No Stress Vegan Holiday Meal

For busy people with little time to cook

Like most people you are probably busy and wondering what the heck you are going to make for Thanksgiving this year. You want something that will wow your guests and show you care, while not breaking the bank or being too hard to prepare. Relax. Have some dandelion chai and approach this yearly ritual with the spirit in which the holiday was intended.

This is a time for you to relax and have fun with family and friends, celebrating the magic of the holiday season, which is coming together to celebrate. If you are looking for some fast, fun, and easy recipes, here’s my favorite round up.

Bread

Bread or rolls are traditional staples on a Thanksgiving table and can be quick and easy to make. You may avoid gluten most days of the year, but if you are not sensitive to it, the holidays can be a time to splurge. My favorite, super easy recipe that takes almost no time to prepare is this No Knead Recipe that I found on Pinch of Yum and have since made many, many times. I use a 25 lb. Dutch Oven that I bought from Amazon for $25 bucks. If you don’t have one, don’t worry. You can make it without. This is a no stress holiday, remember?

I love this recipe because it takes just five minutes to prepare the ingredients the night before and because you bake it at a high temperature, it’s a great first dish to bake in the morning to warm up your oven.

An easy addition is to make flavored butter. You can go savory or sweet. Either way, start with softened vegan butter or margarine of choice. Miyoko’s is great and tastes like dairy butter, if that’s a flavor you miss. I typically go for a tub of whipped Earth Balance. The whipped kind has less fat and calories and I like it better, plus no Franken-ingredients. Let it sit on the counter for about 40 minutes to soften up, then add some dried herbs. Chives are great, especially if you are serving potatoes.

If you want to get fancy, you can cut the bottom off of a whole bulb of garlic, put it on a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle olive oil over it, then wrap it up really good. Stick it in your oven with your bread and take it out after 30-40 minutes. When the garlic is cool, you can squeeze it out and add it to your butter. Your guests will love you and vampires will know not to mess with you.

My favorite sweet butter is with dried apricots diced up small or cut with kitchen shears and honey mixed in with the softened butter. It takes just five minutes to do and it is so good. Wash your dried apricots before cutting them, and if they aren’t super soft, you can let them sit in hot water for 10 minutes first. Delicious!

Salad

Thanks to the invention of pre-washed salad greens that come in bags or plastic clam shells, making a salad can take as little as 10 minutes. Here’s a simple holiday themed salad that requires just three ingredients:

Salad Greens

• spinach * my preference

• baby butter lettuce

• mixed greens

• arugula

Fruit

• fresh figs

• dried figs

• dried cranberries

• sliced strawberries

• pomegranates (awesome, but enlist the help of one of your kids or dinner guests to pull the little ruby morsels out of their hiding place or this could take an hour!)

Nuts

• walnuts

• pecans

If you want to get fancy, you can buy or make candied nuts. I love candied walnuts, but you will want to check that the sugar used to make them is vegan. They are not hard to make, but if you do that, I suggest you do it early in the week and save yourself the hassle of making it on the holiday.

Cheese (optional)

Many brands, including Miyoko’s and Violife, make excellent vegan cheeses. A soft cheese would be fabulous crumbled into this salad. If you like feta, Violife makes a very traditional vegan version (they are based in Greece, after all).

Super Simple Salad Dressing

• Good quality olive oil

• Balsamic vinegar

• salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in a jar or shaker, using about a 3:1 ratio of olive oil to vinegar and sprinkling in a dash of salt and a liberal amount of pepper. Shake, taste, adjust to your preference.

Main Dish

An easy main that is a crowd pleaser is vegan lasagna. It’s easy to make and you can even prepare it the night before and wrap it and put it in the fridge until it’s time to bake it. I have not done this myself as I am a cook it and eat it girl myself, but I have read many cooking blogs where people had no problem preparing it in advance. My favorite vegan lasagna is adapted from this recipe by Stacey Homemaker. My version is below.

Ingredients

• box of no boil lasagna noodles (trust me, on a holiday, you don’t want to pre-boil your noodles unless you have an Italian grandma)

• 1 25 oz. jar of tomato sauce (I use the organic, fat free version from Whole Foods. It’s under $3, fat and sugar free, and tasty.)

• Spinach Artichoke Dip (recipe below)

• Dried parsley

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° for 30 minutes before you bake your lasagna. This gives you plenty of time to make your Spinach Artichoke Dip (below).

2. In a square dish (mine is a 9 X 9 glass Pyrex baking dish, if you have something else, don’t worry, just adjust the recipe, no big deal), add a few spoonfulls of tomato sauce to the bottom of the dish.

3. Layer with lasagna noodles to fill the bottom of the dish. (My dish takes two, with a little space between the rectangular noodles.)

4. Next, add a layer of spinach artichoke dip.

5. Cover the dip with lasagna noodles, then layer with tomato sauce. You might get 3 layers total, you might get 4. I get 3, but your dish may have a different shape.

6. The end layer should be the last of your tomato sauce. If you are wondering if you should use the whole jar, yes. Yes, you want to use the entire jar of sauce, even if it seems like too much.

7. Cover with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes.

8. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes.

9. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with dried parsley, if you have some on hand. Parsley has numerous health benefits, including supporting healthy digestion. It’s not just a garnish, but again, no stress. If you have it, use it.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

• 1 8 oz. package of plain vegan cream cheese (I use Violife)

• 1 bag of fresh spinach

• 1 can of quartered artichoke hearts, rinse and drain them

• 2-3 garlic cloves, smashed or 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 medium yellow, white, or sweet onion, diced

• 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast

• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon sea salt

• dash apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

• olive oil

Instructions

1. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add a glug of olive oil.

2. Add the onions and stir until translucent, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the smashed garlic and stir.

4. Add the artichoke hearts.

5. Add the spices, the pepper, the salt, and the nutritional yeast.

6. Add the spinach and turn down the heat, let it wilt.

7. Add the vegan cream cheese by spooning out chunks of it and letting it melt over the mixture. Add as much as you like. I usually use 4 ounces, half the package, but you can use the whole thing for a creamier meal.

Side Ideas

You could call it a day with this meal, a nice mug of hot cocoa and a slice of fresh pie. If you want to add a side (or two or three, I know it’s a holiday!), here are my suggestions:

• Steamed sweet potatoes sprinkled with cinnamon, vegan butter, and date syrup

• Boiled new potatoes with the skin on, smash them up, add vegan vegetable stock, nutritional yeast, and the secret magic ingredient that makes these my partner’s favorite potatoes of all time (don’t tell his Mom) white miso paste. Miso is not only a healthy alternative to adding salt, it adds that unique umami taste that makes your guests ask, “What makes these so good?!”

• If you don’t have vegetable stock for the potatoes above, you can use vegan milk and vegan butter instead, but the stock makes for a lighter, healthier, but still hearty and delicious dish.

• Steamed broccoli, seriously, it’s that easy. These emerald green tree beauties look festive on any holiday plate.

Dessert

The star of any holiday table is dessert and for Thanksgiving that usually means pie. Pumpkin or sweet potato are my two classic favorites. Here is a simple, healthy, refined-sugar free version that you can make a day ahead of time (though I can’t promise you won’t decide to have it for breakfast instead).

Whatever you decide to make this holiday season, remember that the point is to have fun. You don’t have to feel pressure to turn your kitchen into a Food Network show. Just show up, be yourself, and eat something that nourishes you. Wishing you and yours a fabulous, fun, holiday season. Enjoy!