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plant-based thanksgiving

Grateful Fred Stuffed Tofu Turkey | Vegan Holiday Feast

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The holidays are all about love, connection, community, cheersing and good times. The food and the love that goes into it is always big part of all the festivities. So, this Thanksgiving, here’s a stuffed tofu turkey recipe to spread the love, and fall in love with…without the cost of the turkey, Fred (he’s grateful).

Turkey shmurkey. Ham shmam. Steak shmeak.

Eating plant-based during a holiday dinner party isn’t always an easy task, that is unless you bring this comfort-food recipe of a lifetime!

I wanted to help you create something that won’t be a compromise… and may even be just as popular at the Thanksforgivin’er shindig than your Auntie’s turkey pie!

If you’re looking for a pre-made option, Gardein makes a delicious ‘stuffed turkey’ (use CRVAN-MURJUB to shop at Spud to get 2 free ones in your order), and Tofurky does too.

But, if you want to go the cooking route and put as much of that love ingredient in there as possible, look no further!

Fred is thankful he can live out that Turkey life of his, and the fam will be thankful that the vegan doesn’t bring carrot sticks to the comfort-food party!

This turned out really well. The outside is browned, the inside is tasty with pecan stuffing, and the overall feel is incredibly turkey dinner-like.

Top it all off with this mushroom gravy, and this mashed cauliflower for your tastebuds to explode.

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Other ideas for a Holiday dinner recipes… Meatless Balls, Whole Roasted Cauliflower, Mashed Butternut Swirl, Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake, or this Apricot Butternut Lentil Loaf (an oldie but a goodie).

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Grafeful Fred Stuffed Tofu Turkey
 
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A perfect replacement for Fred the Turkey for a holiday feast! This pecan stuffing rolled up in a tofu 'turkey' will shine on the centre of the dinner table.
Author:
Recipe type: thanksgiving, holiday, christmas, dinner
Cuisine: holiday, thanksgiving
Serves: 8
Ingredients

  • Tofu Turkey:
  • 4 blocks organic firm tofu (each 350g)
  • 2 vegetable bouillon cubes
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp onion powder
  • 2 tbsp garlic powder
  • 2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2½ cups of vegan stuffing (recipe below)
  • 3-4 tbsp Bragg's liquid aminos (for basting)

  • Vegan Pecan Stuffing (makes enough for stuffing the tofu turkey, plus a side dish):
  • 8 cups bread of choice, cubed
  • 1 cup large yellow onion, chopped
  • 1½ cups celery, chopped
  • 7-8 white mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 tbsp dried thyme, minced
  • 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
  • 2 tbsp fresh sage, minced
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • ½ cup pecans, chopped
  • ½ tsp Pink Himalayan or sea salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper

  • Goes well with this Mushroom Gravy
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F
  2. Press tofu: Place a layer of paper towel on a plate, then the tofu cubes, then another couple layers of paper towel, then a cutting board, then a bowl filled with water. Let sit for at least 30 minutes (the longer the better)
  3. Meanwhile, make the stuffing! Start by spreading the cubed bread out over a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes (stir at the 10 minute mark), until it's dry...smells so good.
  4. In a large pot, oil-free sauté the onions, celery and mushrooms for 5 minutes (just add a bit of the veggie broth if it's sticking), until softened. Add the herbs and salt and pepper. Mix it up, then add 1½ cups of broth. Add the bread and pecans then mix everything well. The stuffing should be moist, but not soaking wet. If your stuffing is still a little dry, keep adding a bit of veggie broth until it's moist (you shouldn't need more than 2 cups total)
  5. Set aside 2½ cups of stuffing for the turkey filling.
  6. Pour the rest of the stuffing into a baking dish and bake in the oven for 25 minutes (hello side dish!)
  7. Prepare your 'turkey' zone: Lay out 2 sheets of tin foil, side by side overlapping about 3 inches, with a layer of parchment on top. The parchment paper should be about 15 inches long by 13 inches wide, with the tinfoil as a border beneath it.
  8. Time to make the 'turkey': To go easy on your food processor, start by blending half of all the tofu turkey ingredients together (except for the stuffing and Bragg's liquid aminos) for at least 1 minute in your food processor, or until a dough-like ball starts to form. Place that mixture as a ball on the parchment paper.
  9. Then, blend the other half of all the tofu turkey ingredients (again, except for the stuffing and Bragg's liquid aminos) in the food processor, and add it to the pile on the parchment.
  10. Spread out the tofu mixture into a ½ - ¾ inch thick rectangle (about 8x12")
  11. Spoon the 2½ cups of stuffing into the middle of the tofu rectangular 'turkey' in a lengthwise tube shape.
  12. Use the parchment paper to roll one side of the tofu turkey over the stuffing, then the other side until the tofu turkey just overlaps. Give it a nice squeeze to make sure it's all overlapping by at least 1 inch.
  13. Unwrap it and fold the ends. Use your fingers to press down any open areas, or cracks.
  14. Pour Bragg's liquid aminos over top and use basting brush to cover the whole turkey.
  15. Then wrap it up with the parchment and tinfoil nice and tight, folding on top and twisting the ends (so it looks like a tootsie roll turkey)
  16. Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
  17. Let cool 15 minutes, then place in the fridge.
  18. When you're ready to serve it, take it out of the fridge, slice in 1 inch slices, wrap it back up and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F.
  19. Serve with the mushroom gravy from this recipe and this cauliflower mash!
  20. Happy Holidays! The Turkey's thank you!
Notes
*Great to make ahead of time, then store in the fridge until you're ready to put it in the oven for 30 more minutes before serving
*If you want to make it right before, just skip the fridge part, and keep it in the oven for another 15-30 minutes, then slice when it comes out!

Tag me make this! (@hookedonplants on instagram)! I love seeing your recipes.

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Mashed Potato Butternut Swirl | Vegan Holiday Side

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This vegan holiday side dish will match this Thanksgiving and Fall weather like slippers to your onsie.

Simple, comforting, fun to play with and sooooo good lookin’.

Holiday side dishes are usually packed with butter and cream to make them feel decadent. But, you can easily get the same kind of comfort from this low-fat, vegan beauty!

A perfect dish to bring to your family dinner this holiday season.

Personally, I like to keep the skins on any organic produce I have because that’s where TONS of the nutrients are found. But, if you’d like a brighter looking dish, feel free to peel the skins of the potatoes!

Benefits:

  • Sweet potatoes boost your immune system, smooth out your digestive system, ward of cancer, relieve arthritis, and are packed with vitamins and minerals. There’s a good reason centenarians base their diet around the sweet potato! Don’t be afraid of white or russet potatoes! They have incredible benefits too and are packed with fibre (they just get a bad reputation from the good old fried up version called the french fry, which isn’t so healthy)
  • Butternut squash is a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals. It’s packed with fibre and low in fat, making it a great option for weight loss and heart health. It packed more potassium than bananas and a good dose of B6 for your nervous system.

 

Sweet Potato Butternut Swirl
 
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This is a beautiful side dish to bring to any dinner party, especially over the holidays for extra wow effect. It's simple, fancy looking and tastes like fall.
Author:
Recipe type: Thanksgiving, Holiday, Dinner, Side dish, Dinner
Cuisine: Holiday dinner
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 1 small (or ½ large) butternut squash, halved lengthwise
  • 5 white sweet potatoes, or russet potatoes
  • 1 cup unsweetened, plain almond milk (or soy, coconut, hemp)
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ½ spring fresh rosemary
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • A bit more rosemary for garnish
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F
  2. Place butternut squash open half down on a parchment covered baking pan.
  3. Cut off the ends of the whole potatoes, then pierce them all over with a fork. Place them on a parchment covered baking pan.
  4. Slide both baking sheets into the oven and bake for 1 hour (or until you can pierce a fork through the squash and the sweet potatoes are oozing with deliciousness). Flip the potatoes half way.
  5. In blender or with hand blender, blend sweet potatoes, rosemary, ½ cup milk, garlic powder, nutritional yeast and salt until smooth.
  6. Pour ½ sweet potato mixture in serving dish, and half into a bowl on the side.
  7. Clean blender, then scoop out butternut squash. Blend squash, ½ cup milk and maple syrup until smooth.
  8. Pour ½ the butternut squash mixture onto the potato mixture in the serving dish. Layer it with the rest of the sweet potato mix you had put aside. Top it off with a layer of butternut squash mixture.
  9. With a spoon, stir several times in a clockwise motion without completely mixing the two colours.
  10. Garnish with a bit more rosemary.

 

Meatless Balls + Mushroom Gravy | Oil-Free Vegan Thanksgiving Main

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Family comfort food to the max.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends across the border! I bring to you… meatless balls! They taste better than they sound. And this mushroom gravy? Well, it’s only 6 ingredients, with no oil, and mega flava flave!

If you’re a fan of Thanksgiving, but want to skip the Turkey this year… this one’s for you!

Thanksgiving (or Thanks’living’ as some vegans like to call it…) is ridiculously easy to make vegan. All of those beloved veg-centric side dishes can easily be veganized with simple replacements:

  • vegan butter vs. dairy butter in the roasted veggies
  • plant-based milk vs. cow’s milk in the mashed potatoes
  • flax egg vs. chicken’s egg in the stuffing

And now you have this recipe to replace the Turkey! The awesome, animal-free dinner is now COMPLETE.

I feel the need to give my American friends a yummy recipe for this year’s Holiday because we just spent 2 weeks on a 6500KM mountain biking road trip all across the US. It was us, our camper, a couple mountain bikes, friends and epic views.

The itinerary was: Whistler –> Moab, Utah –> Sedona, Arizona –> Las Vegas, Nevada –> Morro Bay, California –> Portland, Oregon –> Home to Whistler

Scroll down to the bottom for some photos of the trip that was packed with camper cooking, trail snackin’, 7 hour biking adventures, and crazy landscapes. As fun as it was, it’s always nice to come home. I’m grateful for the adventuring, but also so grateful for the simple, everyday things at home.

What are you grateful for? Focusing on the little things and practicing gratitude is something I feel I do naturally, but over the last couple years I’ve been trying to focus on it even more. Every morning before getting out of bed I tell myself 3 things I’m grateful for. It sets the day off to a damn good start.

You should try this:

Before you roll out of bed, tell yourself:

  • 3 things your grateful for
  • 3 things your excited about today
  • 1 awesome thing about yourself (“I am…”)

After that, you’ll always wake up on the right side of the bed.

OK, back to the recipe!!

This one is inspired by the Rouxbe Cooking School Plant-Based class I finished in the spring. They made a loaf, but today… we make balls!!

Benefits:

  • Quinoa is packed with antioxidants, essential minerals (especially iron), vitamins, and fibre (for smooth digestion and weight loss). It’s one of the most protein rich foods we can eat!
  • Mushrooms are packed with vitamin D, so they’re great to eat during the winter months. A good amount of vitamin D wards off depression and keeps your bones healthy, too.
  • Black beans are stars when it comes to heart health because they’re packed with folate, fibre, potassium, B6 and phytonutrients.


Meatless Black Bean Quinoa Balls
 
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A recipe to replace the Turkey space on your plate. These meatless balls are flavourful and meaty, and the mushroom gravy takes it to the next level.
Author:
Recipe type: Thanksgiving main, dinner
Serves: 25-35 balls
Ingredients
  • • 2 cups of cooked quinoa (1½ cups uncooked)
  • • 2 14oz cans of cooked black beans
  • • ½ cup ground flax meal)
  • • 1 cup water (to soak flax meal for creating the vegan egg)
  • • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • • 4 cloves garlic
  • • 5 cups cremini mushrooms, diced
  • • 1 cup grated carrot
  • • 1 cup walnut halves
  • • 1 cup sunflower seeds
  • • ¼ bunch flat-leaf parsley
  • • 10 sprigs fresh thyme
  • • 4 sprigs fresh sage
  • • 1 to 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • • ½ cup nutritional yeast
  • • 1 tbsp sea salt
  • • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Cook quinoa if you haven't already. (Bring 1½ cups quinoa and 1¾ cup water to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes)
  2. Place flax meal into a bowl, add the water, then let sit 5 minutes
  3. Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
  4. Next, heat a frying pan over medium heat, add onions. Let cook for a few minutes, or until they become soft and translucent. If they stick, add a splash of water.
  5. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Continue to cook until the mushrooms have browned and all of their moisture has evaporated.
  6. Place onion, mushroom mixture into a big mixing bowl.
  7. Add grated carrot to mixing bowl.
  8. In your food processor, pulse the walnuts and sunflower seeds until a coarse meal forms, then add this to mixing bowl.
  9. Add all your fresh herbs to the food processor and blend until minced. Add to the mixing bowl.
  10. Add the cooked quinoa and black beans and pulse a few times (still should have some chunky texture to the beans). Add this to the mixing bowl.
  11. Pour the soaked flax egg into the food processor and purée for a minute. This will create an egg-white texture. Add this to the mixing bowl.
  12. Next, add the nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to the mixing bowl and mix everything well to combine.
  13. Form ½ cup balls with your hands, and place on a parchment covered baking sheet.
  14. Bake for 20 minutes.
  15. Meanwhile, make the mushroom gravy.


6 Ingredient, Oil-free, Vegan Mushroom Gravy
 
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This gravy is good to douse anything with! It's easy, delicious and perfect for any holiday meal.
Author:
Recipe type: Topping, Sauce, Gravy
Cuisine: Thanksgiving, Holiday, Comfort food
Serves: 3 cups
Ingredients
  • • 2 yellow onions, diced
  • • 5 cups mushrooms (cremini, white, or wild), sliced
  • • 3 tbsp white wine
  • • 3 tbsp flour (gluten-free or whole wheat)
  • • 2 to 2½ cups water
  • • 2 tbsp tamari
  • • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • • 1 tsp sea salt (to taste)
  • • freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
  1. Heat a large stainless steel frying pan over medium heat (better than a non-stick pan for this recipe, so you get the nice browning of the onions)
  2. Dry-sauté the onions: When the pan is hot, add the onions. Let them simmer for a couple minutes, then add a splash of water to pull the caramelization off the pan.
  3. Sauté the onions until they are translucent and slightly browned, adding more splashes of water if they're sticking.
  4. Add the mushrooms. Simmer them until their water evaporates and they start to brown.
  5. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, stirring until combined.
  6. Then, add the flour. Stir until combined and simmer for 30 seconds.
  7. Slowly add 2 cups of the water. Stir constantly, then let it come to a simmer before adding the rest of the water.
  8. Let cook a few minutes to become a gravy-like consistency, then add the tamari and apple cider vinegar.
  9. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Moments from the mega road trip!