Photo credit: bhollar

(OK, I am  sick of the word “GREEN”, and I will elaborate on that in a future post.)

I decided that its about time for me to write the obligatory “Thanksgiving dinner” post.

This Thanksgiving will be spent with my partner and a few or our friends when its normally just the two of us.  Figuring out what to to make wasn’t that difficult given the fact that I cannot eat soy, gluten, most other grains, legumes, refined sugar and dairy (except for a little butter).  They, on the other hand, eat just about everything.

Turkey seems like the best and easiest choice for the “main course”.  Since I was originally going to feed just one other person, I purchased an organic, free range turkey breast because I didn’t want to have turkey leftovers until the end of May.  Now with four people, a small turkey is a more economical idea, but you live and learn.   I would list some resources as to where to buy local, humanely-raised, free range and/or organic turkeys, but its a little late for that now.

Instead of the usual cranberry sauce (which I never liked anyway), I will probably make something out of pomegranates since there are plenty of flavorful organic ones available this season at the local markets.  I haven’t figured it out yet, but it should be tasty whatever it is.

I have a thing for yams (not to be confused with the sweet potato).  I like to cut them up, sprinkle sea salt, cracked pepper and drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil before baking at 400-450 degrees until they’re brown. There is a local creamery that makes some of the best butter I’ve ever had.

Veggies will either be chard and/or collards complete with caramelized onions and garlic.  A big salad will be severed while I finish getting everything else ready.  My daily meals normally consist of about 75% vegetables, 25% protein and little to no starch and this meal will not be much different though yams are a treat for me.

Dessert will probably be local, seasonal, organic fruit; maybe persimmons and whatever else is available at the farmers market this Tuesday.  If I feel like we need something else in addition to fruit, organic, fair trade dark chocolate is always a great choice.

For beverages, I will serve Blue Bottle Coffee at the end of the meal.  In terms of something a little more exciting, I have been doing some experimentation with organic wine, but I don’t know much about that genre of wine yet.  I may pick up a bottle or two from my local wine store, Vintage Berkeley or Whole Foods.  I also have a bottle of Pierre Chermette Beaujolais 2007, and it goes down pretty easy – a little too easy, and this light, low tannin red will go well with turkey.

All in all, everything will be local, seasonal and organic (except for one of the wines).  I also wanted to keep the meal simple, both for me and my dinner guests.  Since I’m a pretty efficient cook, it will be a low stress, low fuss, low mess meal.

Green Thanksgiving Tips

Though we only have a few days until Thanksgiving, there is still time to apply a lot of the tips listed below and even pick out a new recipe.

Earth First 10 Tips for a Green Thanksgiving

Eat. Drink. Better. for How Local Will Your Thanksgiving Be?

Vegan/Vegetarian Thanksgiving Links

Veg Kitchen for vegan Thanksgiving recipes

Vegan Dad Blog has a recipe for Setain Roast with Wild Rice Chestnut Stuffing

Veg Cooking Blog presents: Vegan Recipes for a Canadian Thanksgiving (I’m sure you don’t need to be Canadian to enjoy these dishes)

The Organic Mixed Greens Salad with Toasted Pecan Vinaigrette posted on Vegan Fusion Blog sounds wonderful!

What are your plans?

Have a happy, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving!