— Denise Tarasuk

So, uh, I did a live, pardon a live event, um, a couple years ago. I can see Patrick put the link into it. Uh, one of my traditional things that I do for my Thanksgiving is a mushroom Wellington, and, uh, that is kind of my go-to for, uh, your Thanksgiving dish because one, I can make it ahead, I can freeze it, I can travel with it if I need to as well, which I have. Um, and uh, there's a link to it right there. Um, if you're gluten-free, you just have to find a gluten-free puff pastry. You can also make your own as well too, which is great. Um, if you google gluten-free puff pastry, you'll get links right away to be able to show you different varieties that you can buy or make on those as well. So, um, that's usually kind of my main that I do for the vegan vegetarians, um, um, in the house because holidays, you know, it's with, uh, family that do eat meat as well. So we usually have that. And it's great because, uh, the meat eaters will actually go right towards that Wellington as well too. And that's basically a mushroom Wellington is, I'll do it with portobella mushrooms, I'll do usually about three of them and then fill it with all kinds of other mushrooms from shrimp toll to shiitakes, um, and then do a spinach base in there as well. Um, wrap the entire thing and bake it off. And it's a wonderful, I'll do like a, uh, aquafaba, um, egg wash right over the top of it, so it gets a nice good color on that. So that's one of kind of my staples for Thanksgiving. Um, you know, for uh, others, you know, mashed potatoes are always a big staple. Um, and I always do a mushroom gravy from scratch, uh, which is great 'cause I'm using the mushroom gravy for the Wellington as well too. Um, uh, it's a traditional thing, just a lot of my family members like to do the green bean casserole, so I'll make a green bean casserole. Um, and I usually make it from scratch, so I'll do like a, an almond milk kind of, um, mushroom, um, soup that you typically would use as those weird cans. And then, uh, do the, the fried onions is probably the, the worst thing that I put on the top of it. And those are usually a store-bought fried, uh, mushroom or the, uh, crispy onions is what I'm thinking of. Um, so I have done a spin on that before too, where I've actually had the green beans and left them whole parboiled them, then get 'em cold again, and then did a wrap around, uh, where I basically kind of, you dip it basically in the soup, kind of a mix and then put the onions around the outside and then serve them as kind of a stick on a, um, and those were a hit, but man, it was a lot of labor, especially the day of. Uh, it was kind of a lot. So, um, but I mean, really I think it's looking at the traditional foods that you and your family and friends like and recreating them in a whole food plant-based way that's, uh, healthy for everybody to be able to make sure that you're all making good choices, um, uh, uh, during the holiday season. So those are kind of my top hits there. Um, sometimes we'll do like, um, you know, a, a mushroom soup, I guess mushrooms are a big theme for me for the holidays. I've not realized that, but they kind of are on a daily basis anyways. But, um, my mom loves to do a corn souffle as well. Um, in Austin, Texas, there's a place called Fonda San Miguel that did an amazing corn souffle and they have a cookbook as well. Uh, it was not a vegan recipe, but uh, we figured out a vegan way to be able to make, um, make that work. She'll also make a, um, a vegan version of uh, uh, brioche bread as well too, which is pretty fantastic. Um, I don't know that recipe though, that's kind of one of her trade secrets. So, um, but yeah, those are some of the things that we make for our Thanksgiving meal. Um, and check out the link on the Wellington. That link has a couple of the other recipes that I do for holidays as well.

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