As the Thanksgiving feast day approaches, it’s time to get down to meal-planning. I feed folks of all dietary needs at my table, so over the years I’ve adapted recipes to suit all sorts of palettes; carnivores to vegans, traditional to exotic, and many of them gluten-free. As much as I love the traditional foods I grew up with in the southeast, I like to put an international twist on ’em, just to keep folks guessing.
Today, I’ve assembled an index of my favorite Witchin’ in the Kitchen dishes that would make for an amazing Thanksgiving meal. Click on the links below to select each recipe card! Once your table is set, see below for a Witchy prayer of blessing.
May your Thanksgiving tables be bountiful and full of love,
~Heron
Soup:
This Autumn Harvest Bisque is an entire meal unto itself, but if you’re going to go all-out this holiday, this sweet and savory soup will set the tone of the meal beautifully.
Beast:
For the meat-eaters at the table, both of these recipes are crowd pleasers! The Sweet and Savory Roast Beast repeats some of the curry flavors of the Bisque, as do many of my recipes, but I’m a sucker for curry! Honestly, you could serve this curried honey mustard sauce over card board, and I’d eat it. If you make only one dish this Thanksgiving, make it this one and you’ll be very grateful!
On the other hand, this Greek Goddess Chicken recipe, has an entirely different flavor profile with a lemony, Mediterranean palette. It is fresh and zingy and relatively light. As a kid, our next door neighbors were a Greek family who shared this dish with us, and it became my dad’s signature dish. So unlike many of my delicious “Mom’s Food” memories, this one is a happy “Dad’s Food” memory.
Vegetable Salads and Sides: Vegan and Gluten-Free
As far as I’m concerned, the side-dishes are the best part of the meal, and if you aim to serve an entirely vegan or vegetarian meal, these alone will fill all the needs for veggie protein. Add a side of rice and quinoa pilaf, and you’ll have a perfect meal.
Growing up, it wasn’t a family feast unless my mom’s Carrot Salad, or a Coleslaw were on the table. This Chickini-Salad recipe is my even more delicious variation, only it’s vegan and a heckuva lot healthier for you!
Witchin’ in the Kitchen: Vegan Chickini Salad – Breakin’ the Slaw
Last year my baby sister and I held a Collard Green Cook-off, and I pitted my vegan Berbere Maple Collards against her traditional Porky Oniony Collards. She makes a mean pot of greens, but I still think mine are better!
Witchin’ in the Kitchen: Collard Greens with Berbere Maple Vinaigrette
Radishes are weird, and until I figured out how to “braise” them, I wasn’t a fan. For a relatively simple veggie side, I love these Miso Braised Radishes!
Ok, this Thai Autumn Squash Casserole is amaze-balls – no really, I made it for our Mabon pot-luck and it made me extremely happy – but it is basically another version of the Bisque above, so I’d pick one or the other, but not both at the same meal. If you have a soft spot in your memories about Grandma’s sweet potatoes with marshmallows back in the 80’s, but need a vegan alternative, this dish will hit the spot.
Witchin’ in the Kitchen: Thai Autumn Squash Casserole, Vegan and GF
Dessert: Vegan and Gluten-Free
No thanksgiving is complete without a cranberry-something . This compote with either vanilla ice-cream or a dairy-free frozen alternative, really caps off the meal nicely. Plus, there are nuts and fruits, so it is obviously “healthy.” <cackle>
Left-overs are the best part!
Once you’ve decimated the turkey, what do you do with the left-overs? Make a nourishing bone-broth soup!
Witchin’ in the Kitchen: Turkey Bone Stock for Lentil Veggie Soup
Blessing of the Thanksgiving Feast
Great Ones! Join us at feast table this Thanksgiving day.
In this sacred time and place,
we celebrate the abundance of the harvest
around this table.
We’ve set a bountiful feast, for which we are thankful.
We enjoy many blessings of our harvests this turning,
and we receive them with humility and gratitude.
May this food and drink nourish our bodies,
and this assembly of loved-ones nourish our hearts,
may we be strengthened for our journey into the coming dark.
At this time of our bounty, we remember times of lack.
We remember that life gives itself in sacrifice so that others may live.
Knowing there are those who are suffering,
we hold them in the light of Divine love
and we offer a pledge to give of ourselves as we are able
in service for a greater harvest.
May the blessings of Spirit flow through us.
We are love and light, sacrifice and shadow,
toil and harvest. We are complete.
For all that is loss, there is gain.
For that which is despair, there is hope.
For the moments of pain, there are moments of joy.
For all that falls, there is the chance to rise again.
May we find balance in our lives as we find it in our hearts.
May we remain ever mindful, in deepest gratitude.
Blessed be.
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