Vegetarian Dishes For People Allergic To Soy?

[Lyric]

Okay, odd situation here and I could use some advice. I found out today that a friend of ours from college will be coming to our house for Thanksgiving dinner with her husband (it was an invite that was accepted at the last minute). They're both vegan, so I'll have to figure out some appropriate vegan dishes in a hurry. The problem is that my sister is allergic to soy protein, and so are her two kids, and I'd like for my omnivore family members to be able to share the vegan dishes too--that way Jesse and Gabriel won't feel isolated and "left out". Does anyone have any suggestions for a holiday dish that is completely vegan but also soy-free, so everyone at the table can try it?

[LeftyMom]

1. Lentil loaf is

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7685.0

Just serve it with a mushroom gravy instead of the suggested gravy, which has tamari in it.

[Lyric]

2. That sounds wonderful! Thank you! (copy/paste)

Definitely saving this one :)

[Lyric]

3. Anyone else? I could use some side-dish options...

I don't want poor Jesse and Gabe to be stuck with lentil loaf and nothing else. I've never done a vegan holiday before--I need heeeeellllpppp! :)

[LeftyMom]

4. Oh, side dishes too?

Sure. The only problem you'll really run into in veganizing side dishes is that there isn't a soy and dairy free margarine in the US that I know of. Other than that, mashed potatoes made with rice milk rather than soy, yams baked with with a little brown sugar on top and stuffing (you might have to make your own bread to get some that's vegan and w/o soy) should all be easy enough to make vegan.

A squash dish might be a good choice too.

There are a ton of vegan recipes on vegweb.com If you need any advice on making any w/o soy, let me know and I'll see what I can come up with.

[yellowcanine]

8. Fresh cranberry salad. Just make sure to leave out the cream if the recipe calls for it.

Or substitute the rice "cream". You can do a lot with bsked white potatoes and sweet potatoes with various vegetable toppings also. Let your imagination run wild. Are soy allergic folks also allergic to tahini? If not, you could do a hummus dip with baby carrots, celery, broccolli, etc. as well as rice crackers.

[Lyric]

9. Tahini should be okay, so long as

it doesn't contain any soy milk.

Thank you for the help :)

[AmyDeLune]

5. Rice alternatives---

Cheese, margarine, sour cream...

http://www.galaxyfoods.com/ourbrands/usa/rice.asp

and they taste pretty good too! :D

[LeftyMom]

6. Careful, most of these aren't vegan.

The sour cream has casein (a dairy protein) in it, as do most of the cheeses.

[Lyric]

10. *nods* I see that. Thank you for pointing it out, though! n/t

[LeftyMom]

11. Wanted to make sure you knew, because newb vegans make that mistake a lot even.

It's really cool of you to go to the effort. Half of my own family won't make any effort to feed me, so I really think it's great you're doing it for friends.

[Lyric]

12. I can't imagine people NOT doing so.

It's puzzling to me to even consider that anyone would do otherwise. Perhaps it's the Southerner in me--guests should always be treated with respect and consideration. no matter what. I do understand that many vegan folks *want* the opportunity to explain their beliefs to other people. That's why I want to make sure that everyone can share the vegan dishes. :)

[jpak]

7. Veggie New England Baked Beans

2 cups white northern beans

1 large onion, peeled and halved

1/4 cup very light (cheap) olive oil

1-2 teaspoons salt

(the non-veggie version uses 1/4 lb salt pork or bacon instead of oil and salt)

1/3 cup molasses

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 teaspoons dry mustard

****

Soak beans overnight in cold water changing water frequently

Parboil beans in 3 changes of water until the skins can be removed by a light touch of a spoon (about 20 minutes).

These steps deprive the beans of their musical powers...

Drain hot beans and place into a bean pot (or deep casserole dish with a lid) with other ingredients.

Add enough water to just cover the beans

Heat in oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes

Reduce oven temp to 225 degrees and bake for at least 8 hours (adding small amounts of water if needed).

It's Hot-o-Mighty Good!!

(no kidding)

[DemBones DemBones]

13. You can adapt your own dressing recipe for vegans.

My husband and I are vegetarians but our grown daughter is vegan. When I make dressing for just Mr. Bones and myself, I make cornbread and use it with homemade bread (crumbling up both, of course), add chopped celery and onion, plenty of sage, plenty of pecans, and moisten it with Vanilla Silk. Just analyze the way YOU make dressing and leave out any eggs, dairy or soy products. It helps if you use nuts since they're a protein source but if you don't like stuffing with nuts, get protein elsewhere. Here's how I adapt my dressing further when vegan daughter's home. She won't eat stuffing made with cornbread because of eggs in the cornbread, so I'll have to make eggless cornbread (if I can find a recipe)or use egg substitute in the cornbread or I'll do what my mom always did and just toss cornmeal with bread crumbs.

Since you have to eliminate soy, that leaves out Vanilla Silk, but you can use vegetable broth, which will add flavor, too.

Other ideas: roast sweet potatoes -- you wash, peel, and cut up sweet potatoes, dry them on towels, toss them with some rosemary (preferably fresh) and olive oil to coat, cook at 325 or 350 until the potatoes are done. You can do the same thing with regular potatoes if you prefer.

We usually have steamed fresh broccoli on holidays but I have also made broccoli salad -- raw broccoli, sweet onion rings, walnuts, orange sections if you have the time for sectioning oranges -- or canned Mandarin oranges would probably work well-- and toss with oli and vinegar dressing -- Newman's Best is good

There is a vegan margarine that my daughter uses but I can't think of the name. I'll use it in making my homemade rolls, and we'll have cranberry sauce. It's the same meal we used to have as meat eaters, minus the turkey and the mashed potatoes, though we might have those with vegan margarine and soy milk instead of roast sweet potatoes. I don't know if we'll bother to do a roast Tofurkey; the "kids" just got here tonight and I haven't polled them as to preferences. Last year we just got sliced Tofurkey so we could enjoy "turkey" and dressing sandwiches the next day or two. :-)

[6000eliot]

14. I make stuffing out of Peppridge Farm Herb Seasoned bread cubes

I make it with a carton of vegetable broth (or stock) and half a stick of butter (or margarine) for each bag. The meat eaters in my family like it better than the turkey stuffing, so they stopped making it and eat mine instead.