Hey everyone – Thanksgiving is coming up, which can be a tough time for us “kind” folk. I wanted to repost the blogs that I wrote last year about Thanksgiving – over the next few days I’ll be reposting blogs about my thoughts on the holiday, great menu options for a kind Thanksgiving dinner, and tons more info.
This year for Thanksgiving I’m cooking a huge meal at my house for 30 guests – it’ll be all family. I’m a bit overwhelmed with the task at hand… And I’ve also been working like crazy lately, so please forgive me for re-posting last year’s Thanksgiving blogs. Once things die down, I will post a bunch of blogs about what I did this year, and hopefully that will help all of you for next year’s Thanksgiving! And hopefully last year’s posts will help you out for this year!
As always, if you have any recommendations for great Thanksgiving meals, please post them in the comments below, and post your recipes in the Recipe Gallery.
Here’s the first blog that I posted last year about Thanksgiving – it lists a bunch of yummy menu options (most of which you can find in The Kind Diet), and also gives a couple recommendations of places where you can pick up kind Thanksgiving meals. Enjoy!

Ok, I know the clock is ticking on this one, but I’m gonna try to give you great Thanksgiving info before the big day. There is way more to come on this subject, but for now, I want to share some great pick-up options for those of you living in LA (and at the bottom, there’s a little tidbit about NY) and some great veggie alternatives to a “regular” Thanksgiving. It is completely possible to have the most delicious veggie Thanksgiving in the world.
For pick-up in LA check out:

• Real Food Daily – both locations, Santa Monica and West Hollywood, do a great Thanksgiving meal that you pick-up and take wherever you need to be.
• Seed – in Venice has a Thanksgiving Bento Box”. haven’t tried that one, but I’m sure it’s delicious.

Here are my favorite veg-style alternatives to the Thanksgiving norm for you to use and make in your own kitchen (recipes include page numbers where you can find them in The Kind Diet unless otherwise noted):

A Note About Gravy…
I’m not a huge fan of the Tofurky turkey, but I do love their gravy! It’s great and so are the Tofurky sausages and Tofurky jerky” but that’s beside the point. I just wanted to show you that quick Thanksgiving pick-ups are possible in LA. And maybe these menus will inspire you and give you some great ideas about what to make this year if you have time.

“Meats”/Proteins/Anti-Turkeys

• Pecan-Crusted Seitan (pictured – p. 154)
• Seitan Picatta with White Wine and Capers (p. 156)
• Ginger-Baked Tofu (p. 160)
• Thanksgiving Tofu (p. 161-162)
• Sweet Potato-Lentil Stew – fun side dish (p. 166-167)
• Hijiki-Tofu Croquettes – fun side dish (p. 244-245)
• Fruity French Lentils – fun side dish (p. 245)
• Field Roast Sausages” and they have a Celebration Loaf (not from The Kind Diet)
• Gardein brand turkey slices or any of their scallopini-style “meats” (not from The Kind Diet)

Vegetable Dishes

• Sicilian Collards with Pine Nuts and Raisins (pictured – p. 176-177)
• Baby Bok Choy Drizzled with Ume Vinaigrette (pictured – p. 264-265)
• Cuban-Style Roasted Sweet Potatoes – I like to use the white sweet potatoes, the yams, but you might want to use the orange/garnet yams for the holidays. (p. 266)
• Scarlet Roasted Vegetables (p. 267)
• Maple-Roasted Lotus Root, Sunchokes and Leeks (p. 269)
• Artichoke Dip – fun dip (p. 205)
  

Bready Things

• Whole Wheat Biscuits (p. 197)
• Pumpkin Bread (p. 202)
• Arame Turnovers – yummy appetizer (p. 260)

Desserts

• Crispy Peanut Butter Treats with Chocolate Chips (p. 184-185)
• Oatmeal, Walnut, and Dried Plum Cookies (p. 186)
• Peach Crumble – but use apples or pears instead to make it more seasonal (p. 194-195)
• Candied Ginger Pears (p. 278-279)
• Plum Soup – use winter fruit variation (p. 280)

Beverages

• Warm Spicy Wine (p. 210)
• Hot Chocolate (p. 211)
  

And for things like butter, milk, marshmallows, and whipped cream, use alternatives. Use Earth Balance butter, non-dairy milk, non-dairy whipped creams, non-dairy cheese, like the one from Field Roast (put it into a fresh arugula salad with beets…. yum!). And for marshmallows to use on your sweet potatoes, you can get Suzanne’s brand Ricemellow fluff from M Cafe (some specialty stores carry them as well). Or you can order it here.
Just remember that anything you want for Thanksgiving is possible and can be delicious. Name something you can’t find, and we will tell you what to do to replace it. I’m certain though that with these meat options, anything your imagination craves for Thanksgiving can be done!!!
On a side note:
For those in NY, I have to tell you that I had one of the best Thanksgiving dinners of my life at Candle 79. It was truly insane. My husband was on tour with his old band S.T.U.N. and I met him in NY when he was playing there on tour. We went to Candle. It was all amazing, but the pumpkin cheesecake was the best thing ever. I’m sure you can do Thanksgiving pick-ups from them.