Saturday, November 24, 2012

Happy Vegan Thanksgiving!

This year it was just my girlfriend and me at home on Thanksgiving, so I got to enjoy a quiet, simple-yet-festive all-vegan, salt-free, sugar-free meal.

First I made Cabbage Rolls, a recipe from my second cookbook that I still come back to over and over when I'm looking for a hearty holiday main dish. The rolls are filled with a vegan loaf made from walnuts, brown rice, and garbanzo beans.

Our side dishes were baked sweet potatoes and Green Beans with Walnuts and Pomegranate Seeds.  This was a recipe I saved from an old Martha Stewart Living magazine, sorry I can't find it online; the dressing is made from champagne vinegar, mustard, and shallot and a drizzle of walnut oil (my only non-nutritarian concession to the holiday).

For dessert I made sugar-, salt-, and fat-free Pear Ginger Cookies (sorry, not pictured), a recipe I picked up during our recent stay at TrueNorth Health Center.

So that was it -- no dead turkey, no sugar, no salt, no temptations to deal with. Best of all, no food coma afterwards! This was my favorite Thanksgiving ever!