Thanksgiving Preview, Take One

Thanksgiving will soon be upon us here in Canada, so I thought I would take a trial run of a recipe I have been developing in my head. We are having family come, none of whom are vegan. The trick is to make something that will satisfy everyone. The plan is to make a maple and apple seitan roast (something like pork tenderloin). This trial run was fairly successful, though the colour was darker than what I was going for and the seitan was a little spongy. The taste was good, and the maple and apple glaze was delicious. I will post the recipe when I sort it all out next weekend.

Ranch Dip

We reheated/revived the pasta from last night, but added some fresh veggies and ranch dip. Vegan ranch dip is easy to make and much healthier for you. Lower in fat, no additives, no cholesterol, and cruelty free.

INGREDIENTS

- 1 pkg firm tofu, drained

- 1 tsp lemon juice

- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

- 1 tsp parsley

- 1 tsp dill

- 1/2 tsp tarragon

- 1/2 tsp garlic powder

- 1/2 tsp onion powder

- 1/2 tsp salt (or more, to taste)

- freshly ground pepper to taste

METHOD

1. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. If mixture is to thick, add a little plain soymilk.

TIP: I really should have included this last night, but spaghetti sauce is a great opportunity to stuff all sorts of veggies into your kids. Dice up things like peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, etc., and grate in carrots and cook them in the sauce. Once cooked, blend the sauce with a hand blender and the kids are none the wiser.

Vegan Italiano

Pasta night tonight. The attempt was to take the sausage recipe and make it into meatballs. Success was mixed. The meatballs didn't keep their shape as well as I would have liked, but the taste and texture was good. It ended up being more like a chunky meat sauce, which isn't all bad.