Delicious no-meat recipes for your holiday table.
While vegetarian diners are happy to fill their plates with Thanksgiving side dishes, many chefs still want to serve their non-turkey-eating guests a substitute for the meaty main course.
For Well’s Vegetarian Thanksgiving series, Chloe Coscarelli, a vegan chef, offers two hearty vegetarian dishes packed with protein. The recipes, a lentil stew with squash and apples and a country “meatloaf” with gravy, come from Ms. Coscarelli’s new cookbook, “Chloe’s Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way,” to be published by the Free Press in March.
For dessert, Ms. Coscarelli, who won the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars with her vegan cupcakes, offers a dairy- and egg-free pumpkin tiramisù. For more main course and dessert ideas, see Ms. Coscarelli’s recipes from last year.
Visit Well’s interactive recipe collection to see more Vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes; we will be adding new dishes daily.
Chloe’s Kitchen
Curried Lentil, Squash and Apple Stew
Infused with curry spices and chock-full of wilted spinach, butternut squash and sweet chunks of apple, this unique lentil stew is fragrant and flavorful beyond belief.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 cup dried lentils
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups peeled butternut squash (1/2-inch cubes)
1 large unpeeled apple, diced
5 ounces baby spinach
1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat, and sauté onion and carrot until almost soft. Add garlic, ginger, curry and salt, and let cook a few more minutes until fragrant.
2. Stir in lentils, broth and tomato paste. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Add squash and apple, cover and simmer for another 25 minutes, or until vegetables and lentils are tender. Remove lid and stir in spinach until wilted. Add salt to taste and serve.
Yield: 6 servings.
Chloe’s Kitchen
Country ‘Meatloaf’ With Golden Gravy
Country ‘Meatloaf’
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 cups diced celery
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 (8-ounce) packages tempeh
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 cup cooked brown rice, warm
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large deep-sided skillet and sauté onion, carrots and celery until soft, about 15 minutes. If vegetables begin to stick, add a little bit of water to the skillet. Stir in garlic, thyme, basil and parsley. Let cook a few more minutes. Crumble the tempeh into the skillet and add soy sauce and broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
3. Add warm brown rice and bread crumbs to the bowl and mix thoroughly with a large spoon. The more you mix it and mash it, the better it will hold together when you bake it. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Transfer the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and pack it down very firmly using the back of a spoon. Cover the top of the loaf pan with foil. Bake for 45 minutes, covered, then remove foil, and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before unmolding. Run a knife around the edges of the cooked loaf to loosen, then flip onto a serving plate to unmold. Slice and serve.
Chef’s note: Recipe can be halved to serve 3 to 4 people. If halving, bake in an 8-by-4-by-3-inch loaf pan for 30 minutes covered, then 15 more minutes uncovered.
Golden Gravy
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 cup flour
2 cups water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat and sauté onion until soft. Add nutritional yeast and flour, and stir for about 1 minute. Add water, soy sauce, thyme and garlic powder. Continue to cook, whisking continuously, until mixture is very thick. Transfer gravy to a blender and purée until smooth. Adjust seasonings, and add salt and pepper to taste.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings.
Chloe’s Kitchen
Pumpkin Tiramisù
For the Pumpkin Crème:
1/3 cup cornstarch or arrowroot
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup canned coconut milk, mixed well before measuring
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée
3/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Vanilla Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour plus 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum)
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups soy, almond or rice milk
1 cup canola oil
1/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla or almond extract
For the espresso soak:
1/2 cup amaretto
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons instant espresso
For assembly:
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (dairy-free), ground in a food processor or finely chopped
1. To make the Pumpkin Crème: In a small bowl, thoroughly mix cornstarch and water with a whisk or fork and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together coconut milk, pumpkin purée, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice and salt, and heat over medium heat until it just begins to boil, about 5 minutes. Slowly drizzle cornstarch mixture into the saucepan, whisking continuously. Cook until the mixture becomes very thick, about 5 minutes, whisking frequently. Pour the crème into a bowl and let cool about 15 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap is touching the top of the crème. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.
3. To make the Vanilla Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease three 8- or 9-inch round cake pans or one 9-by-13-inch pan and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together nondairy milk, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Fill each prepared cake pan evenly with batter. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs clinging to it. Rotate the cakes halfway through the baking time. Cool the cakes completely before assembly.
6. To make the Espresso Soak: In a small bowl, whisk amaretto, water and espresso until espresso dissolves.
7. To assemble: In a large bowl or trifle dish, place one layer of cake (trim to fit) at the bottom and drizzle it with the Espresso Soak. Spread a layer of Pumpkin Crème on top and generously sprinkle with ground chocolate. Repeat this process for 2 more layers until all components are used up. You could also cut the cake into mini rounds for individual servings in mini trifle dishes or ramekins.
Yield: 1 (8-inch) trifle or 6 to 8 mini-trifles.
The Los Angeles city attorney’s office said Thursday that representatives from Occupy L.A. have filed a court motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent police from dismantling their encampment around City Hall without providing notice.
