. They are only in there for 30-45 minutes so they just get lightly roasted. The mashed potatoes are nothing special. Just boiled, drained and mashed.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
