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11 November 2001 Issue
Thanksgiving?

From Karen Davis, President, United Poultry Concerns
www.upc-online.org
[email protected]
&
From Johanna McCloy - Soy Happy
www.soyhappy.org 

Even the turkey industry admits the suffering, whether it be for "free-range" or standard commercial production. For example, the January-February 1995 issue of Turkey World, a U.S. trade magazine, says regarding the baby turkey's experience:

"They are squeezed, thrown down a slide onto a treadmill, someone picks them up and pulls the snood off their heads, clips three toes off each foot, debeaks them, puts them on another conveyor belt that delivers them to another carousel where they get a power injection, usually of an antibiotic, that whacks them in the back of their necks. Essentially they have been through major surgery [without anesthetic]. They have been traumatized."

Won't you consider a humane and meat free Thanksgiving?

* Below is a list of some traditional holiday recipes, veggie style.

* In addition there's the very popular Tofurkey, a meat free alternative served in the same fashion as your usual traditional fare...complete with gravy and stuffing. It's available at many stores or you can check it out at http://www.tofurkey.com 

* Order a delicious vegetarian Thanksgiving meal directly from one of southern California's best restaurants, Native Foods. They will deliver a special frozen holiday meal...all you have to do is heat it up and serve! http://www.nativefoods.com  (Westwood location telephone: 310/209-1055)

THANK YOU for your consideration. (Keep scrolling for those recipes).

For the turkeys,

Johanna McCloy
Founder, Soy Happy

Here's the list of holiday recipes (keep scrolling) from Veggies Unite! -
http://www.vegweb.com/ 

A Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Tofu "Turkey" with Stuffing
Garlicky Mashed Potatoes
Brown Gravy
"Chicken" Gravy
Wild Rice and Sweet Potatoes
Colorful Corn Salad
Garlic Green Beans
Cranberry Sauce
Applesauce Spice Cake
Tofu Pumpkin Pie
Hot Holiday Apple Punch
More recipes at: http://www.vegweb.com/misc/thanksgiving.shtml 

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Tofu Turkey with Stuffing
Recipe from: Carol van de Erve Tracy

Turkey Ingredients:
5 pounds of firm tofu
1 pound of tofu for the drumsticks - optional

Stuffing Ingredients:
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 and 1/3 cup celery, diced (about 4 stalks)
1 cup mushrooms, finely chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup sage (may use 1/8)
2 teaspoons marjoram
2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon winter or summer savory
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon rosemary
2 teaspoons celery seed
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
3 cups Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing

Basting mixture Ingredients:
1/2 cup toasted sesame oil
1/4 to 1/3 cup soy sauce or tamari
2 tablespoons miso
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon mustard of choice

Directions:
Mash tofu or mix well with hands. Be sure that all of the lumps are out. Line a 12 colander with wet cheesecloth over lapping the sides. Add the mashed tofu to the cloth covered colander, press down and cover with the overlapping sides. Place the whole thing in a large bowl. Cover the cheesecloth with a plate that fits inside the colander and place a 5 pound weight on the plate. Refrigerate and let sit for 2 to 3 hours.

When time is up, start the stuffing. Saute' the onions, celery and mushrooms in the 2 tablespoons sesame oil. When soft, add the garlic and all the rest of the stuffing ingredients, except stuffing, mixing well. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add herb stuffing and mix well.

Remove tofu from fridge and take off weight, plate and top of cheesecloth. Hollow out tofu to within 1 inch of the sides and bottom, placing the tofu in a bowl. Place the stuffing inside the shell and pack in firmly. Cover with the remaining tofu and pat down firmly. Turn stuffed tofu onto a greased baking sheet, flat side down. Gently press on sides of turkey to achieve a more oval shape. If desired at this point, you may mold drumsticks out of one pound of tofu, and place on each side of the turkey.

Mix up the basting mixture and baste tofu turkey with half of it. Cover the turkey with foil, and bake at 400 degrees for about 1 hour.

Remove foil, baste with all the remaining mixture except a few tablespoons and return to oven for 1 hour more, or until the turkey is golden. Remove from oven and use rest of basting mix. Using at least 2 large spatulas, move to a large plate. Serve with the gravy of your choice, if you wish, and cranberry sauce.

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Garlicky Mashed Potatoes
Recipe from [email protected]

Ingredients:
1 lg head garlic, horizontally split in half
1 ts oil
russett potatoes
2 tb margarine
potato cooking water
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Preheat oven 350. Drizzle garlic with oil. Cover tightly with foil and bake 30-40. Let cool until easy to handle (can be done a day before). Squeeze out garlic.

Cover potatoes with water (peeled and chopped--however many potatoes you'd like) and bring to a boil. Cook 20-30 mins until fork tender. Drain, reserving water. Mash potatoes with margerine and garlic, adding enough potato water back in to bring it to desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I always use 5 pounds to potatoes, and double the garlic. I also add chives just before serving. It's great if you add a sweet potato or two into the potatoes--adds a nice color!

I use the leftover gravy (made from seasoned thickened veg stock), plus leftoever potato water, the peels from the potatoes and the skins from the garlic as the base for my next pot of soup stock.

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Vegan Gravy
Recipe from Bruce - [email protected]

Ingredients:
8 Tbls vegetable oil
3-6 cloves of garlic, squashed and minced
3 slices of yellow onion, chopped
8 Tbls all-purpose flour
2 Tbls nutritional yeast
4 Tbls low sodium soy sauce or tamari
2 1/2 cups water (to start)
1/2 tsp ground sage (dry)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup red wine (optional--but a huge help. I like cabernet sauvignon)
2 Tbls balsamic vinegar
6 sliced mushrooms (optional)

I can't take all the credit for this great gravy. Unfortunately I cannot recall exactly where I came upon it. My apologies to the original source. I made some slight adjustments. It was a HUGE hit with my family--even the meat eaters!

In a medium saucepan heat oil on a medium or medium-low heat. Add garlic and onion and cook until slightly tender and translucent.

Add the flour, yeast and soy (or tamari) to make a paste or roux. Be careful not to let it burn. GRADUALLY add the water, stirring constantly. With frequent stirring, bring the gravy to a boil and allow it to thicken. Add pepper, mushrooms, wine and balsamic vinegar. If you don't want to add wine, you might try a bit more balsamic vinegar or a red wine vinegar in its place.

If the gravy is too thin (unlikely) add a small amount of cornstarch which has been dissolved in some cold water. (Dissolving the cornstarch in water first will prevent lumps.)

You can add more water to the gravy if you want a lighter gravy for certain dishes. The flavor is very strong and can easily handle the extra liquid. It's even better if you let it sit in the fridge overnight and gently reheat it. This is great over a lentil loaf, biscuits, potatoes--just about anything you would want to smother with a rich gravy! Enjoy!

Serves: Approx 4 cups. Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

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Vegetarian "Chicken" Gravy
Recipe from Lorien Henson

Ingredients:
2 tblsp reduced-calorie stick butter/margarine
2 tblsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp veggie poultry seasoning
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp paprika
1 cup low-salt vegetarian chicken-flavoured broth

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, poultry seasoning, salt, and paprika, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add broth, stirring until blended.

Cook 5 minutes over medium-high heat or until thick, stirring constantly.
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 1/2 tblsp)

Note: Chicken broth is the vegetarian chicken-flavoured powder (similar looking to the name brand 'Bovril'). I've bought it in bulk from a large health food store and I've also seen it available at regular grocery stores sold next to the real chicken broth. Usually the directions call for 1 tblsp for 3/4 cup hot water, so add a bit more powder and 1/4 cup more water to equal 1 cup broth required for this recipe.

P.S. This gravy is awesome with mashed potatoes! In my family, there are still a couple of meat-eaters and they really like this gravy, too.

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Wild Rice and Sweet Potatoes
Recipe from [email protected]

Ingredients:
1 cup of cooked Wild Rice
1 cup of cooked Basmati Rice
1-2 uncooked sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
1-2 T fresh chopped parsley
Salt to taste. (I put quite a bit for this dish.)

I cook the rice together in a rice cooker with equal amounts of water. Fill into plastic lunch box. Mix for cooking. Nuke for 10 minutes on high.

Note: This can also be made using a pre-cooked sweet potato. Then the nuke time is reduced to 3 minutes for reheating.

Variation: I think this would be good with a couple of table spoons of orange juice for extra flavoring added before cooking.

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Colorful Corn Salad
Recipe from Erika Penzer - [email protected]

Ingredients:
6 ears of corn
1 can of black beans
two roasted red peppers

Cook lightly 6 ears of corn (I put mine in-husk in the microwave for 4 minutes, 2 at a time). Slice the corn off the cob and put it in a bowl. Add 1 can of black beans, rinsed (the medium-size can -- is that 10oz? I forget). Chop two roasted red peppers (I roasted my own under the broiler, but jarred or canned is probably fine too, just rinse them) in pieces about the same size as a kernel of corn and add that to the bowl.

Dressing:
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp. garlic powder (or 1 clove fresh, crushed)
1/2 tsp. cumin powder
2 T. white vinegar.
juice of one lemon

Mix well and toss with the salad. Let sit at room temperature for an hour to combine flavors.

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Garlic Green Beans
Recipe from Robin S Wedeman - [email protected]

Beans:
3 lb cans French cut green beans or
2 small bags frozen French cut green beans or
3 boxes frozen French cut green beans

Marinade:
2/3 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon salt

Make one day ahead. If frozen beans are used, cook first. Mix marinade and toss with beans. Heat thru before serving.

This makes enough for a crowd, but can be cut down for 2-4 servings.

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Cranberry Sauce
Recipe from Sonja Jo Krenz-Bush - [email protected]

Ingredients:
1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup apricot brandy
a little bit of lemon juice (optional)

Wash the cranberries and pick out the bad ones. In an oven proof pan (9x13 is a good size) mix the cranberries, sugar, and brandy. Cook for 2 hours at 350. Can be served warm but I find that they're best when chilled.

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Applesauce Spice Cake
Recipe from Jane Colman - [email protected]

Ingredients:
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 3/4 cup flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tsp. ginger (optional)

Combine the molasses and applesauce in a large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients and stir into the liquid. (If the batter seems very dry, add a little more applesauce or a little water.) Bake in a nonstick or pan-sprayed 8*8-inch baking pan, in a 350 degree oven, for 30-45 minutes or until it tests done.

The optional ginger makes an acceptable gingerbread. I have also had success leaving out the ginger and adding 3 or 4 tablespoons of cocoa (I guess you could use carob) to make a tasty but not very sweet or rich chocolate cake. If you use cocoa you might need to add extra sweetening, but that depends on your taste.

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Tofu Pumpkin Pie
Recipe from Robin

Ingredients:
1 can (16 ounces) pureed pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 package (10-12 ounces) soft tofu, processed in blender until smooth
1 9-in unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 425 F. Cream the pumpkin and sugar. Add salt, spices, and tofu, mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into pie shell and bake for 15 minutes. Lower heat to 350 F and bake for another 40 minutes. Chill and serve. Don't use the low fat tofu, then the pie tastes like it was made with tofu. This pie is soooo yummy, it will fool almost anyone. I made it last Thanksgiving for my whole family, I am the only one, and everyone asked for seconds. They begged me to make another one for Christmas dinner. Top with non dairy topping and it will fool any pumpkin pie lover.
Serves: 8
Preparation time: about 1 hour + chilling time

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Hot Holiday Apple Punch
Recipe from Karyl - [email protected]

Ingredients:
1 gallon apple juice (natural, unfiltered)
1 4 inch piece of vanilla bean
2 cinnamon sticks
2 Valencia or navel oranges (5 inch diameter or use 3) organic
2 tbsp real vanilla extract
maple syrup (if really necessary) to taste

Slice the oranges into rounds. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise. Pour the juice into a crock pot or stainless steel pot, add the oranges, vanilla extract and bean, and cinnamon. Bring up to a moderate boil and hold there for at least 15 minutes. Then reduce the heat to a simmer, and continue to cook 30 - 45 minutes longer. Add maple syrup if you must. May be kept warm all day-just add more juice in small amounts each time.
Serves: 16 8oz
Preparation time: 1 hour

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