Eat Well: Countdown to Thanksgiving = Squash + Potatoes + a Dilemma

The following post was written by my mom, WWW. Thanks as always for your recipes and insight, mom. xoxox

I haven’t been a vegetarian long enough to really deal with the problem of what to do for Thanksgiving. Last year, I made a turkey anyway…searching the entire county for a Tom that at least had a relatively happy life while he was on this earth. I agonized over this decision and decided that my Thanksgiving memories are entirely wrapped around the traditional turkey dinner and I couldn’t imagine not having a turkey on the table for the holiday—even if I didn’t eat any of it. When I was little, one of my joys was waking up early on Thanksgiving to help my mother with the turkey. Thanksgiving and the smell of turkey roasting in the oven are synonymous in my brain. And as an adult, I have prided myself in duplicating my mother’s recipe for moist turkey breast and mouth-watering gravy, made the French way from a roux. Our grandmother’s stuffing recipe, made from corn flakes, is so ingrained in my head from 50 plus years of cooking it that I don’t even have a hard copy of it.

Note to self—write it down, soon, in case something happens to me. I would hate a family favorite to die with me!

This year, my goal is to do Thanksgiving without turkey and I am concerned, not only because of the absence of turkey smell in the house, but because most of the family members coming to dinner are meat eaters. I am actually a little stressed over this and not sure if I should warn everyone ahead of time, ask someone else to bring the turkey for those who want it, or just surprise everyone on the day and see what happens. I feel confident that I can cook an amazing meatless meal on a normal day but Thanksgiving is different. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday BECAUSE of the traditional foods and aromas.

For the next four weeks, I am going to share with you my Thanksgiving menu as it evolves—both new recipes and old. The trick to this menu will be to have lots of flavorful foods that smell good as they cook. I am starting with an incredibly delicious squash soup. This is a fairly new recipe from an amazing cookbook called “Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta.” I made it for Rebecca and her family last winter and Rebecca said it was the best soup she has ever had. Archer even loved it! It feels and tastes like fall and has a pungent flavor.

NEW RECIPE:

Squash-Apple Soup with Thai Red Curry

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed (about 4 cups)

"peel first before you split. Use a really sharp peeler since the skin is tough."

1 apple, cored, peeled and diced

2 leeks, white part only, washed and sliced

"split leeks and clean in water, spreading the leaves apart as you clean to get out all the sand"

1 small carrot, peeled and sliced

½ stalk celery, finely chopped

1 T chopped fresh basil

2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste

4 cups basic vegetable stock (homemade or boxed)

2 cups water

1 T brown sugar

2 teaspoons sea salt or more to taste

thinly sliced chives

Thin strips of orange zest

• In a 4-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the squash, apple, leeks, carrot, celery, and basil and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are softened; do not brown.

Add the curry paste and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.

Add the stock, water, brown sugar, and salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft.

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• Cool for 30 minutes, then, with an immersion blender or in a blender or food processor, puree until absolutely smooth.

• Reheat and taste for seasoning, adding salt if needed. Serve very hot, with a sprinkling of chives and orange zest, if desired.

You can serve this soup in Squash bowls. (ED: Choose small acorn squash or pumpkins, no more than 6 inches in diameter. Scrub the squash in cold water. Cut off the top quarter of the squash, saving it to use as a lid, and a small slice from the bottom, so the squash sits flat without wobbling. Scoop out the insides to create a cavity large enough to hold 8 ounces of soup. Brush inside and out with oil and bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F, until shiny and lightly browned but still very firm. Use within 24 hours.)

Here is one of my TRADITIONAL recipes. I have made these amazing sweet potatoes for 30 years, ever since Larry’s aunt brought them to our house in New Jersey when I was pregnant with Rebecca.

TRADITIONAL RECIPE:

Aunt Fay’s Pecan Topped Sweet Potatoes

3 lbs sweet potatoes

2 eggs

¾ cup brown sugar

¼ cup butter (melted)

salt to taste

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

½ t nutmeg

½ cup orange juice

1 cup chopped pecans

• Cut sweet potatoes in thirds and boil until tender. Drain water and cool potatoes, enough so you can peel them (the peel will slip off). Mash well.
• Add ¼ cup of the brown sugar, orange juice and seasonings.
• Beat eggs and add to potatoes
• Put into a 2 quart casserole. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and the rest of the sugar. Pour butter over the top. Cook for 30 minutes at 375, uncovered.
I do steps 1 and 2 the day before. Then on Thanksgiving, I add the eggs and finish with step 4. I always double the recipe. You will have to cook them a little longer if the potatoes are cold.

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I would love to get feedback from the vegetarian readers amongst you on how YOU handle this holiday (please don’t tell me about tofurkey. I am not a huge fan of meat substitutes). And I will let you know if at the end of it all, I give in and cook a turkey. It may be that the only way for me to handle this holiday is to make it the ONE day a year that I actually cook meat. After all, being a vegetarian is, as Michael Pollen so wisely stated, an omnivore’s dilemma.

Love,

WWW