Holiday Food

Hello my dears -- how I've missed you! Here is the promised post featuring what we ate at Thanksgiving. This is easy, delicious food that would also be nice for Christmas dinner.

Above is my colcannon, but instead of sliced cabbage I used halved brussels sprouts. I liked this better than the cabbage, actually, since everything was of a similar size and shape. I've posted my colcannon recipe before, so here's a quick recap of this version:

24 oz. new potatoes, halved (I used baby yukon gold here)
about the same number of pieces of halved brussels sprouts (the amounts don't really matter, I just like to have roughly equal amounts)
1/4 purple onion, slivered
3 Tbsp. Earth Balance
1 Tbsp. Veganaise
2 Tbsp. Liquid Smoke
1 Tbsp. Bragg's liquid aminos
Fresh ground pepper

Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes. For the last five minutes, add the halved brussels sprouts on top of the potatoes and boil/steam them covered until bright green. Drain the potatoes and sprouts and transfer them to a large skillet over medium heat with the melted earth balance and the onions. sautee the veggies, stirring occasionally to allow them to brown a bit. during this process, add the liquid smoke  and the Bragg's to deglaze. Take the veggies off the heat and finish by stirring in the Veganaise.

Debby's "Tender Green Bean with Mushroom and Lemon Peel", from her wonderful blog, "The Health Seeker's Kitchen" made an encore appearance since it was such a hit last year.

Alicia Silverstone's "Scarlet Roasted Root Vegetables" from The Kind Diet were featured again this year as well.

Here's the table, full of my vegan offerings as well as my Dad's famous Sage Dressing (secret recipe!) that he was sweet enough to veganize for me. Dad also insisted I not bother to buy a turkey. He got one himself since he knows raw flesh gives me the willies. He actually roasted it almost all the way, chilled it and packed it in a cooler for the trip to the deep south from the D.C. area where they live. Once they arrived, my Dad roasted the turkey for another couple of hours. I didn't partake, of course, but the others enjoyed it. So basically we had a vegan feast plus a turkey, which was fine with me! Thanks Mom and Dad!

I'm wishing all of you a peaceful, joyous season!