A Raw Thanksgiving

For so many who eat a raw vegan diet, planning a Thanksgiving meal can be stressful. Or, you may wonder what you could bring to a dinner where all the food has been cooked. There's something about the foods of Thanksgiving that brings comfort such as mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and of course, pumpkin pie! For someone on a raw food diet, they may feel like they have to sacrifice those food staples in order to stay true to their diet.

Luckily that is not true! We’ve compiled the best raw Thanksgiving recipes that will make your mouth water and your belly happy. These recipes are full of flavor and don’t compromise the nutrients of the ingredients they use.

If you try any of these recipes and want to share with us your results, we’d love to hear from you. Just tag @trueleafmarket on facebook and instagram to share your pictures.

Mashed "Potatoes"

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cauliflower florets
• ½ cup pine nuts
• ½ cup fresh thyme leaves
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Dash of olive oil
• Pinch of salt and pepper.

Kitchen Tools:

• Food processor
• 1 cup Water
• juice from one lemon
• 3 dates
• ¼ cup onions
• ½ teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 ¼ cup raw cashews
• 5 cups cut raw green beans
• 3 cups raw mushrooms

Preparation:

Chop cauliflower into one-inch by one-inch pieces. Place all ingredients into a large bowl and mix softly. Then dump the mixture into the food processor, and turn on for a couple minutes until all ingredients are mixed well. You’ll be surprised by how close the texture is to real mashed potatoes! If you are serving a lot of people, you may want to double the recipe.

Green Bean (and Mushroom) Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Water
• juice from one lemon
• 3 dates
• ¼ cup onions
• ½ teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 ¼ cup raw cashews
• 5 cups cut raw green beans
• 3 cups raw mushrooms

Kitchen Tools:

• Sharp knife
• Blender
• Serving dish

Preparation:

In your blender, mix water, lemon juice, dates, onions, and mustard powder. Add cashews and blend. Cut green beans and mushrooms and spread evenly in a serving dish. Pour the wet mixture over green beans and mushrooms, mix well, and serve.

No-Bake Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sugar pie pumpkin flesh
• 2 ½ to 3 pounds pitted dates
• 2 pinches cinnamon
• 1 dash of powdered ginger
• 2 cups pecans
• 1 ripe and ready persimmon
• 1 vanilla bean

Kitchen Tools:

• Pie pan
• food processor
• blender

Preparation:

Remove pits from all the dates

To form the pie crust, blend pecans, 1 pound of dates, and a pinch of cinnamon in a food processor. Dump mixture into a serving plate and tamp it until it is a hard crust covering the bottom of the plate.

To make the pie filling, place sugar pie pumpkin flesh, the rest of the dates, the persimmon, a pinch of cinnamon, and a dash ginger into a blender. Split your vanilla bean and scrape out the inside, adding it to the ingredients in the blender. Blend mixture until its consistency is smooth and creamy. Pour into pie crust, and serve at room temperature, or chill for up to 2 hours, allowing the pie to firm. Enjoy this killer treat that holds its own against conventional pumpkin pies any day!

Cranberry "Sauce" Relish

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Cranberries
• 2 Oranges
• 1 cup of Dates
• 1 Apple
• ½ cup of Raisins

Kitchen Tools:

• Food processor

Preparation:

Okay this one is super easy and is a fun one to experiment with. Mix cranberries, dates, and raisins in a food processor. Add one orange and apple next with mixture. Add one fresh squeezed orange juice over top—or even a lemon, which some people prefer. You can’t go wrong! Chill for 2 hours or serve at room temperature.

For more, check out our Vegan Kitchen section!