I don't do meat anymore which makes Turkey Day...well...not a day to eat turkey!  For me anyway!  I love feasting on savory and sweet Thanksgiving style foods though and want to share a few of my favorite recipes!  All are super healthy and equally delicious.  Enjoy!  

APPETIZER
Beet the Detox Salad
Beets are rich in butane, a natural digestive system helper which is fantastic for liver cleansing and digestion.
Makes 4 side servings.
Ingredients:

1 large beet, coarsely grated

1 large carrot, coarsely grated

1 large apple, diced

2 tbsp almonds, chopped

2 tbsp flax, hemp, perilla, or pumpkin seed oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 cups mixed greens

Optional additions:

2 tbsp fresh dill or parsely, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp gray sea salt or pink rock salt

Directions:
1.Toss all ingredients, except for the mixed greens, together in a large bowl. Mix in optional additions if using. You can make the dressing up to 2 days in advance and refrigerate.
2. Divide mixed greens between 4 plates and top with apple mixture


MAIN COURSE
Butternut Squash Lasagna
Ingredients

            Olive oil

            3 cups chopped onion

            10 cup fresh spinach

            3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded vegan provolone (I love Violife vegan cheeses for this!)

            1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

            1 teaspoon salt

            1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

            2 large vegan eggs (mix 1 T chia seeds with 3 T water for each "egg" you need and set aside 5 minutes before mixing in OR just pour in some aquafaba (the liquid in your can of chickpeas))

            2 (15-ounce) cartons of vegan ricotta cheese from Kite Hill

            3 cups diced peeled butternut squash

            6 cups Marinara

            12 oven-ready brown rice lasagna noodles OR, if you want to cut down on your starchy carbs, cut zucchini lengthwise and use the slices as a delicious, healthy substitute for lasagna noodles

            1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh vegan Parmesan (make your own with this great recipe) - optional

             1/2 cup nutritional yeast

Preparation

.    Preheat oven to 375°.

.    Heat a large Dutch oven coated with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add spinach; sauté 1 1/2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Combine provolone, parsley, salt, pepper, eggs, and Kite Hilll vegan ricotta "cheese" in a large bowl.

.    Place squash in a water and cook briefly, just until tender.

.    Coat the bottom and sides of 2 (8-inch-square) baking dishes with olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup Marinara in the bottom of one prepared dish. Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup cheese mixture over noodles. Arrange 1 1/2 cups squash over the vegan cheese mixture; spread 3/4 cup sauce over squash.

.    Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup cheese mixture over the noodles. Arrange 1 1/2 cups onion mixture over cheese mixture; spread 3/4 cup sauce over spinach mixture.

.    Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup Marinara evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan. Repeat procedure with remaining ingredients in remaining pan. Sprinkle the nutritional yeast over the top.

.    Bake at 375° for about 60 minutes.

Cranberry Quinoa
This is a new add in 2022.  I did a practice run and LOVE it!  It's also super easy.  
serves 4
Ingredients:
Bag of fresh cranberries - organic, if you can
1 teaspoon agave
1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegan vegetable broth
2 roasted garlic cloves
1 cup of your favorite mushroom - I used maitakes
1 teaspoon each of fresh sage and fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Cracked black pepper, to taste

Directions:
Rinse the quinoa and combine it in a saucepan with the vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, lower heat and simmer about 15 minutes or until the broth is absorbed.

In the meantime, sauté the mushrooms, agave, cranberries, garlic, sage, thyme, cinnamon, and black pepper in a drizzle of pumpkin oil for about 15 minutes on low heat.  Get the mushrooms to crisp up a bit.  Mushrooms can absorb liquid and get soggy; if this seems like it might be a problem, you can bake or fry your mushrooms separately to get them nice and crispy and add them in at the very end.

When the quinoa is ready, uncover, fluff it and let it sit about 5 minutes.  Fold in the cranberry mixture and wait another 5 minutes.  Garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme and some cranberries and serve.


SIDES
Mashed Cauliflower
serves 2
Ingredients:
Medium-sized head of cauliflower, chopped into florets (about 1 1/2 lbs.)
3 roasted garlic cloves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fresh chives, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Fill a large saucepan with about an inch of water, and insert a steamer basket. Bring the water to a boil, and add the cauliflower florets. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover, allowing the cauliflower to steam for 6-8 minutes, or until fork tender.  Drain the steamed cauliflower, and transfer to the bowl of a large food processor. Add in the roasted garlic cloves and seasonings, and process to your desired texture.


Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients:
1 12 oz bag fresh cranberries
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup agave syrup 
Place cranberries in a sauce pan with water and cover. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat off completely. Mix in agave and let sit for about 5 minutes. Cranberries should be broken down and saucy.  Transfer to a bowl and place in freezer. Stir every few minutes to get it to cool faster. Serve when cooled.


DESSERT
Red Velvet Cake
Cake Ingredients:
1 10 oz beet cut into 8 wedges
3/4 cup plain coconut or almond milk yogurt 
1.5 t vanilla extract
2 cups brown rice flour
3 t dark chocolate
1 1/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup date syrup
1/2 cup olive oil
2 vegan "eggs" - for each one, mix 1 T chia seeds with 3 T water and let sit 5 minutes aside before using OR just use aquafaba if you have a can of chickpeas on hand

Filling Ingredients:
4 oz coconut or almond milk yogurt (plain or vanilla)
2 t ripple vegan half and half
1/2 t vanilla extract
dash salt
1/8 c state syrup

Frosting Ingredients:
1/3 c sdate syrup
4 vegan "eggs" - for each one, mix 1 T chia seeds with 3 T water and let sit 5 minutes aside before using or aquafaba
1/4 t cream of tartar
dash salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Place beet in saucepan with water, bring to boil, cover and cook 10 min and then drain.
Put beet in blender, add in coconut milk and vanilla.
Combine flour, chocolate, baking powder, and salt.
Beat together sweetener, butter and oil until fluffy.  Add vegan eggs/aquafaba and beat.  And flour mixture and beat.
Divide batter evenly among 3 8" round metal cake pans, oiled, and bake at 350 for 24 minutes.  Cool 15 minutes and remove the cakes from the pans.
To prepare the filling, place ingredients in blender until smooth.
To prepare meringue, combine ingredients in top of a double boiler and cook 2-3 minutes.  Remove and beat egg mixture until soft peaks form.
Place 1 cake layer on a plate and spread half the filling on the top.  Add another cake layer and spread on the rest of the filling.  Finally, top it with the last cake layer and spread the meringue over the sides and top. Delish!

Pumpkin Pie
Crust

• ½ cup unbleached brown rice flour
• 7 Tbs. whole-wheat pastry flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1/8 t date syrup
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• 3 Tbs. canola oil
• 3 Tbs. soymilk plus ½ tsp. lemon juice
• 3 to 4 Tbs. water

Filling

• 2 cups canned pumpkin or puréed home-cooked fresh pumpkin (see note)
• 1 cup low-fat soymilk or rice milk
• 1/8 cup date syrup
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• ¼ tsp. grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp. ground allspice

To make Crust:
1. In medium bowl, combine both flours, salt, date syrup, and baking powder. In small bowl, mix oil and soymilk mixture.
2. Pour liquid mixture into dry ingredients, and mix with fork until dough holds together in ball. If it is too dry, add some water, a little at a time, until dough is moist enough to roll. 
3. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface with lightly floured rolling pin, forming 11-inch circle. Line 9-inch pie plate with dough. Flute or crimp edges with fingers or fork. Refrigerate until ready to use.
4. Preheat oven to 425°F.
To make Filling:
5. In large bowl, mix all remaining ingredients until smooth and blended. Pour into prepared crust and smooth top. Bake 10 minutes.
6. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F; bake until filling is set, about 50 minutes. Set on wire rack to cool, then refrigerate overnight. Top with your choice of dessert topping if desired.
NOTE: If you are going to use fresh pumpkin for the pie, do not use the jack-o’-lantern type; the flesh of these large pumpkins is too watery and stringy. Instead, look for small pumpkins, sometimes called pie pumpkins or other varieties of winter squash. To bake, cut pumpkins in half and remove seeds. Set, cut side down, in a lightly oiled baking pan. Bake at 400°F for 30 to 40 minutes. Scoop out the cooked flesh and purée.

LATER MUNCHIES
Krispy Kale Chips
Kale is the super-food of superfoods, ranking a 1000/1000 on the ANDI Scale, a measure of food's nutritional qualities. Other ingredients on Daniluk's list of critical foods: fennel, which contains "anathol...a proven anti-inflammatory;" blueberries that are "shown to reduce cortisol, which is the stress hormone;" and snap peas rich in vitamin B.
Makes about 8 cups.
Ingredients:
2 bunches green curly kale (20 cups), washed, large stems removed, torn into bite-sized pieces

1 cup fresh peanuts, soaked 2 hours

1 cup sweet potato, grated

1 lemon, juiced

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp date syrup - optional, for sweetness

1/2 tsp gray sea salt or pink rock salt

2 tbsp filtered water

Directions:

1. Place the kale in a large mixing bowl.

2. Process remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.

3. Pour over kale and mix thoroughly with your hands to coat the kale. (You want this mixture to be really glued on the kale.)

4. Place kale onto unbleached parchment paper, set your oven to 150 degrees and dehydrate for 2 hours. At one point, turn over leaves to ensure even drying.

5. Remove and store in an airtight container.

In my capacity as the Film Lab president, I was honored to moderate a panel on diversity in mainstream media at Time Warner.  It was important to me that the event be - like the Film Lab's television shows - total market, meaning it should appeal to all people, regardless of color.  Race and diversity issues can be cathartic when discussed solely within one's one racial group - a means to empathize or galvanize - but the discussions are far more useful when discussed within multi-race groups because the potential to truly educate and effectuate genuine and far-reaching change is greater when we add on "everyone else" and aren't just "preaching to the choir."
  
I was honored to be able to throw some pretty hard-hitting questions to my panelists, all talented filmmakers from Erin Quill (whose husband actually directed me in a Tennessee Williams play in Los Angeles several years ago) to Tyler Ham Pong to Eunseok Choi to Justin Anthony Long.  The panelists were educated, articulate and passionate.  When I opened it up for audience Q&A, I instructed the audience not to hold back, to be open, to be honest, and to ask the tough questions.  At the very end, we got a most interesting one.  A gentleman said (and apologies if I paraphrase a bit), "Asians don't march or fight and they only care about money so they must rely on the white people to get ahead in media."  First of all, that's not a question.  It's a statement.  But I'd asked people to be honest and say what they wanted to say and boy, had he!   I'm so glad he did because it gave me the opportunity to make a couple of points:
1.  Media is power because it creates perceptions.  In this case, this man sees images of weak or gold-digging Asian stereotypes enough times, he comes to believe the characterization is true regardless of actual fact.  Lack of diversity in media - both in front of and behind the camera - perpetuates these myths, both of negative stereotype and of absence (people of color simply being absent form films and tv suggesting all white America and perpetuating the notion of people of color being "the other" or "not American" while, in point of fact, more than 40% of Millennial adults are non white).
2.  The comment about Asians not marching or fighting is interesting for its statement on people coming to believe stereotypes are actually real; but it's also interesting because Asians and Asian Americans ARE and DO literally march and fight (the democracy protests (to the death in some cases) in China and, later Kong Kong; the huge outcry in the Asian American communities over a spate of recent productions that put white actors in regarding "Yellow Face," and provided otherwise inept or offensive portrayals of people of Asian descent) and figuratively march and fight (the very panel I was moderating was a figurative method of fighting; a manner to educate, inform and effectuate positive change through knowledge sharing, for example).  Further, the production arm I chair with the Film Lab, where we bypass mainstream media to produce our own content, in which we invert traditional mainstream casting - meaning our default roles are people of color instead of Caucasians - is another method of figurative "marching" or "fighting."  We are empowering ourselves to create the change we want to see.  We take the power to create the world we want to see and live in rather than sitting on the sidelines.  If that's not powerful, I don't know what is.
3.  "They Only Care About Money."   I just told the guy, "Listen, entertainment is a business."  This part isn't immediately about color.  Asian American, African American, Latino - all of us in the BUSINESS of entertainment are working to make money.  That's what industry is.  That's what the networks are all about.  What's the bottom line?  Very few corporations out there are making art solely for art's sake.  Why is diversity relevant?  Because the diversity of our country is ever-growing; because of the globalization of entertainment in a diverse world; because people - consumers - demand diversity in their entertainment; demand authenticity; and when they do that, advertisers take notice.  When advertisers take notice, the networks take notice.  You follow me?
4.  "The White Savior."  I am so sick of the White Savior theory.  When this guy suggested we need white people to save the people of color, I asked him if he was following current trends - the rise of the non-white population in this country, the diverse media they're seeking out; the fact people are leaving cable for providers like Netflix.  The fabric of the media and entertainment industry is changing and it's changing to favor diversity programming.  A white savior is not required.  What is required is all of us, regardless of color, working together to create the world we want to live in - one in which we can do our best to reach our full potential, unhindered by racism or sexism, and to, hopefully, help a couple other people along the way.  

There's quote about doing what is right because it is right.  That's a good enough reason for me.