If you’re not in the mood to chow down on a turkey this year, or simply want to, well, trim down a bit on all the trimmings, try going Meatless on Thanksgiving. Worried you’ll miss the meat? I put together a menu replete with super easy, super fast and super delicious vegetarian recipes that won’t have you missing that holiday bird one bit.
Vegetarian Thanksgiving
Herbed Aioli Vegetable Platter
Serves 4-6 persons as an appetizer
Ingredients
Vegetables:
1 bunch small California carrots, peeled, sliced and blanched
2 cups cauliflower florets, blanched
1 large fennel, trimmed and cut into batons and blanched
1 cup fingerling potatoes, boiled until tender, and peeled
½ cup pickled vegetables (I used pickled peppers)
1 cup white asparagus, peeled, trimmed and blanched
1 cup fresh radish, quartered
Herbed Aioli:
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of water
1 cup canola oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoons fresh dill
salt
Directions
Make your basic mayonnaise combining egg yolks and lemon juice with a whisk in a large bowl. When the egg yolk emulsifies (turns into a nice pale yellow color), drizzle in canola oil, very slowly. Adjust thickness with a drop of water and stir in garlic and fresh dill. Serve with cooked and fresh vegetables!
TIP: Use the aioli vegetable scraps to cook yourself a nice vegetable stock instead of buying one from the store for the next recipe!
Stuffed Cabbage
Yields 6 Servings
Ingredients
1 medium head of Savoy cabbage, about 10-12 leaves peeled and trimmed
3 cups vegetable stock
1 cup oats soaked in water for 8-10 hours
1 cup adzuki beans soaked in water for 8-10 hours
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
Directions
In a medium saucepot, place oil and shallots and allow to cook in a low simmer until translucent. Add vegetable stock, oats and beans. Cook uncovered stirring often for about 45 minutes in medium to low heat.
Place two tablespoons of oats and beans mixture inside a cabbage leaf, and fold into an envelope so it looks like an egg roll. Repeat steps for the remainder of cabbage.
Place inside a bamboo steamer and steam until cabbage is tender for about 12-15 minutes.
Creamy White Asparagus with Porcini Mushrooms
Yields 4-6 servings as a side dish
Ingredients
½ cup dried porcini mushrooms, hydrated in water for an hour
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups white asparagus, trimmed, sliced and blanched
½ cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
In a medium skillet, melt butter and add porcini mushrooms and asparagus. Saute for about two minutes in medium heat. Deglaze with heavy cream and allow liquid to reduce by half (about 5 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Grape Tomato and Fava Bean Salad
Yields 4-6 servings as a side dish
Ingredients
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup fava beans, blanched and peeled
1 medium avocado, chopped
½ small red onion, finely chopped
juice of ½ lemon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Combine vegetables in a medium bowl. Stir in lemon and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. You can make a lemon vinaigrette or just spoon in the juice and oil.
Caramelized Brussels Sprouts
Yields 4-6 servings as a side dish
Ingredients
2 cups brussels sprouts, outer leaves peeled and center halved
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Blanche halved brussels sprouts in boiling water and cool in an ice bath. In a medium skillet, place 2 tablespoons of olive oil and brussels sprout leaves. Allow leaves to slightly caramelize, cooking for about two minutes on high heat. Remove, set aside and repeat steps for the halved brussels sprouts.
Mustard Greens and Gruyere Cheese Casserole
Yields 6 servings
Ingredients
2 bunches of mustard greens, blanched
2 cups grated gruyere cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh dill, chopped
Directions
Place cooked mustard greens in a casserole dish lined with two tablespoons of heavy cream. Layer in mustard greens, top with grated cheese forming about 4-5 layers of vegetable and cheese. Pour in heavy cream.
Mix bread crumbs with olive oil and stir in dill. Top casserole with bread crumb mixture and sprinkle a little more cheese. Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.
Rina Oh is an artist, writer and chef and a Meatless Monday advocate. For the last year these Meatless Mondays recipes have appeared on Food2.com, a website that is owned and operated by Scripps Networks. These posts are copyrighted material and any photographs, illustrations or written material are forbidden to be used or reposted anywhere without permission. For more information on Meatless Monday, please visit meatlessmonday.com