How To Make Healthy, Low Fat, Creamy Vegan Mashed Potatoes. Also, A Recipe For Mushroom Gravy And A Delicious Vegan Substitute For Sliced Turkey.

Soy curls are a great substitute for chicken or turkey.

You won't believe these creamy mashed potatoes are dairy free!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

I'm dedicating the entire month of November to developing more raw and cooked vegan recipes and menus for my favorite holiday - Thanksgiving. Last year I posted A Complete Raw Vegan Thanksgiving menu as well as a Healthy Cooked Vegan menu so do check those out.

Best Ever Vegan Mashed Potatoes

I had some silken tofu left over from the Vegan Mac and Cheese recipe I posted on Monday. (By the way, this could also make a good side dish on Thanksgiving or just use the cheese sauce for your side dish of broccoli). Anyway, I thought that this light and fluffy tofu would make a great dairy substitute in mashed potatoes - a mandatory Thanksgiving dish. Together with Yukon gold potatoes, a touch of vegan buttery spread and seasoned with salt and pepper, these were simply the best mashed potatoes ever! And healthy too. Without the addition of heavy butter or cream, each serving is just over 100 calories with less than a half gram of saturated fat and no cholesterol! Whether you are a vegan, lactose intolerant, cooking for guests who avoid dairy or just love mashed potatoes, you need to try this recipe. For best results, use the silken tofu in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, not the kind they sell in boxes. I also love using thin skinned Yukon gold potatoes. After boiling, the skin peels off very easily.

Soy Curls Make a Great Meat Free Substitute for Sliced Turkey

You can host a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with nothing but side dishes but if you want something that looks and tastes like poultry, give these Soy Curls a try. Made from whole soy beans, these are far less processed than other fake meat products made from processed vegetable protein or wheat gluten.They take on the flavor of the spices with which they are seasoned. For this dish, I sprinkle them with poultry seasoning.

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Creamy Vegan Mashed Potatoes

[makes 8 servings]

2 pounds Yukon gold (or other) potatoes, cleaned and quartered with skin

Water for cooking

1/2 teaspoon sea salt for cooking

1 cup silken tofu, warmed (8 ounces)

1 tablespoon vegan buttery spread

Reserved cooking water, if needed

1/4 teaspoon sea salt (more or less to taste)

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper (more or less to taste)

Cook potatoes in salted boiling water until soft. Drain and peel off skin.

In a deep bowl, combine potatoes, silken tofu, buttery spread, salt and pepper and beat with a hand beater until smooth. Add a tablespoon of hot reserved cooking water if needed. Do not over process. Yukon gold potatoes can get pasty.

Serve immediately with mushroom gravy.

Per serving: 109.3 calories, 2.4 g fat, 0.4 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4.4 g protein, 4.3 g carbohydrates and 2.5 g dietary fiber.

Mushroom Gravy

[makes about 1 1/2 cups]

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup chopped onions

8 ounces organic white button mushrooms, thinly sliced (or other mushrooms)

1 cup veggie broth, room temperature

4 teaspoons corn starch

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)

2 shakes garlic powder

ground pepper to taste

On medium low heat, in a saucepan, sauté the onion in olive oil until soft, about 4 minutes.

Add mushrooms and cook until they soften and release liquid, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix broth with corn starch until smooth. Add to mushrooms and onions and stir until it thickens.

Stir in salt, garlic powder and black pepper. Taste, adjust seasoning and serve.

Per tablespoon: 8.9 calories, 0.6 g fat, 0.1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0.3 g protein, 0.8 g carbohydrates and 0 g dietary fiber.

Vegan Turkey Slices

[makes 8 servings]

One 8 ounce package of soy curls

Hot water to cover

4 tablespoons Red Star nutritional yeast

2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Place the soy curls in a bowl and cover with hot water for 10 minutes.

After they rehydrate, drain and squeeze out excess water. Return them to a clean and dry bowl.

In a small bowl, combine nutritional yeast, poultry seasoning, black pepper, salt and garlic powder.

Sprinkle the mixture over the soy curls evenly and toss well.

Heat oil and sauté the soy curls until golden (about 5 minutes) and remove from heat.

Serve immediately with mushroom gravy.

Per serving: 149.8 calories, 8.3 g fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 12.6 g protein, 7.3 g carbohydrates and 4.3 g dietary fiber.

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Raw Vegan Turkey Lettuce Cups with Cranberry Relish - A Great Main Entrée for a Raw Thanksgiving

A Great Raw Thanksgiving Entrée

I've been developing a raw Thanksgiving menu over the last few months (which I will publish shortly) and although it's easy to come up with appetizers, soups, salads and even desserts, it was really hard to think of something that would pass for an entrée. Since my favorite "meaty" raw meal is raw tacos, I thought I could get the same effect by using raw walnuts and poultry seasoning to simulate crumbled turkey. I put it in a lettuce cup with a dollop of raw cranberry relish and voila, a satisfying and meaty tasting Thanksgiving dish. OK, it's not baked turkey and gravy but I thought it made a better presentation than a pile of faux stuffing which was my second choice. And, unlike so many raw recipes, it takes minutes to prepare which is important on a day that you'll be preparing lots of dishes.

It's Not Just for Thanksgiving

These lettuce cups are also great for lunch or dinner. You can even put the mixture in endive and serve as an appetizer. This recipe provides large amounts of omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids in a perfect 4:1 ratio as added bonus!

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Raw Vegan Turkey Lettuce Cups with Cranberry Relish [makes 4 lettuce cups]

For the Crumbled Turkey

1 cup raw English walnuts

3/4 teaspoons dried sage*

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped*

2 teaspoons Nama Shoyu soy sauce

pinch of black pepper

4 small leaves butter lettuce, cleaned

* 1 teaspoon of poultry seasoning can be substituted for the sage and thyme

For the relish [makes enough for 12 or more lettuce cups]

12 oz package of fresh cranberries, rinsed under cold water and drained

10 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped

Combine the walnuts, sage, thyme, Nama Shoyu and black pepper in a food processor with an S blade and process until it resembles crumbled ground turkey. Do not over process. Remove and set aside. Rinse out the food processor to make the relish.

Combine the cranberries and pitted dates in the food processor and process until it reaches the desired consistency. This will make more than needed.

To assemble the lettuce cups, divide the turkey crumble into the center of 4 leaves of butter lettuce. Put a heaping tablespoon of cranberry relish in each cup and serve. In a big Thanksgiving dinner with several courses, plan on making one lettuce cup per person. As a whole lunch or dinner, make 2 per person.

Per lettuce cup: 208.3 calories, 19 g fat, 1.8 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4.5 g protein, 8.5 g carbohydrates, 2.7 g fiber, 2.7 g omega 3 and 11.1 g omega 6 fatty acids.