Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Pilaf & Cranberry Sauce: Vegan Thanksgiving Feast

From appetizer to dessert follow the trail each day to a scrumptious, compassionate Vegan Thanksgiving Feast!  Each day this week we’ll offer you another recipe or two to add to your holiday menu plan.  Make this a Thanksgiving to remember with recipes from  Vegan Fusion World Cuisine …recipes that will tantalize your taste buds, stimulate your senses and just plain make you feel good!

Vegan Holiday Menu

(new links will be added each day)

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms (Monday)
Organic Mixed Green Salad with Toasted Pecan Vinaigrette (Tuesday)
Blue Corn Crusted Tempeh with Shiitake Mushroom Gravy (Wednesday)
Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Pilaf (Thursday)
Cranberry Sauce (Thursday)
Pumpkin Pie with Dairy-free Maple Whip (Friday)

Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Pilaf

30 min prep / 1 hour cooking / 4 servings
2 medium Acorn squash
1 C Wild rice (3 C cooked)
4 C Water or vegetable stock
½ tsp Sea salt
1 Tbl Olive oil
1 medium Onion, diced (1 C)
½ C Celery, chopped
1 Tbl Garlic, minced
1 C Pecans, toasted & chopped
½ C Cranberries, dried
1 Tbl Italian parsley, minced
1 tsp Sage, fresh, minced
1 tsp Rosemary, fresh, minced
1 tsp Thyme, fresh
1 tsp Vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (optional)
2 tsp Soy sauce, or to taste
¼ tsp Crushed red pepper flakes
• Sea salt, to taste
• Black pepper, ground to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Rinse squash well, slice in half, scoop out seeds and place face down on a well oiled baking sheet. Bake until a knife can pass easily through any part of the squash, approximately 45 minutes. Set aside.
2. Place wild rice and 4 C filtered water or stock in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook until rice kernels are open and just soft and chewy, approximately 50 minutes. Drain well.
3. While squash and rice are cooking, place oil in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add onion, celery and garlic, cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add water or stock if necessary to prevent sticking. Place in a large bowl with drained wild rice and mix well. Stuff into squash and bake for 10 minutes.

Variations
Substitute roasted chestnuts for pecans. Add ½ C corn and ½ C sliced mushrooms.

Cranberry Sauce

10 min prep / 15 min cooking / 2 ½ cups
4 C Cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 C Filtered water
¼ C Sucanat or organic sugar
¼ C Orange juice, fresh squeezed
2 Tbl Maple syrup or agave nectar
¾ tsp Cinnamon powder
½ tsp Ginger powder
¼ tsp Allspice powder
¼ tsp Nutmeg, ground
Pinch Cardamom powder
¼ C Pecans, chopped (optional)

1. Place cranberries and filtered water in a 3 qt pot over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add orange juice, sucanat, maple syrup and cook for 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the remaining ingredients, cook for 3 minutes, or until cranberries have “popped” and the sauce thickens.

Variation
For a sweeter version, replace water with fruit juice, such as apple or pear.

The Pumpkin Pie with Dairy-free Maple Whip is coming tomorrow!