Cam is hosting a virtual Thanksgiving feast and there is still time to bring something if you want to join in. Today I am posting the recipes of the dishes I am bringing to the feast. On Thanksgiving I will post about a family tradition, a favorite memory, or something I am grateful for.
When my husband and I went vegan we immediately decided that meat substitutes had to be pretty lame. I mean, we’ve chosen not to eat meat, why would we want to eat something that tries to imitate its looks and/or flavor? When it came to Thanksgiving, except for the pumpkin pie, one of my all-time favorite foods, we never tried to recreate a vegan version of our family feasts. We decided to do something completely different.
So, for Cam’s feast I am contributing the main dish of my “traditional” Thanksgiving feast: Enchiladas. And the pumpkin pie too. The enchiladas are pretty much of my Bookman’s making. The original recipe came from a cookbook but what he does no longer resembles it. You should know that all of his measurements are estimated.
Vegan Enchiladas
Ingredients:
- Tortillas – any type (we use white flour because whole wheat tears so easily and corn tortillas tend to be too small)
- Tofu – firm, freeze first then thaw and crumble
- 1 Potato, chopped
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 1T Cumin
- 1T Olive oil
- 2T Soy sauce
- Vegetables, any you like, chopped, we usually just use a frozen mix
- About 2 C Enchilada sauce, any type (we use El Pato)
- optional, shredded soy cheese inside and on top of the enchiladas
Saute potato and onion.
Add tofu, cumin, and soy sauce, cook until browned a bit.
Pour olive oil and 1/4 cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of a medium to large casserole baking dish. Lay tortilla flat, add a spoonful of saute, a spoonful of veggies, and a spoonful of enchilada sauce. Roll up and place in casserole baking dish. Repeat until dish is full. Pour all of the rest of the enchilada sauce over the enchiladas, they will be swimming in it. Bake covered in pre-heated 350F oven for 1 hour.
Serve with brown rice, refried beans and some tortilla chips. And just so you know, these taste great as leftovers too!
The pumpkin pie recipe comes from a Mori-Nu Silken Tofu ad that appeared in The Vegetarian Times about 15 years ago. In my opinion, it is pure heaven in a graham cracker crust.
Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 Packages Mori-Nu Silken Lite Tofu, extra firm (you can also use regular firm or regular extra firm)
- 2C Canned or cooked pumpkin (we always use cooked)
- 2/3C Honey or Agave Nectar (if you use agave, cut back on the amount a little unless you like really sweet pie)
- 1T Pumpkin pie spice OR next four ingredients
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 unbaked 9″ pastry or graham cracker crust
Pre-heat oven to 350F. Blend tofu in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Pour into pie crust. Bake for about 1 hour. Filling will be soft, but will firm up as it cools.
Since we don’t do whipping cream and the soy variety we’ve never managed to get even a froth out of, we top our pie with a few vegan dark chocolate chips. Pumpkin and chocolate go very good together. If you’ve never tried it, trust me.
Cam will be posting links to everyone’s dishes on Monday, November 24th. Just in time so you can add a new dish to your own feast if something strikes your fancy.
As you know Stefanie, I am the opposite of vegan. What would that be, carniverous or something?
But even so, your Thanksgiving ideas make me salivate. ‘Specially the pumpkin pie I guess. Nothing beats a good pumpkin pie…. after some turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing and gravy. Oh you are missing out, you are missing out.
Yum, those enchiladas sound amazing. I will try them. I have a VERY good (and very easy) sauce recipe if you want it. I generally choose to have the all-starch Thanksgiving, including two types of potatoes, home made rolls, a salad, and a pie. Turkey, schmurky.
(we are not vegan yet but we may well get there. Except for Terri’s milk and my occasional cheese, we’re pretty much there) (well and eggs for baking. I have a hard time finding my way with applesauce, etc.)
I’m enjoying reading everyone’s recipes and will do mine later in the day. There is something so… so American about Thanksgiving food, ridiculous as that sounds. I can’t even put my finger on what it is. And I do agree with you about meat substitutes. I am wary in any case of that word ‘substitute’ – it never seems to have good connotations!
If I ever went vegan, meat substitutes would be out for me, too. Both of these recipes sound great. Never thought of it, but I bet chocolate and pumpkin DO go well together (and a few chocolate chips do much less damage to the waistline than whipped cream!).
Your blog is terrific!
Here is a blog post about a Thanksgiving concert in Ohio long ago:
http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=thanksgiving+concert
Yummy recipes, Stef. I’m planning on making the pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I’ll try the enchiladas some day but they would definitely not be touched by my animal-eating family. They probably wouldn’t eat the pumpkin pie either if they knew it had tofu in it. It will amuse me when I tell them what’s in it (after it is devoured).
Sounds yummy! And you are so right that pumpkin and chocolate are very good together. I love this time of year since pumpkin is a favorite of mine.
Chocolate chips on pumpkin pie do sound great! Enjoy those enchiladas — who needs traditional Thanksgiving food anyway?
I think I might take that vegan enchiladas recipe to Thanksgiving this year…! My mom was just asking me what I wanted instead of turkey (I’m the only vegetarian in the family now… the last hold-out) and that sounds perfect.
Thanks for the virtual recipe. I want to make it reality
Cipriano, since I haven’t been vegan my entire life I know all about the full turkey-centric Thanksgiving, and while I have fond memories, I’m not really missing out.
Daphne, I’d love your sauce recipe if you’d like to email it
Baking without eggs is not as hard as you might think. My husband works wonders. Take a look at the cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and you may become a convert
Litlove, we are proud of our Thanksgiving holiday and its origins even though we didn’t exactly do a good turn to the Native Americans.
Emily, a few chocolate chips? who said anything about a few?
Reference Services, thank you! And thanks for the link. Poor Mr. Wheeler led of the stage by the ear.
Cam, thanks! I hope the pie works out well for you. I sometimes wonder how much my taste buds have changed and whether if what I think is good non-vegans would also enjoy. But I have shared the pie and recipe with co-workers and they all loved it.
Danielle, I love pumpkin. Have you ever had pumpkin butter? If not, I recommend giving it a try sometime.
Dorothy, thanks. We have been looking forward to the enchiladas for weeks!
nova, I hope you enjoy the enchiladas and have a happy Thanksgiving!
nice….:)
http://getthebooks.blogspot.com