Here’s a special selection of Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes for the holidays:

Bryanna’s Squash with Wild Rice and Chanterelle Stuffing

from “The Almost No-Fat Holiday Cookbook” by Bryanna Clark Grogan, reprinted with permission.  Serves 6

If you’d like to make a colorful stuffed winter squash the centerpiece and main dish of your vegetarian Thanksgiving, choose a large, meaty pumpkin; Boston marrow squash; turban squash; hubbard squash; banana squash; or the pale blue-grey New Zealand squash, which is my favorite.

For a side dish, stuff hollowed-out halves of acorn, butternut, or buttercup squash, or even small pumpkins.

We pick our own chanterelle mushrooms in the forest near our house, but they are available in good produce stores, supermarkets and natural food stores. If you can’t find them, use fresh shiitakes, oyster mushrooms, or even ordinary mushrooms (the brown ones have more flavor).

Ingredients

3 small winter squash (about 1¼ lb each) OR 1 medium-large winter squash (about 6-8 lbs.) (see text for varieties)

Wild Rice and Chanterelle Stuffing:
3½ cups light vegetarian broth
1½ cups wild rice
4 cups sliced cleaned chanterelles (see text for substitutes)
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup minced onion
4 stalks celery, sliced
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried marjoram
salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

TO PRECOOK THE SQUASH: for the small squash, cut the them in half and scoop out the seeds. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the squash halves cut-side-down in a shallow baking pan with ½ inch of hot water. Bake for 40 minutes, or just until tender.

For the large squash, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and cut a “lid” off the top of the squash and scoop out the seeds, scraping the interior well. Place the squash in a baking pan, with the lid on loosely and bake for 1 hour, then check for tenderness. if the squash isn’t done cook longer. (It’s difficult to be exact with large squash because the cooking time varies with the type of squash and thickness of the flesh.)

TO MAKE THE STUFFING, bring the broth to a boil in a medium pot. Wash the wild rice in a colander under running water. When the water boils, add the washed wild rice, bring to a boil, then cover and turn down to a simmer. Simmer for about 55 minutes, or until tender.

Meanwhile, steam-fry the chanterelles, green onions, celery and onions in a large non-stick or lightly-oiled skillet until tender and slightly-browned. Add the cooked wild rice, herbs and salt and pepper to taste.

Mound the stuffing into the large or small squash and place the squash in a shallow baking pan. (If there is any stuffing left over, place it around the squash.) Bake the small squash at 350F, covered, for 20 minutes, or the large squash for 45-60 minutes, covered. Serve hot with gravy.

Bryanna’s Rich Brown Yeast Gravy

Makes about 2½ cups.

2½ cups water
1/3 cups unbleached white flour
1/3 cups nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ tsp salt
OPTIONAL: a few shakes of gravy browner (or use mushroom soy sauce, which is darker)

In a heavy saucepan over high heat, whisk the yeast and flour together until it smells toasty. Off the heat, whisk in the water, soy sauce, salt and Kitchen Bouquet, if using. Stir constantly over high heat until it thickens and comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2-5 minutes. This can be made ahead and reheated.

MICROWAVE OPTION FOR GRAVY: In a 1½ qt. microwave-proof bowl, mix the flour and yeast. Toast this in the microwave on HI for 3 minutes, uncovered. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 minutes. Whisk. Cover and cook again for 3 minutes on HIGH. Whisk. Or, make half the recipe in a 4-cup microwave-safe glass measuring container, and cook as above, but in 2 minute increments.

 

The following recipes are from www.nutritionmd.org reprinted with permission

Cranberry Corn Bread

Makes 2 loaves

This bread is perfect for the holidays, when fresh cranberries are available. You can make it at other times of the year by substituting dried cranberries that have been soaked in warm water until soft.

Ingredients

1 6-ounce can orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup corn syrup, rice syrup, or similar liquid sweetener

½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
3 cups fresh cranberries (1 12-ounce bag)
1 vegetable oil spray

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Pour orange juice concentrate into a measuring cup that holds 2 cups or more. Add lemon juice and enough water to make 1½ cups. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt. Add orange juice mixture and corn syrup. Stir to mix, then stir in walnuts, if using, and cranberries. Do not overmix. Spoon into two non-stick or vegetable oil sprayed loaf pans and bake for 1 hour. Let stand 5 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on a rack.

 

Pecan Pie

Makes 1 pie

Ingredients

2½ cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

¾ cup maple syrup

1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

¼ teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons flaxseeds
1½ teaspoons arrowroot

1/3 cup soymilk
1 prebaked pie crust

Place pecans in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine maple syrup, rice syrup, vanilla, ginger, and salt. Simmer mixture for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.

In a spice grinder, grind flaxseeds to a powder. Combine powdered flaxseeds, arrowroot, and soymilk with the maple syrup mixture, pour into a blender, and blend until smooth.

Pour the liquid from the blender over the pecans. Mix well and pour into a prebaked pie shell. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until the filling has firmed up. Let cool.