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Thanksgiving Traditions The question of the vegetarian Thanksgiving has come up to me so many times that I often think I could write a book about that subject alone... Well, not yet, but I'll pass along some of the answers I've come up with over the years. Thanksgiving is a holiday so infused with tradition that it almost seems a celebration of tradition itself. What do we celebrate, after all? Family, dear friends, hospitality, the fact that we can get together with those we love and have good things to eat and drink in a spirit of conviviality - the very components of tradition. Of course, the food must be familiar, so everyone eats turkey, cranberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie. But if you don't eat meat, or have family members who don't, you still want to celebrate tradition - I know I do. I return year after year to favorite dishes and ingredients. Sometimes I make exactly the same things I made before, other times I give it a new twist, but the tradition is there - because one of the nicest things on a holiday is recalling the holidays that came before. The flavor of all those other shared meals enriches our memory. My Old Favorite Years ago I devised a menu that could work with or without the turkey, because in my extended family we often had a hybrid feast. I made a great polenta torta with sweet winter squash and goat cheese, and served it with an array of roasted vegetables, as well as sautéd greens and a spicy cranberry relish. The torta became a mainstay. I published those recipes in The New Vegetarian Epicure, in a menu called "Thanksgiving for Everyone." I'm in the mood for polenta again this year, but I just got back from Tuscany, so I think I'll have to have it with porcini - another one of my beloved flavors. When Gourmet Magazine asked me to design a vegetarian Thanksgiving menu for them, I made oven-roasted porcini and served them with risotto cakes. It's time to revisit that recipe in a new menu. The Gourmet Menu The Gourmet meal began with tiny tamales, and then a squash and sweet potato soup with chipotle sauce. I made two relishes for the roasted mushrooms and risotto cakes: a cranberry sauce with ginger, and a jicama and cilantro relish. And of course, wonderful, seasonal desserts - a pumpkin flan with pumpkin seed praline, and an apple and prune tart. It was an elaborate meal, and you can certainly get out your old issue of Gourmet and do every single recipe, but I know the roasted mushrooms would also go perfectly with grilled polenta, so here's my suggested menu for this year.
THANKSGIVING
Butternut Squash and Pear Soup You can find the recipe for the Roasted Wild Mushrooms in this month's "new recipes". The Chestnut Soup is in the website archive, as are the Roasted Root Vegetables. Several versions of cranberries and the Pumpkin Flan can be found in The New Vegetarian Epicure. Another Idea Not long ago I was asked to contribute a few recipes to the new book by Frances Moore Lappé and her daughter Anna Lappé, Hope's Edge, The Next Diet for a Small Planet. I concocted a fresh version of an old favorite, a large winter squash stuffed with a vegetable-rich and slightly spicy rice pilaf, and served whole. It's a gorgeous and festive thing to bring to the table, and it seemed to me an excellent centerpiece for a Thanksgiving dinner. It works with all the traditional tastes, so here is yet another variation on the Thanksgiving menu for you.
THANKSGIVING
(again - let's have two this year)
For this menu, you will find the Stuffed Kabocha Squash with Rice Pilaf in "new recipes", and the Chestnut Soup and Roasted Root Vegetables in the website archive. Again, look to The New Vegetarian Epicure for variations on the cranberry theme, and for the Walnut Tart. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Open your best wines, and don't forget to make a toast to Epicurus. |