Thanksgiving message from Alicia Stone

[Guest guest]

THANKSGIVING MESSAGE from ALICIA SILVERSTONE!

 

Dear Friends:

 

It's that time of year again when we gather with friends

and family to celebrate and give thanks for all the good

fortune we have in our lives. Thanksgiving is such a

meaningful holiday that is, unfortunately, tainted by the

slaughter of thousands of helpless turkeys.

 

Thanksgiving should be a celebration of life, not only

our own, but that of all living creatures. So, it doesn't

make sense to me to celebrate it with a dead bird in the

middle of the table. Furthermore, stuffing ourselves with

a fiberless, high calorie meat packed with cancer-causing

agents seems to be a strange way of giving thanks for

our good health.

 

The good news is that there are natural, healthier

alternatives that have become wildly popular and taste

so good you won't miss your turkey a bit. The two most

popular brands, Tofurky (1-888-TOFURKY) and

UnTurkey (1-800-335-1959) are now available in many

stores, or from calling their toll-free numbers.

 

There are many other less traditional vegan " Holiday

Items " that you can serve as well, such as: BBQ Seitan,

Spice Roast, Thanksgiving Casserole, Thanksgiving

" Meat " Loaf, and a Holiday Lentil Loaf, to name just

a few. Thanksgiving is a great time to explore many

different vegetarian delights and to make the food

preparation a celebration that involves the whole family.

 

I can understand that a big holiday gathering might not

be the easiest time for dietary experimentation. So don't

take my word for it. Try out a vegan turkey beforehand

and see how you like it. I think you'll be truly surprised

at how delicious they are. At the very least, please give

it some thought. If not this year, maybe next and if

Tofurky or UnTurkey doesn't do it for you, try one of

the other delicious recipes I've enclosed as either a side

dish or a main course.

 

We all have our own ways of celebrating the holidays

and I certainly don't want to force mine on anyone.

But if you've ever wondered whether there was a more

humane way to celebrate, I want you to know there is.

And you can make a difference.

 

I wish you all a safe and healthy Thanksgiving!

 

Love,

Alicia Silverstone

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RECIPES:

 

Wheat gluten or wheat protein is a delicious substitute

to meat. It is delicious baked and has a chewy, meat-like

texture. It can be purchased in most health food stores.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

SPICE ROAST

(Serves 6)

2 cups vital wheat gluten

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon marjoram

2 cups vegetable broth

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 small onion, sliced

2 cups hot water

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 Golden Gravy (recipe follows)

Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl; make a

well in the center of the mixture. Combine vegetable

broth and soy sauce, add to dry ingredients and knead.

Transfer mixture to a 9 " x 5 " x 3 " non-stick loafpan.

Add sliced onion to top of loaf. Combine hot water

and soy sauce; pour over loafpan. Cover with foil and

bake at 350° for 1-1/2 hours. Let cool before slicing.

Serve with golden gravy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

B-B-Q SEITAN

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lbs of raw seitan (1 box of Seitan Quick Mix)

1/4 cup of oil

1 1/2 cup of B-B-Q sauce of your choice

Seasonings of your choice when mixing the seitan for

frying

Directions:

Heat oil in a medium heat and fry seitan pieces for a

few minutes on each side lightly browned. Place seitan

in a 9 inch baking dish. Pour B-B-Q sauce on top of

the seitan then spread with spoon to cover surfaces.

Gently add enough water so that Seitan pieces are

almost floating. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for

one hour. Add more water if necessary to keep seitan

very moist. (follow the recipe for the basic Seitan),

1 box 280z to 2 cups of water. Serves: 4 Preparation

time: 2 Hours (MOST OF THE TIME IS IN COOKING)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

THANKSGIVING CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked brown rice (or substitute lentils)

1/2 cup cashews or walnuts, chopped

2 slices of whole wheat bread, chopped into small cubes

1 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup soy milk

2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast

1 rib celery, diced small

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 Tbsp. olive oil

herbs to taste: sage, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, pepper

(or veggie " poultry " seasoning)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8- or 9-inch square

casserole dish with cooking spray. While rice is cooking,

saute celery and onion in the olive oil. Mix well all

ingredients in a large bowl. Spread into casserole dish,

and bake for 45 minutes. Tastes even better topped with

vegan gravy! Serves: 8 Preparation time: 30 min

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

HOLIDAY LENTIL LOAF

Ingredients:

1 small onion

1 clove garlic

2 stalks celery

2 tsp sage

3 cups cooked lentils

3 cups cooked wild rice (you can use a wild rice/

brown rice mix here too)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

2 Tbsp vinegar

2 egg equivalents

2 Tbsp whole wheat flour

fresh ground black pepper and sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Chop onion and celery finely,

and crush the garlic clove. Spray a fraying

pan

with non-stick spray, and saute the onion, garlic and

celery until onion is translucent. Add the sage.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and fill the loaf

pan with the mixture. Press down. Bake 30 minutes

covered, 10 minutes uncovered. Let stand for 5-10

minutes before cutting and serving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

SEITAN AT IT'S BEST

Ingredients:

1 lb. seitan

2 bell peppers (I Like to use green and red)

2 portobella mushrooms

1 yellow onion

1 baguette/ 4 sub rolls

8 oz rice cheese

chopped up lettuce

sliced tomatoes

sliced avocados

some mayo, mustard or whatever you like!

Directions:

Toast baguette with cheese while vegetables cook.

Put a bit of oil in a skillet and throw in the onion

and pepper. Let cook for about 5 minutes and throw

in the seitan and mushrooms too. Let cook until tender.

Put vegies and seitan in the bread and top as you

please. Serves: 4 Preparation time: 20

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

THANKSGIVING " MEAT " LOAF

Ingredients:

substitute for 2 eggs (N-er-gy Egg Replacer)

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 box med. firm silken tofu (350 g)

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 packet dried onion soup mix (1.5 oz)

1tsp oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

2/4 cup chopped celery

2 cups chopped mushrooms

oregano, bazil & ground cumin (approx 1-2 tsp each –

to suit taste)

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

 

Directions:

Mix egg substitute, soy sauce, tofu & onion soup mix

together in blender.

Add walnuts & blend until smooth.

Saute vegetables until onions are transparent (add

other diced veggies if you wish - ie peppers, carrots

etc). Add herbs/spices while vegetables are frying.

Mix blender ingredients, cooked vegetables & bread

crumbs together in a large bowl.

Press into a greased loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 45 minutes. Let cool

slightly. Turn loaf out and slice. This has become a

standard dish at my parents house when all sorts of

eating habits must be catered to. Even the most

obstinate meat eaters love it. It is also excellent the

next day cold on a sandwich with a bit of mustard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~