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Vegetarian Entrée Recipes for Thanksgiving

Welcome to A Veggie Venture's collection of vegetarian entrée recipes for Thanksgiving! When it comes to Thanksgiving vegetarian main dishes, it's a bit of a balancing act, especially when there are both meat eaters and vegetarians at the same table. Over the years, these have become my goals, considering the needs of the hosts and the guests, both: Thanksgiving is a special meal, a vegetarian entrée should feel special too, not an afterthought. A vegetarian entrée should appeal to vegetarians and carnivores alike, the main course for the vegetarians, a side dish for the meat eaters. In this way, a quiet word can be said to those who don't eat meat but diet preferences need not become the subject of table conversation. The vegetarian dish must have a substantial feel, not just be a larger portion of a traditional vegetable side dish. It must use fresh and seasonal vegetables and be prepped mostly or entirely in advance. VEGETARIANS, PLEASE NOTE: A Veggie Ventur

Savory Sweet Potato Casserole ♥

A savory sweet potato casserole, yes, that's right, a sweet potato casserole without marshmallows! Instead, the natural sweetness of sweet potatoes is mellowed with goat cheese and green chile salsa. It's November at A Veggie Venture! That means the focus is adding new recipes to Favorite Recipes for Thanksgiving's Favorite Vegetables , a five-year collection of more than three dozen seasonal, delicious vegetable recipes perfect for Thanksgiving. So we're turning orange around here. Our skin, our eyes, our lips, our teeth ... ... ... ... ... kidding! But if we are what we eat, then we are turning into sweet potatoes because I've made one savory sweet potato casserole recipe after another for the last couple of weeks. Because this is a classic concept recipe, mostly the casseroles have been variations on a theme: Sweet potatoes cooked and then mashed with a fork, mixing in something creamy like goat cheese, ricotta cheese, even sour cream. Then thinned with a

For Green Bean Casserole, Just Say NO!
to Canned Green Beans & Mushroom Soup

How to make a green bean casserole from scratch with fresh green beans and fresh mushrooms. Below are step-by-step photos showing how to make the fresh green bean casserole recipe so many cooks have made (and loved!) since 2006. It's an adaptation of a Cooks' Illustrated recipe so good I dubbed it the World's Best Green Bean Casserole . SAY YES! The green bean casserole is America's favorite casserole for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter (and even Father's Day, Labor Day and other special family occasions). It's worth saying 'yes' to! SAY NO! to CANNED GREEN BEANS & CANS OF MUSHROOM SOUP But it's the 21st century and cans of more-gray-than green beans and cans of goopy gloppy mushroom soup just don't cut it any more. Making a green bean casserole with fresh green beans and fresh mushroom takes a little more time but it's not hard, not in the least. But the taste difference is so worth the extra effort. If you want to be a star at Th

For Green Bean Casserole, Just Say NO!
to Canned Green Beans & Mushroom Soup
(Part 2 - The Fresh Mushrooms)

How to make a green bean casserole from scratch with fresh green beans and fresh mushrooms. Below are step-by-step photos showing how to make the fresh green bean casserole recipe so many cooks have made (and loved!) since 2006. It's an adaptation of a Cooks' Illustrated recipe so good I dubbed it the World's Best Green Bean Casserole . To make the pages load faster, especially for those using their phones and other mobile devices from the kitchen, the recipe tips are in three sections: HOW-TO PHOTOS & COOKING TIPS for the WORLD'S BEST GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE ~ Part 1: How to Cook the Green Beans ~ ~ Part 2: How to Cook the Mushroom Sauce (you are here) ~ ~ Part 3: How to Mix the Topping & Bake the Casserole ~ ~ return to recipe for World's Best Green Bean Casserole ~ ~ Printer Friendly Recipe ~

For Green Bean Casserole, Just Say NO!
to Canned Green Beans & Mushroom Soup
(Part 3 - The Onion Topping & Baking)

How to make a green bean casserole from scratch with fresh green beans and fresh mushrooms. Below are step-by-step photos showing how to make the fresh green bean casserole recipe so many cooks have made (and loved!) since 2006. It's an adaptation of a Cooks' Illustrated recipe so good I dubbed it the World's Best Green Bean Casserole . To make the pages load faster, especially for those using their phones and other mobile devices from the kitchen, the recipe tips are in three sections: HOW-TO PHOTOS & COOKING TIPS for the WORLD'S BEST GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE ~ Part 1: How to Cook the Green Beans ~ ~ Part 2: How to Cook the Mushroom Sauce ~ ~ Part 3: How to Mix the Topping & Bake the Casserole (you are here) ~ ~ return to recipe for World's Best Green Bean Casserole ~ ~ Printer Friendly Recipe ~ TIP #12 - CANNED ONION RINGS So this is slightly controversial, not everyone agrees. But what "keeps" the World's Best Green Bean Casserole firml

Frozen Sweet Potato Fries:
Are They Worth the Price? the Calories?

Today's product review: A look at what I thought was a promising development in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store, sweet potato fries. How do they taste? Are they worth the money? I suppose I shouldn't be shocked -- shocked! -- but I am. It turns out that frozen sweet potatoes: - do taste okay, not great, but okay . - are three to four times more expensive than fresh sweet potatoes! - have 50% to 68% more calories than fresh sweet potatoes roasted at home! - are made with a whole long list of "other" ingredients. THE BACKGROUND Last summer, my favorite busy mom brought sweet potato fries to a pool party. I was a late arrival so only a few scraps were left but even cold, the sticks of baked sweet potato were pretty tasty! Fast Forward Three Months, as I set out to try frozen sweet potato fries for myself. I gotta tell you, I was fully prepared to "love" these products. I expected to extol the virtues of "convenient whole food" from the

Stuffed Pumpkin with Apple & Cranberry ♥

Today's fun fall recipe: Stuff a pumpkin with apples and cranberries and nuts and spices and what do you get? Great flavor, whether for a side dish or a dessert. Gorgeous presentation, even though easy-easy to make. Not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". Two years ago, four of us celebrated one of those 'significant' birthdays ending in zero within a couple of months. One of the husbands cooked dinner for us, a present in itself. Last year, we decided to make a joint birthday celebration an annual event and all of a sudden, we were assigning courses for a potluck supper. Georg? Appetizer. Kathy? Dessert. (I'm still drooling over that dessert, homemade vanilla ice cream with homemade dulce le leche and hot fudge and three, count 'em, three beautiful little butter cookies.) Ann was less settled but soon knew she wanted to do something, not sure what exactly, with a pumpkin from her CSA. And this is what she brought -- a pumpkin stuffed with apples and cranber