Twas the night before Thanksgiving ~ Ham Pie Sandwiches

26 November 2014

Twas the night before Thanksgiving

Twas the night before Thanksgiving

...and we went out for huge platters of Puebla food and talked about racism in America.

Thanksgiving week would be an appropriate time for that discussion even if the past few days (or 3 months, or 50 years) hadn't been so bad. I try not to use this site for politics, but we're in beyond-the-pale territory right now. Turning a blind eye perpetuates the system. So if you haven't been paying attention to Ferguson, now is the time to go read #FergusonDecision (and just plain #Ferguson and #blacklivesmatter and #TamirRice and so many others), and the New Yorker coverage and On Being a Black Male, Six Feet Four Inches Tall, in America in 2014 and A one-chart summary of every Ferguson eyewitness's grand jury testimony and Telling my son about Ferguson.

And, if you're going to end up at a table with your racist great-aunt Carol tomorrow, you'll probably want to read Here's How to Talk About Ferguson Around the Thanksgiving Dinner Table This Year too.

Start paying attention. Start talking.

Now back to our regular programming.

Tomorrow we're having vegan Thanksgiving at Chrissy and Ben's house. This afternoon I made a Veganomicon cranberry orange bread (sans walnuts and with double orange peel) and a batch of Budget Bytes' no-knead focaccia rolls, both with whole wheat flour. (The no-knead absolutely works with wheat flour as long as you oil the sponge before you let it rest for its 18 hours, so it won't develop a crust. I did a test run last week, and they worked out beautifully.)

I'm going to bring a dish of mixed vegetables -- delicata squash, tokyo turnips, cauliflower, carrots, onion, and thyme -- ready to roast as soon as we get there. Wine, crackers, and almonds will also be making an appearance. Chrissy and Ben are taking care of the mains, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, and pumpkin pie. We are set.

Are you ready for Thanksgiving? Yes? Maybe? Not quite? Not at all?

Well, if you need some last-minute ideas for a vegetarian Thanksgiving, you've come to the right place.

I find that the key to creating a satisfying vegetarian dinner is to get away from the idea of protein as centerpiece. Protein is in all kinds of different foods! And if you're making a large multi-dish feast to begin with, you have ample opportunity to satisfy everyone.

Refrigerator giardiniera

Snacks and tidbits

- Refrigerator giardiniera
- Spicy caramel corn with maple, almond, and sesame
- Cashew cheese with dill and red onion
- Homemade baked tortilla chips
- Refrigerator dill pickles

potato leek soup

Soups

- Carrot and white bean soup
- Classic potato leek soup
- Black bean cauliflower soup
- Purple carrot soup
- Beet soup (also purple, although less surprisingly so)
- Cauliflower leek soup with smoked pepper flakes

apple and sesame almond salad

Salads

- Fall salad with apples and almonds
- Couscous salad with chickpeas, golden beets, and zucchini
- Lentils vinaigrette
- Big green salad with chickpeas and herb vinaigrette
- Beet and goat cheese salad

Broccolini vinaigrette with chopped egg and red onion

Vegetables

- Broccolini vinaigrette with chopped egg and red onion
- Simple golden beet and green bean melange
- Brussels sprout, onion, and apple hash (contains bacon, but you can sub butter or oil)
- Sauteed carrots with spicy brown mustard
- Baby leek and potato gratin
- Our entire xmas 2012 vegetable menu

spanish tortilla

Main dishes

- Spanish tortilla
- Baked pasta shells with basil ricotta cream
- Twice-baked sweet potatoes with black beans and broccoli
- Pasta fagioli
- BRIGHT PINK beet risotto

ginger almond yogurt cake

Desserts

- Ginger almond yogurt cake
- Judy's amazing apple dumplings
- Classic (veganified) pumpkin pie via Food52 & Choosing Raw
- Ginger molasses cookie ice cream sandwiches with pineapple coconut ice cream
- Swedish farmer cookies

classic negroni cocktail

Drinks

- Classic Negroni cocktail
- Fields of Gold cocktail
- Rosemary lemon gin sour
- White grapefruit mimosas

Have a happy Thanksgiving.

3 comments:

Joanne said...

Instead of racist great-aunt Carole, I have racist MOM, MIL, and FIL. So. Great. It's going to be SO FUN. :P

Michelle said...

I'm hoping everyone can but the racism aside at our table since it's the last thanksgiving for one of our family members before he heads off to Kuwait for about a year. Priorities!

Happy thanksgiving to you guys. Hope you have an amazing spread. It sounds like it's going to be good!

Marissa said...

"Start paying attention. Start talking." That's damn right!

Thank you for all of the links you shared - some of them I'd missed. (appreciated Benjamin Watson's thoughtful response https://www.facebook.com/BenjaminWatsonOfficial/posts/602172116576590?fref=nf&pnref=story)

But I sat around a Thanksgiving table and hearing fearful, racist remarks from people that I love is pretty much the worst.

Ugh.

And BTW, thanks for all of the great recipe links - I plan to try several of them!