This year, we got to celebrate both Chanukah and Thanksgiving and “The Chew” (TV) called it Thanksgivingakkah… which I thought was really clever so I adopted it! This blog is called Thanksgivingakkah Vegan Style! I’ve taken it one step out of the box! lol
So, what do we want first? Concepts that you can create your own recipes from? Or pictures?
SHOW US PICTURES CHEF!
Ok. Here ya go! And I’ll illustrate with the concepts of the recipes…
Thanksgivingakkah Vegan Style!
Should we talk about ‘The Chews’ recipe for Potato Latkas? Latkas are a traditional Jewish dish that’s basically fried potatoes and onions. Being the fine Jew that I am, (culturally but truly in name only) I have never made Latkas before, nor have I eaten them more than maybe one or two times. It just doesn’t float my boat. But when I heard ‘The Chew’ talking about using a combo of celery root and sweet potato I thought: “I can take that to the next level with purple sweet potato”!
NOT! lol
First of all, it’s a vegan meal. No eggs to bind it. When I was at the counter of Jimbo’s the other day, I asked about their pumpkin pie and they told me that almond butter is one of the ingredients, and that’s used to bind the pie. So, I figured if it works for pie? It should work for latkas. But the almond butter obliterated the flavor of the potatoes and celery root. You live you learn. And the non dairy vegan sour cream? No sour flavor whatsoever. You have to watch out. Companies are making vegan items that look good, but the flavor is just not there. Made me want to eat real sour cream… and I know my body doesn’t process today’s dairy!
And, I am not big on frying. So pan sautéing the latkas didn’t ‘fly’ either. If you’re doing latkas? Guess you should go all the way… not only fry? But fry in Schmaltz (chicken fat). YECH! Cholesterol city!
Lucky for me I forgot about them, and at the end of the meal, before dessert, we got to try it. One bite. Done.
WHAT ABOUT YOUR IDEA THAT A MISTAKE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE, CHEF?
Glad you brought that up. I think this is the one exception to the rule. I guess I could have taken these, combined them into eggs this morning, but with all that fat absorbed from pan sautéing (and you’ve got to remember that a teaspoon is a hundred calories)… and all the bulk, all those calories without flavor? I’d just rather pass!
Onto other sides…
So I have this ‘issue’… well maybe two issues. Aaah… let’s go for it, THREE issues!
The first is: The normal cut sweet potatoes in the can have this really unhealthy syrup. But I want the flavor. So for this Sweet Potato Pie? I combined Sweet Potatoes, and Organic Pumpkin and Butternut Squash.
Now the one thing I know for sure is:
Everything is better through a ricer!
Try to get things to blend? Try to get things that can be lumpy to be smooth? Easiest way on the planet. Who sells them? Every kitchen store there is.
WHAT ELSE CHEF?
Oh yeah. Ok. Number 2? Sweet Potato Pie needs cream. But lucky for me? I remembered I had coconut creamer in the fridge and that did the trick.
And my final ‘issue’ is with butter or any animal fat. I want to come away satisfied not full and sleepy. Back to the fridge… to find…. Coconut Spread.
Worked like a charm.
Then I added my usual ingredients like cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, sea salt and pepper. And I was in business.
By the way, I wanted whipped cream so I tried the Rice cream. Comes in the same kind of spray bottle. It had no flavor. But I will show you what did have flavor, that I used instead….
Ricemellow. My vegan daughter went nuts for it. I had some left over. I said, “Take it home”. She said “no mom”. I said “Why not”? She said, “It’s too good”.
So I would say that’s a pretty good recommendation. You know the feeling? You don’t want to take leftovers home cause they’re too good and you know you’ll do some serious damage? lol
The next thing we should talk about is the continued potato theme we have at Thanksgiving. Your smashed potatoes will be creamy whipped potatoes if you put it through a ricer. So that’s what I did as well.
On the dinner plate? It was another added treat because we added roasted garlic. Is there anything better than Garlic Mashed Potatoes? ha! I think not! And of course I found a vegan gravy that was acceptable. I probably would have thickened it with arrowroot, if I had some extra time.
But by the time everything was pulled together and ready… I wasn’t stopping to thicken gravy that should have thickened on the stove top. In case you need to know the brand? It was Imagine Organic Vegetarian Wild Mushroom Gravy. It needs some TLC. And ooops? Chef Marian forgot to make the stuffing. Well, I knew the Tofurkey would have a stuffing inside…. So, when I asked last minute, “Do we need stuffing”? My daughter said: “Mom! There’s plenty of food here”. Gotta love her! lol
But my ‘game plan’ is to use the organic stuffing mix I bought, add a turkey breakfast sausage, corn bread and have me a real stuffing in the fridge to pair with my food over the weekend. Nice? Nice.
And my daughter was right. We had plenty. Her fiance even had seconds! But wait! There’s more!
We certainly saved the best for last. An Apple Crumble Loaf, Pumpkin Pillows, Chocolate Peanut Cups, incredible Chocolate Stripped Cookies and Blueberry and Chocolate Chip Scones. All Vegan.
Does that plate look Yum?
It was yum, I promise you. I think Jimbo’s does the best when it comes to Vegan Desserts. And at the end of the meal, we all pushed away satisfied, not stuffed. We watched the game on TV, talked, laughed and were truly grateful to be in each others company. So that was my Thanksgivingakkah Vegan Style this year! We won’t see Chanukah falling on Thanksgiving for another 79,000 years. Good thing. Won’t have to make those Latkas again! lol
If you have a terrific Latka Recipe that you are SURE is good, hit reply on comments or just email me (email is in the ‘about’ section on this site).
I am grateful to have you consistently reading this blog, and posting it throughout your social media, (or at least to friends). Grateful for all the friends I’ve come to know this year, all the accomplishments I have been able to realize, but most of all, on the top of my list?
Two healthy kids, 26 and 27 year old. They fill my soul with joy and make this world shine bright!
My best to you and yours this holiday season!
Happy Eating,
Chef Marian