Call me crazy, but I am just not a fan of mashed potatoes. No gravy can save the taste and texture of perfectly smooth potatoes. Ew.
I guess that explains why I tried something a little different this year and went the “smashed” route. This also marks the first time I’ve ever used the broiler in my oven and I’ve gotta say, I’m kind of impressed.
Anyway, as I mentioned yesterday, these were part of my Thanksgiving menu this year and they were quite yummy. I do think they could have used just a few more minutes boiling and/or should have been slightly smaller potatoes to begin with, but they were definitely a tasty and complementary addition to the meal.
Last year I started a new tradition of inviting whichever side of the family Andy and I will not be spending the Thanksgiving holiday with over to our house on the Sunday before for a Thanksgiving meal. Last year was also the first year I was vegan for Thanksgiving so it was the first time I had made an entire vegan holiday spread as well. With a ‘lil help from Skinny Bitch, Kim Barnouin, the whole thing ended up being a smash hit and I was thrilled to host my family yesterday for a repeat performance.
I didn’t switch up much from last year’s menu as I really like to keep Thanksgiving “traditional,” so to speak. Once again, everything turned out great and the few new additions were excellent!
Aside from just enjoying their company, I really, really love to have the opportunity to cook for my family, especially since none of them are vegan. Not only is it wonderful just to be in their presence, it’s a pretty great chance to showcase how delicious and “normal” vegan food can be. In any case, both last year and this year, I’m pretty fortunate to have a family that is very supportive and open-minded, so thanks to all for being such good sports!
As an added bonus, cooking this pre-holiday meal also turns out to be fantastic for me personally because it supplies me with a whole mess of leftovers to take to actual Thanksgiving, where there are little to no vegan options available. Score!
If you’re in the midst of trying to plan a vegan Thanksgiving menu of your own, below is what I served, which might be useful as a reference. I plan to post several of these recipes over the next few days and into next week, but if you’d like to have something in particular from this list before that, please just send me an email and I’ll shoot the recipe right over.
Call me crazy, but I am just not a fan of mashed potatoes. No gravy can save the taste and texture of perfectly smooth potatoes. Ew.