Squash Dumplings

In every sense of the word, Thanksgiving means family, football and food…specficially turkey. Personally, I don’t have any problem with eating meat/dairy/whatever every once in a while, especially when it’s difficult to accommodate a special diet, but my problem is that I don’t like turkey (or chicken or pork). Since I’ve moved to PA two years ago, I’m kind of on my own for Thanksgiving (edit: my mom will be visiting for Thanksgiving this year) and I can make whatever I want. Last year I made a vegetarian meal and it was pretty good. I basically made all the classic Thanksgiving sides that were my favorites. This year I want to take it a little further and make a solid entree with some kick butt side dishes.

It took a while to figure out, but I’ve decided to go with an avocado mango salad, roasted corn curry soup, (fried?) root vegetables, (gluten free) pumpkin dumplings with radicchio, harvest stuffed portabello mushrooms, and strawberries with raw chocolates.

I chose the avocado mango salad because I’ve made it before and while it’s different, it’s hearty and delicious. For the roasted corn curry soup, I’m going to use curry paste and lite coconut milk to make a warm, but light soup. I’m either going to roast or fry some root vegetables. Mom doesn’t want beets or carrots, so I’m thinking sweet potatoes, parsnips, rutabaga, and whatever other roots I can find at the grocery store. I’m going to use a Mediterrtanian blend of spices on them.

The got the recipes (and ideas) for the dumplings and stuffed portobellos from this New York Times article. For dessert, I’ll make the raw chocolates that I’ve been practicing with fresh strawberries (maybe I can get mom to make some of her awesome chocolate covered strawberries with raw chocolate).

I didn’t really plan it out, but almost everything is vegan and gluten free. The dumplings have eggs and the mushrooms have breadcrumbs. I thought about finding alternatives for them but I’m going to leave them simple. Also, the salad and dessert are raw, so I have a nice mixture of vegan, raw and gluten free meals.

Update: The meal came out delicious. Mom (and I) really liked the spicy curry soup. I used gluten-free breadcrumbs in the mushrooms and made (st)rawberry pie for dessert (mom also really liked). Unfortunately I couldn’t find any of my SD cards