A Vegetarian Thanksgiving Menu Meat-Eaters Can Dig

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TakePart's Vegetarian Thanksgiving Menu

Yep, we know—for most Americans, the turkey is the star of the show. But, much like your grandma’s mandarin orange Jell-O salad, we think certain traditions should be thrown out the window. It’s perfectly possible to host a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner that appeals to everyone around the table—and that includes carnivores. Trust us: when your guests dig into dishes like hearty butternut squash lasagne, fragrant thyme roasted carrots, and rich pumpkin pie, no one will miss the bird.

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Photo and recipe courtesy sassyradish.com
Adapted liberally from Gourmet

Ingredients:

Squash Filling
2 large onions, chopped
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup (maybe a few tbsp more) vegetable broth
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 tbsp chopped fresh sage
1 cup pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped

Béchamel:
1 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp unsalted butter
5 tbsp all-purpose flour
5 cups milk
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

For Assembling Lasagna:
1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated (2 cups)
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3 oz)
12 (7- by 3 1/2-inch) sheets no-boil lasagne, or regular lasagne sheets, cooked according to instructions on the package, drained and cooled (1/2 lb)

Directions:

To Make Squash Filling:
In a deep, 12-inch, heavy skillet over moderate heat, cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add squash, garlic, salt, pepper, and broth and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until squash is just tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, sage, and nuts. Bring filling to room temperature.

To Make Béchamel Sauce While Squash Cooks:
In a 3-quart heavy saucepan, cook garlic in butter over moderately low heat, stirring, for 1 minute. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking, 3 minutes—this will make your roux. Add milk in a thin, constant stream, whisking all the while. Add bay leaf and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 10 minutes. Your béchamel will thicken. Whisk in salt and white pepper, discard bay leaf, and remove from heat. (Cover surface of sauce with wax paper if not using immediately.)

To Assemble Lasagna:

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Toss cheeses together. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in a buttered 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish (or some other shallow 3-quart baking dish) which is facing you lengthwise, and cover with 3 pasta sheets going the width of the dish, leaving spaces between sheets. Spread with 2/3 cup sauce and one third of filling (not 1/3 cup, 1/3 of the ENTIRE filling), then sprinkle with a heaping 1/2 cup cheese.

Repeat layering 2 more times, beginning with pasta sheets and ending with cheese. Top with remaining 3 pasta sheets, remaining sauce, and remaining cheese.

Tightly cover baking dish with buttered foil and bake lasagna in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden and bubbling, 10-15 minutes more (my oven did it in 15, yours might run hotter). Let lasagna stand 15-20 minutes before serving.

In the meantime, you can fry some leftover sage leaves in some olive oil. Over low heat, warm olive oil until it simmers and gently fry sage leaves (when dropped in oil). Leaves are done when the bubbling around them subsides. I, of course, was too hungry to do this. But no reason why you can’t make ahead. I am just bad at planning.

Heavenly Mashed Potatoes

Recipe and photo courtesy of Spoon Fork Bacon

Serves 5 to 7

Ingredients:

4 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup cottage cheese, pureed
2 tablespoons chives, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
optional garnish:
chives
melted butter

Directions:

1. Place potatoes in a large pot and fill with water. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Boil potatoes until fork tender, about 25 minutes.
3. While potatoes boil, place cream, butter and garlic in a small saucepan and simmer. Once mixture comes to a simmer, remove from heat.
4. Drain potatoes in a colander and return back to the pot. Lightly mash the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.
5. Pour cream mixture over the potatoes, a little at a time, and mash the potatoes until all the cream mixture has been used and potatoes are smooth.
6. Stir in pureed cottage cheese and sliced chives and season with salt and pepper.
7. Top with remaining chives and melted butter, if desired. Serve warm.

Challah, Mushroom, and Celery Stuffing

Recipe courtesy of Food52.com
(photo: Sarah Schatz)

Serves 12

Ingredients:

1 large loaf of challah or brioche
2 cups celery, diced
2 cups onion, diced
2 cups cremini mushroom, diced
8-10 sprigs thyme, chopped
3 sprigs rosemary, chopped
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
3 cups vegetable stock, preferably homemade
3 ounces butter
4 ounces melted butter
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

Directions:

Cut the challah into 1-inch cubes. Leave the cubes out on a parchment-lined sheet pan on the counter to get stale, at least overnight, and preferably 2 days.

Melt 3 oz. of butter in a large heavy saute pan. Saute the onions until wilted, add the herbs, celery and mushrooms and cook until just slightly cooked through.

In a large bowl, combine bread cubes, vegetables, melted butter and vegetable stock, and salt and pepper. Test for seasoning and adjust.

Press stuffing into a large, buttered baking dish. Cover with buttered parchment, and then foil. At this point, the stuffing can be held for several hours, but should be at room temperature before baking.

Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes, the last 10-15 minutes without the foil and parchment, to crisp the surface.

Thyme Roasted Carrots

Recipe and photo courtesy of A Sweet Pea Chef

Ingredients:

10-12 whole unpeeled carrots, split lengthwise
2 tbsp. fresh whole thyme leaves (no stems)
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
optional: balsamic vinegar, honey, fresh rosemary sprigs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Drizzle olive oil over carrots on the sheet pan. Season with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Toss carrots until evenly coated with oil and seasonings. Arrange carrots on sheet pan. Toss fresh thyme leaves over carrots.

Roast in oven for 30-35 minutes, until golden and tender.

Easy Vegetarian Onion Gravy

Recipe and photo courtesy thehazelbloom.com

Serves 4 – 5

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. plus 4 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
4 tbsp. flour
2 cups vegetable broth
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

With the heat on low, melt one tablespoon of the butter in a small or medium saucepan.

Increase heat to medium, and add the onion.

Cook the onion 10 to 15 minutes, until it’s somewhat caramelized.

Remove as much of the onion as possible from the saucepan. (Don’t rinse it out; there’s yummy stuff in there!)

Keeping the heat on medium, add the remaining four tablespoons of butter and the four tablespoons of flour.

Cook the roux (the butter and flour), stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes.

Add back the onions, then stir in the two cups of vegetable broth.

Continue stirring over medium heat until the gravy starts to boil (it’ll take just a couple of minutes).

And keep stirring until it thickens to a gravy-like consistency.

Lower heat to a simmer and add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from stove and pour over potatoes.

Fresh Green Bean Casserole

Recipe and photo courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

For the Topping:
4 slices white bread, each slices torn into quarters
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
3 cups canned fried onions (about 6 ounces)

For the Green Beans and Sauce:
2 tbsp. salt
2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed, and halved
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 pound white button mushrooms, stems removed, wiped clean and broken into 1/2-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tbsp.)
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1½ cups chicken broth
1½ cups heavy cream

Directions:

For the Topping: Pulse bread, butter, salt and pepper in food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with onions; set aside.

For the Beans and Sauce: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees F. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add 2 tablespoons salt and beans. Cook beans until bright green and crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Drain beans in colander and plunge immediately into ice water to stop cooking. Spread beans on paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain.

Add butter to now-empty pot and melt over medium-high heat until foaming subsides. Add mushrooms, garlic, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; cook until mushrooms release moisture and liquid evaporates, about 6 minutes. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in broth and bring to simmer, stirring constantly. Add cream, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced to 3½ cups, about 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add green beans to sauce and stir until evenly coated. Arrange in an even layer in a 3-quart (or 9×13-inch) baking dish. Sprinkle with topping and bake until top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling around edges, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

*Note 1: You can prep this ahead of time. Store the breadcrumb topping in an airtight container in the refrigerator and combine with the onions just before cooking. Combine the beans and cooled sauce in a baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. To serve, remove the plastic wrap and heat the casserole in a 425-degree oven for 10 minutes, then add the topping and bake as directed.

*Note 2: This recipe can be halved and baked in a 2-quart (or 8-inch square) baking dish. If making a half batch, reduce the cooking time of the sauce in Step 3 to about 6 minutes (1¾ cups) and the baking time in Step 4 to 10 minutes.

*Note 3: If you want to go 100% homemade and eliminate the canned fried onions, you can make your own caramelized onions. Thinly slice 2 sweet onions and saute in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, or until the onions are golden, caramelized and soft. Set aside to cool before combining with remainder of crumb topping. Proceed with the recipe as directed.

(Recipe adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, November 2006)

The Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Recipe Courtesy of Ladies' Home Journal and Recipe.com

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
5 tbsp. cold butter, cut up (no substitutes)
3 tbsp. cold vegetable shortening, cut up
3 to 4 tbsp. ice water
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 15-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tps. freshly ground pepper
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
Whipped cream, for garnish
Ground cinnamon, for garnish

Directions

1. Pulse together flour, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter and shortening; pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, through feed tube, pulsing just until mixture begins to hold together. Shape pastry into a ball and flatten into a thick disk. Wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate 40 minutes.

2. Arrange rack in bottom third of oven. Heat oven to 425 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry into a 12-inch circle. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim edge and flute. Freeze 15 minutes.

3. Whisk together eggs, the 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until well combined; whisk in pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, 1/4 teaspoon salt, the pepper, nutmeg and cloves. Stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula. Pour into prepared crust. Smooth top with spatula.

4. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake until filling is set, 30 minutes. If pastry edge gets too dark, cover edge with foil. Cool on a wire rack. Garnish with whipped cream and cinnamon, if desired. Makes 8 servings.

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