A Grown-Up Thanksgiving

Not sure if I'm alone in this but whenever I watched Friends when I was younger I thought they were so grown-up and cool that they had their own Thanksgiving dinners. So this year, when McGill decided that we should spend our "holiday" in the library we decided to have our own Thanksgiving dinner because screw you McGill, I will not spend all of my time holed up in Schulich.

Our dinner was very successful, we cooked up a feast and our guests each brought a few dishes of their own. We also played headbands, you know that game they played in the pub in Inglorious Basterds, except when we played not everyone ended up shot to death, which I think is more fun.

So Odessa made the "Holiday Chilli" that has become a family tradition ever since she became a vegetarian and her mom makes it for every holiday and nanaimo bars because she had a craving. Caitlin made vegetarian stuffing, gravy, tofurky and pumpkin pie (all very Thanksgiving-y). Daniele made brussels spouts, a hell of a lot of brussels sprouts.

Holiday Chili
It comes from here, the result of googling "what to make a vegetarian on Thanksgiving".  And it is VERY YUMMY!

Ingredients
3 sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 16 oz. can crushed tomatoes
3 tsps. cumin, or more, to taste
1 tsp. oregano
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced, optional
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bake or microwave the sweet potatoes until just firm. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into 3/4-inch dice. Set aside until needed.

2. Heat the oil in a large pot (I used a wok because it is a very large recipe). Add the onions and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onion is golden. Add the remaining ingredients except the green onions, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then simmer gently, covered for about 25 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.

3. Stir green onions, then season gently with salt. If time allows, let stand off the heat for an hour or two, then heat through as needed.

Stuffing times! We adapted the recipe from here, and not to make Caitlin's head bigger than it already is, but it was AMAZING.
On the day of, Caitlin dried the bread cubes by putting them in the oven at 225 for 15 minute intervals for about an hour, stirring in between. Also, a tip: Use a VERY large bowl, or two bowls while mixing the stuffing. It's not easy in a small one, let me tell ya!

Vegetarian Apple Stuffing
-12 tbsp butter
-2 chopped onions
-3 stalks chopped celery
-3 apples, diced
-8-10 cups bread cubes (we used part whole wheat part white)
-1 cup walnuts
-2 tsp thyme
-1 tbsp sage
-2 eggs
-3 cups vegetable broth, maybe a little more
-Salt and pepper

Directions:

-Melt half the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, and add the onions and celery, and a bit of salt and pepper. Cook until softened, and transfer to a bowl.

-Again, in a skillet, melt the remaining butter, then add the apples and cook on high until they are soft, but not mushy, then add them to the onion bowl.
-Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly
-Put mixture in a 9x13 baking dish and cook uncovered for 45 minutes or so

Next up: Tofurky! Or braised tofu with poultry seasoning!
This recipe is so easy and soooo so delicious. Caitlin has made it for 2 years now, and it's always a crowd pleaser.
Directions:
-Heat some oil in a skillet on high
-Cut desired amount of plain or herbed tofu into 1/2 inch slices and let them cook in oil until browned on both sides
-Add about half a cup of vegetable broth to the skillet once tofu has fried, along with poultry seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. Lower the heat so the broth is simmering, and cook until all broth is absorbed
-Keep more broth on hand because you might need more, but you want the tofu to slowly absorb it

To top the tofu off we used this veggie gravy. Pretty standard recipe, and actually tastes eerily meat-gravy like... 

And then there was pie. Ohhh the pie. Bakerella has actually created the best pumpkin pie recipe we have EVER tried. If you haven't tried this yet, you're welcome (or I'm sorry, I don't know).

Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chip Pie:
-1 deep pie crust

Cream cheese layer:
-8 oz cream cheese
-1/2 cup sugar

Pumpkin layer:
-15 oz. can pumpkin purée
-1 cup sugar
-1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice (we used a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg)
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup evaporated milk

Topping:
-1 cup chopped pecans
-1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Directions:
-Spread cream cheese layer in the base of the crust, then layer the pumpkin layer on top. Bake for 20 minutes at 350.
-Add toppings and bake for another 25-30 minutes

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! Get ready for our halloween post.