Vegan Recipes: Alternative Thanksgiving Menu

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to give thanks for the wealth of food that we have in the United States, and to just be thankful for things in general. The spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday is about people joining together and celebrating. With the celebration, there has always been a longstanding tradition of having certain foods with the Thanksgiving meal. Traditionally, turkey has always been part of the menu, along with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and some form of vegetables. A Thanksgiving turkey has become the centerpiece of the American Thanksgiving meal.

However, many people have decided not to eat meat, and not to eat turkey. The decision may be based on health factors, with the belief that becoming vegan offers better healthy food alternatives. Or, the decision may be based on a belief that we should not kill animals to eat them as food. Whatever the case, the popularity of the vegan diet has gained stride in recent years.

For some reason, this vegan diet hasn't translated into an abundance of alternatives for Thanksgiving dinner. Our society continues to cling to the notion that it isn't Thanksgiving without a turkey. This makes it difficult for vegans to find vegan food on the Thanksgiving holiday. It seems that we can't get past tradition and a cultural definition of what should happen on certain holidays.

It really can be easy to get past this and serve only vegan food at Thanksgiving. There are so many wonderful vegan recipes that the turkey won't even be missed. The spirit of the day is about celebrating, and most of the time fall inspired foods are served. So, to keep with the spirit, vegan recipes that have a fall feeling can be used. Here are six vegan recipes to enjoy for the Thanksgiving holiday.

1. Cranberry sauce. Okay, if you can't have the turkey you can still have the cranberry sauce. Here is my recipe. Use cranberry jello mix and make the jello the way you normally would. Take some fresh cranberries, oranges and walnuts and mix them in the blender. Then, add the pieces to the jello mix. Let refrigerate. You want to have enough of the cranberry, orange and walnut mixture so that there isn't much jello as compared to the other ingredients. However, you can adjust according to the way you like it, having just some of the cranberry and oranges and more jello, if you like.

2. Vegan spaghetti. This is considered a main course, because you will get full from this like you would the turkey, except there is no meat. You could choose to make this and then chill it to have it as a cold pasta salad as a side course instead. Decide what favorite fall fresh vegetables you would like to use in your spaghetti mix. You can use almost anything. When my boyfriend and I make it, we use squash, green peppers, tomatoes and onions. Cut up the vegetables, and then put them in a pan to cook. Use some type of cooking oil, such as vegetable oil, in the pan with the vegetables. Add any seasoning you like, such as Italian seasoning. Once the vegetables are sauteed, add your cooked pasta to the mix. You'll get a wonderful vegan pasta dish. To mix it up, try using different types of pasta, like bowtie pasta.

3. Sweet potatoes. I shouldn't give everyone this recipe but I will. Take some canned sweet potatoes. Mash them up. Butter a baking pan. Mix the sweet potatoes with some brown sugar. Place the mix into the pan. Then, cover lightly with a coating of corn syrup. Bake in the oven. When the sweet potatoes are almost finished, put on some baby marshmallows for about five minutes or until they turn golden brown in the oven.

4. Vegan casserole. A casserole doesn't have to have meat. Get a baking bag, and throw in every kind of vegetable you would enjoy. Add some type of vegetarian gravy mix or seasoning mix, and let the vegetables bake in the oven. You'll have a beautiful vegan casserole. If your grill is still outside and the weather's not too bad, instead of cooking the veggies in the oven you could put them inside foil and throw them on the grill.

5. Vegan rice. Rice and vegetables can be another type of main course. The rice will be filling. Use some white rice, and separately cook up some vegetables in a pan. Try using red peppers and carrots and broccoli, for example. Throw in some cajun seasoning, and then let mix the rice and vegetables together in the pan for a few minutes. You'll get a wonderfully flavored rice dish.

6. Vegan pot pie. Take a pie crust that is already made, or make one yourself. Throw in all kinds of fall vegetables, like squash and potatoes. Then, add some vegetarian gravy mix. Let the pie cook as you normally would, and you'll have an interesting pot pie with no meat.

Add these all together and you've got your vegan Thanksgiving meal!