Meat-Free Thanksgiving Inspiration

I'll admit being vegetarian on Thanksgiving poses extra challenges. Nate was initially supposed to be away for Thanksgiving this year, and I stressed for weeks about how I was going to find a place to go for the holiday, only to show up as possibly the most difficult guest ever, a vegetarian!

So how does being a vegetarian on Thanksgiving work? If we have enough people Nate barbecues a turkey, one year we had two meat-eaters so we cooked a chicken, and if it's just us we go completely untraditional and eat meat-free. 

I have to say my first vegetarian thanksgiving made me a little sad. Not because I wanted turkey, but because I felt a bit isolated from the tradition. I wanted to big statement piece on the table, I wanted it to feel like the Thanksgivings I had growing up. And although I'm not sure I've quite found the answer, I figured I'd share a handful of my favorite meat-free, fall inspired meals. 

Vegetarian Mains: 
Farmstead Roasted Vegetable Risotto from Kneading Home
Spinach & Feta Quiche from Kneading Home
Butternut Squash Lasagna Skillet from How Sweet It Is
Roasted Autumn Vegetable Pot Pies from The Candid Appetite
Pumpkin Gnocchi with Crème Fraîche–Sage Sauce from Chow Hound
Holiday Stuffed Pumpkin from Green Kitchen Stories

Salads: 
Autumn Kale Salad in a Maple Vinaigrette from Kneading Home
Warm Farro Salad with Roasted Squash, Persimmons & Pecans from The Kitchn
Raw Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad with Tahini-Maple Dressing from Cookie and Kate
A Simple Roasted Butternut Squash Salad from Oh She Glows
Apple + Fennel + Pistachio + Apricot from Joy the Baker
Big Beautiful Harvest Salad with Delicata Squash and Kale from The Year in Food

World's best vegetarian gravy:
Vegetarian Mushroom Thyme Gravy, from Food52

Photo from Oh She Glows

Potatoes:
Sweet Potato with Chilies, Lime, and Cilantro from Alexandra Cooks
Twice Baked Potatoes with Kale from Food52
Thyme Parmesan Roasted Sweet Potatoes from Sprouted Kitchen
Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Avocado Garlic Aioli from Oh She Glows
Maple Sweet Potato Cakes with Curried Greek Yogurt  from Food52

Photo from Alexandra Cooks

Vegetable Sides:
Dijon Braised Brussels Sprouts from Smitten Kitchen
Coconut Curried Kale and Sweet Potato from Cookie and Kate
Roasted Acorn Squash with Maple Butter from Alexandra Cooks
Autumn Root Vegetable Gratin from Food52

Bread:
Apple, Rosemary, & Sharp Cheddar Galette With Caramelized Shallots from Kneading Home
Buttermilk Biscuits with Maple and Sea Salt from Alexandra Cooks
Pumpkin Sage Biscuits from Minimalist Baker

Dessert: 
Roasted Pear + Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bites With Speculoos Cookie Crust from Kneading Home
Homemade Rugelach 3 Ways from Kneading Home
Brown Butter Apple Tart from Bon Appetite
Apple Sauce Cake with Caramel Glaze from Food52
Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble from Smitten Kitchen 

Roasted Pear + Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bites with Speculoos Cookie Crust {vegan}

Thanksgiving is coming! I have to be honest, normally Thanksgiving gets me super stressed. It's the ultimate foodie holiday, and when you're a person whose known by family and friends for cooking, people have expectations. Nate and I normally plan for weeks, I decorated a pinterest-inspired table with gords and pretty votives, and we food prep together for at least a solid week. 

Thanksgiving is sort of our holiday. We've spent every thanksgiving together since we met and this will be our 8th. Every year it seems like we spend it with different people in a different place, and we love that about the holiday. We love everything this holiday stands for: inclusiveness, good food, and gratitude. 

But this year we're going low-stress, simple. I've pulled too many all-nighters and written to many papers in the past two weeks to stress about a holiday! 

One thing I know is I will be eating these little beauties. They are the creamiest, tastiest cheese cake bites that will please vegans and non-vegans alike. The crust is made from crushed up speculoos cookies the cheese cake base is a date sweetened blend of coconut milk and toasted cashews with spiced roasted pear, all topped with salted caramel. Guys, I had no idea vegan caramel was possible, let alone this good! 

Roasted Pear + Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bites with Speculoos Cookie Crust
makes 18 cheesecake bites

For the crust: 
1 1/2 cups speculoos cookie crumbs, (or sub graham cracker)
1/4 cup coconut oil

For the filling: 
1 cup raw cashews
8 dates, pitted
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1 medium d'anjou pear, (relatively firm) 
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the caramel
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 can full-fat coconut milk
fluer de sel for finishing

Make the crust. Preheat the oven to 350. Fill muffin tins with 18 wrappers. In food processor, blend cookies into crumbs. Stir in melted coconut oil until evenly coated, then divide the crumbs among muffin tins. Press the crumbs down to form a crust - a shot glass works great for this. Bake for 8-10 minutes until fragrant and golden brown. 

Make the filling. With the oven still on, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and top with cashews. Cook for 8-10 minutes, rotating halfway through, until just slightly brown and very fragrant. 

In in the bowl of a food processor with a blade attachment, or blender, add cashews and dates and blend for about a minute. With the food processor running, slowly pour in the coconut oil, followed by the coconut milk. (Make sure to do it in this order. If you put it all in at once the liquid will splash everywhere and make a huge mess. I know from experience.) 

Peel, core, and dice the pear. Combine pears, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the juices begin to release and the mixture looks gooey like jam. Pour the pear mixture into the cheesecake mixture and stir to combine. 

Divide the filling among the muffin tins and refrigerate for at least two hours. 

Meanwhile, make the caramel. Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 30-40 minutes. The mixture will bubble up slightly, darken in color, and eventually thicken and reduce to the consistency of caramel. Keep cooking until it has reduced to about 1 1/4 cups. Transfer to a jar. 

Just before serving top the cheesecakes with caramel, you will have extra, and sprinkle liberally with chunky sea salt. 
 

Simple Smoky Baba Ghanoush

My life has become completely consumed by school. Literally I stay up until 2am every night of the week reading and writing, I go to sleep exhausted and then wake up and do it all again. I love what I'm studying, I really do. I know this because the thought that so often fills my mind is that in less than five years "I get to be a psychologist". How lucky am I? But that doesn't make it easy.

Last night I came home from class, and watched the Daily Show, something Nate and I watched together nightly before we moved. No laptop, no reading. Just me my dog and the tv. Despite having a different host, the stories, the soundtrack and co-hosts were the same. Then I turned on my favorite pandora station, the one I used to bake to every afternoon in California, and I caught up on reading my favorite food blogs. I was taken back to our apartment in Calabasas. To life as a full-time yoga teacher, with an achy low back from all the hours I spent in the car driving from class to private to class. To long, full days, and evenings filled with teaching in the absolute best way possible. To a husband who I got to come home to, eat dinner with, go to bed too late with in our little apartment surrounded by neighbors we knew in a life that felt comfortable. And my heart ached. 

Nate has been away for four weeks now on a ship in the great lakes. I'm making friends, studying my ass off, barely teaching or making it to class myself. Having enough time to cook myself dinner, let alone spend an entire afternoon playing with ingredients in the kitchen, is a rarity. And by rarity I mean it has been months. And it makes me just so sad. 

Sometimes I wish I could live consecutive lives because there's just not time to be all I want to be. Does anyone else feel this way? And right now all I want to do is blast ingrid michaelson and bake vegan cinnamon apple cheesecake bites while I wait for this new life to feel comfortable.

Simple Smoky Baba Ghanoush
makes about 1.5 cups
adapted from Smitten Kitchen 

Notes: Smokiness requires a gas stove, something I no longer have. So I broiled the hell out of the eggplants instead. The result? They weren't even a little smoky. Fail. Insert liquid smoke. I won't tell if you don't! 

2 small eggplants
extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup tahini
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice of 1 lemon, ~ 4 teaspoons
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons parsley, plus more for serving
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. Slice the eggplants in half length wise, drizzle liberally with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Place cut size down on the baking sheet and cook for 1 hour until the skins are dark and shriveled and the center looks brown and slightly caramelized. Remove from oven and let cool. 

Using a spoon, scape out the centers of the eggplant and discard the skins. Combine eggplant, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, liquid smoke, salt, and parsley in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until completely incorporated. Adjust to taste. 

To serve top drizzle with olive oil, and top with parsley and sesame seeds. Serve with pita chips or vegetables.