This Week: Thanksgiving Sides!
- In This Issue:
- Recipe Spotlight |
- What's Hot on VegWeb |
- Cooking with Webmistress Laura |
- Superstar VegWebber |
- Weekly Giveaway!
Thanksgiving must-eat: perfect stuffing!
Recipe Spotlight on Thanksgiving Sides
Last week I raved about pie and its benefits to the Thanksgiving table. But pie alone cannot make a Thanksgiving – everyone knows you need the sides. You need the stuffing, you need the gravy. You need all the fixin's. Let's face it, the greatest part about Thanksgiving was never the turkey, it was all about the sides. Even if you eschew the Traditional Tasting Tofurky, you can make a hearty, delicious meal from sides alone. Let's face it, us veg-heads have been playing the side-dish game for a long time and Thanksgiving is our time to shine. So let's show the meat-mouths how it's done. Now, please excuse me while I dive into a moutain of mashed potatoes.
Check out some of my favorite Tofurky Day side dishes on VegWeb:
What's Hot on VegWeb
Thanksgiving Hotline Chat is this Sunday! Feeling frazzled over the fast-approaching holidays? Take some time and chat up renowned vegan chef Jesse Miner for the best tips, tricks, and treats to make your Thanksgiving stellar. Come ready with your burning questions, and leave with answers, recipe ideas, and sage advice from this culinary craftsman and fellow VegWebbers. Join us on Sunday, November 22, 6–7pm PST in the Thanksgiving Hotline Chat.
Introducing: VegWeb Thanksgiving Headquarters! We have a fabulous addition to VegWeb.com, our brand-new Thanksgiving Page! Check it out for the best recipes, hottest giveaways, and coolest links to celebrate Tofurky Day. We've put together a stellar selection of the seasonal best-of-the-best so you don't have to. Get ready to enjoy Thanksgiving in fabulous vegan style with VegWeb.
Speaking of Thankgiving... Bookmark VegWeb as your go-to website for everything Tofurky Day. From candied yams to savory biscuits, VegWeb has you covered. New recipes, forums, and articles are being added daily so make sure to check in regularly at VegWeb. Already planning your Thanksgiving dinner? I am! If you're like me, you'll need some convincing to not serve just five kinds of pie. Should you serve a traditional Tofurky or mix it up with a fabulous lasagna!? Come talk it out, from pie to mashed potatoes, in Thanksgiving 2009: What's on the Menu?
Thanksgiving Songs!? Do you have any favorite ones? Do you even know any? If you do, we have the chat for you! Let's talk about the best tunes to play on Thanksgiving in Thanksgiving songs. Check out our Monday Night Chats! Every Monday from 6–7pm PST, head to the chat room for discussions ranging from vegetarian travel to cooking tips. This week (November 23), we'll be talking Thanksgiving menus! Are you hosting a veg celebration or bringing the only vegan dish to a family dinner? Bring your thoughts, tips, advice, and more to the VegWeb Chat Room.Do you tweet? Well, I do! I'm crazy about Twitter. More specifically, I'm crazy about twittering deals, recipes, giveaways, and the latest and greatest news from the VegWeb HQ! Follow me on my WebMistress Laura Twitter.
Roasted veggie salad? Side dish heaven!
Cooking with Webmistress Laura!
If you've read these newsletter carefully (and you better! There will be a quiz! With a candy prize involved! Maybe!) then you'll know I love to roast things. Any thing, any time, I'm ready to roast. Honestly, there are nights when the only thing preventing me from covering my sofa in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and throwing it in the oven is the fact that I can't lift it by myself. And my boyfriend won't help, darn him! Anyway, I've developed this recipe as an alternative to my usual roasting ways, something a little different to mix it up. The light dressing is perfect for this veggie combo and it will certainely feel quite at home on your Thanksgiving table. Enjoy!
What You Need:
1 pound Brussels sprouts
2 carrots, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 pound leeks, cut lengthwise into eighths (about 1-1/2 cups)
2 russet potatoes, cubed
1-1/2 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 pound chard, rinsed and ribbed
4 large garlic cloves, diced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
What You Do:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss the Brussels sprouts, leeks, and potatoes in the olive oil, salt and pepper. Place them in a baking pan. Arrange kale in a layer in another baking pan. Roast kale, and potato mixture, for about 15 minutes. The potatoes should be golden and the kale should be crisp.
2. While potatoes and chard are roasting, saute the garlic in the sesame oil until it is soft and fragrant. Remove from stove and stir in balsamic vinegar.
3. Place roasted vegetables in a bowl and stir in the garlic-balsmaic dressing. Serve warm or room temperature. Enjoy!
Superstar VegWebber!
Each week, we'll highlight a member of the VegWeb community who goes above and beyond to make VegWeb a truly excellent place to spend time on the internet.
This week, "DalVeg!"
VegWebber since? I started reading VegWeb in January 2009, but I didn't get the courage to start an account until April 2009.
What do you do when you're not on VegWeb? Cook, of course. I also live an active, eco-friendly life and am an avid tea drinker.
Favorite Thanksgiving recipe? The Canadian Thanksgiving is in October, so I already had my holiday meal. Nonetheless, my Thanksgiving meal favorite is this stuffing.
Three people you'd most like to have dinner with? Right now the only person I can think of is Ellen Degeneres (she's so funny AND vegan).
French fries or ice cream? Ice cream. (When choosing between foods, I always choose the sweet option over the salty!).
Read DalVeg's entire interview and tell her how awesome she is in the Superstar VegWebber thread!
Weekly Giveaway: Thanksgiving Feast!
According to their site, Navitas Naturals Chocolate Kits contain everything you need for an authentic chocolate alchemy experience. Um, I want that. I love anything that incorporates chocolate and health, that just means more chocolate for me. I'll take it! Or rather, you'll take it. We're giving away one of these fabulous kits to a lucky VegWebber. For a chance to win, visit the VegWeb Giveaway Thread and let us know what question you're looking forward to asking Chef Jesse Miner in our Thanksgiving Hotline Chat. It can be anything from stuffing tips to how to make the best vegan egg nog. Get creative, this conversation is going to be delicious!
Good luck!
Peace in your kitchen,
Webmistress Laura
VegWeb.com
San Francisco, CA