Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes to be thankful for.

Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes Mushroom Loaf as a Turkey Substitute to Be Thankful For Lex Loeb Contributor Network . For Vegans there is hope for Thanksgiving. Traditional Turkey is off the menu but Mushrooms are not. There are a number of different kinds of mushrooms on the market. High on the list is the Portabella Mushroom which has recently become readily available in most super markets. I suggest buying the portabellas or any other fresh button cap mushroom varieties. It is also suggested to get some dried shitake. Any other varieties or combinations of mushrooms fresh and dried can be used. For a Gluten Base, Wheat Flour is needed or corn starch. If non gluten is required substitute cooked rice or rice flour if available. It is also possible to substitute a chick pea based falafel mix. A combination of types of flour and / or falafel mix can be combined. Other ingredients include red or yellow bell peppers, pine nuts, almonds, celery ,onions, fresh garlic, spinach and spices like thyme , pepper , cilantro , red wine vinegar and aromatic bitters. The mix you make is about 1/2 mushrooms , 1/4 flour , rice or falafel mix, 1/4 vegetables and nuts and the spices. All of it gets put in a blender and coarsely blended. Some water or white wine may need to be added to get the blender to work on it effortlessly. Additional dry flour or precooked rice can be added later to firm up the batter. On the side are extra fresh mushrooms , onions finely chopped that are put in a oven ready meatloaf pan and the blended puree is poured over them to fill the plan. Salt or Potassium Chloride can be added if they are allowed . Additional pine nuts can also be put in. Some oil should also be added to the pan or mixed in the blender. After the pan is filled put the pan in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees and slowly bake till the loaf is solid and has browned on top. Let cool remove from pan and slice into thin sections. for later reheating. To make a gravy for it, Use the blender and more finely blend one piece of fresh garlic a couple of shallots and a fresh portable mushroom with some cooking sherry , olive oil and rice or wheat flour to thicken it. That mixture can be boiled down or microwaved until it reaches a gravy consistency for dressing the loaf after reheating for consumption. Can be served with boiled potato's, mashed potatoes, (garlic mashed potatoes include extra virgin olive oil and fresh garlic) . Stuffing is not required because of the starch already added. For a potato substitute try roasting fresh chestnuts. The easiest way to roast chestnuts fast and get them out of the shells is to cut them in the shells in half and place them on an oiled pan cut face down under the broiler till you start seeing the nut shells burn and the nuts pop start to pop out of the shells. turn off the oven then but let the chestnuts stay inside a while longer to bake not broil at a lower temperature . Take the nuts out of the oven remove the shells and taste one to be sure they are baked enough. Simply substitute these for the potatoes. Chestnuts are a gluten free alternative to potatoes. The trick to making quick sweet potato's is to peal the potato skin away and slice , add some pure maple syrup instead of sugar and a bit of pumpkin pie spice . I usually just cover them and microwave for 6 minutes for best results. otherwise you need to boil down on the stove later removing the water and adding maple syrup and the pumpkin pie spice. If using the oven remove the pan from the burner till it cools down and stir the maple syrup around still it coats all sides of the sweet potato slices. Vegan stuffing is easy to make using bread or rice if gluten is not OK. Just chop celery and if possible add chestnuts to this. Add a small amount of red wine vinegar and olive oil, Mix the stuffing with enough water to hydrate it before baking. Mix in poultry spice onion powder, salt and peeper and then bake till it becomes firm and lightly browns on top. It really is not hard to make a Vegan Thanksgiving feast. The trick is to practice making the mushroom loaf different ways until you find the one you like best and because practice makes perfect. .