There are so many things to be thankful for in this life. If you are anything like me, you are thankful for food! I mean who doesn’t love delicious, healthy meals?

I have been a vegan for about 5 years. I find it surprisingly easy to be a vegan almost every day. That is, everyday up until Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a holiday where you gather with the people you love, give thanks, and eat turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce.

So when you are a vegan what the heck are you supposed to eat on this day of thanks? I have finally come up with a simple Vegan Thanksgiving meal that will fill you up for cheap. Even your weird Great Uncle, who will never understand why you don’t eat meat, will want some of this beautiful bowl.

This simple Thanksgiving bowl, will make Thanksgiving a day where you can not only give thanks, enjoy a great meal, and not feel weird for bringing a grilled avocado sandwich while your family eats a 10-course meal.

    Prep time | Cook Time | Total Time

     30 mins.  |    25 mins.  | 55 mins.

Ingredients: (serves about 4 hungry people)

Mashed Potatoes:

• 1.5 lb. bag of Organic Potatoes

• 1 Cup Vegetable broth

• 1 tbsp. vegan butter (I used Nutiva)

• ¼ tsp. salt

• pinch each of dried thyme and oregano

Vegan Gravy:

• 1 tbsp. vegan butter or olive oil

• 2 tbsp. flour

• ¼ tsp. each of onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, and oregano

• 1 cup vegetable broth

Garlic Broccoli:

• 2 cups of broccoli florets (cut medium-large)

• ½ cup water

• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced (I used about 4, I love garlic)

• ½ tbsp. olive oil

• pinch salt

• black pepper, to taste

Lemon “Parm” Kale:

• bunch of kale (I used purple)

• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

• ½ tbsp. olive oil and lemon juice

• vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast (mainly for decoration)

Optional Ingredients:

• a meatless meat option (I used spicy hemp seed sliders from Whole Foods Market)

• Quinoa 

• steamed carrots 

• 1 can cranberry sauce (I didn’t use)

• ¼ cup chopped pecans (I didn’t use)

Directions:

        Steamed Veggies:

1. Mix all of the ingredients for the Garlic Broccoli and Lemon “Parm” Kale, except the “Parm” or nutritional yeast in a large skillet with a lid. (“parm” will be used to top the kale at the end)

2. Steam kale and broccoli (carrots, if you choose to use them) on low-medium, stirring occasionally.

3. If you don’t like steamed veggies, feel free to preheat your oven to 425 and roast them. Prepare a big baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, half-way through flipping them.

    Optional Ingredients:

1. If you decided you wanted to add a “meat”less option to your bowl, follow the instructions on the box. For the Spicy Hemp Seed Sliders, you will want the oven preheated to 420, put all four sliders on a pan, bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes. (you don’t want to burn yourself) and then mash up.

2. Follow instructions on quinoa box. It usually goes something like this “In medium saucepan, stir in 1 cup of water per cup of quinoa, bring to a boil, turn heat down to low, put a lid on and let heat for 25 minutes. Then, fluff with a fork and set aside until ready to serve.”

        Mashed Potatoes:

1. While the veggies are steaming, boil your mashed potatoes on one burner and make the gravy on another. Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes (until fork tender) before mashing them with vegetable broth, vegan butter, and seasonings.

        Vegan Gravy:

1. In a small saucepan heat vegan butter over medium heat, until melted. Once hot, whisk in the flour, salt, thyme, oregano, and mix well. Cook for one minute before slowly whisking in the veggie broth (you may find you need more than 1 cup or less depending on your preferred consistency) Simmer for 3-5 minutes until thick, adjusting the consistency with vegetable broth as needed.

          SERVE:

1. Put all of your ingredients in a bowl: mashed potatoes, veggies, even your meatless option/ quinoa. (I chose to separate them, and make it look a little prettier)

2. Top mashed potatoes with vegan gravy. I went gravy crazy and put it on my veggies and hemp sliders as well as my mashed potatoes.

3. Top kale with “parm”, or the entire bowl, like I did.

4. Give thanks, and EAT it all up.