Holiday Dinner

Level of Difficulty: Moderate... Hardest part is time management
Pots/Pans Used: just.... a lot...ish

Ingredients

Gravy
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3-6 cloves of garlic, squashed and minced very well
2-3 slices of yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose white flour
4 teaspoons nutritional yeast
4 tablespoons low- or reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 or 6 white mushrooms, sliced (optional
extra flour or cornstarch (optional)

Lentil Loaf

2 cups lentils
3 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp olive oil
2 cups pre-cooked rice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup ketchup or barbecue sauce
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

Mashed Potatoes
1 bag frozen microwavable poatatoes
Earth Balance
warm soy milk
garlic
chives, chopped
salt & pepper to taste

Butternut Squash
1 butternut squash, diced
maple syrup
1 orange, juiced
sage leaves
salt & pepper
cinnamon

Well, I first made this dinner as a mini pre-Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the post up in time for tofurkey day, so I decided to wait and post around Christmas. Of course, you can make this dinner for any holiday or special occasion. It's very satisfying and full of all the traditional flavors you're used to on the holidays.
Gravy:

Measure the vegetable oil into a small saucepan. Cook the garlic and onion in it for about two minutes on medium or medium-low heat, until the onion is a bit tender and translucent.

Add the flour, yeast, and soy sauce to make a paste. Add the water gradually, stirring constantly. Bring the gravy to a boil on medium to medium-high heat, stirring constantly -- the gravy has to boil for it to thicken. (Grandma always told me to cook gravy for a full five minutes at a boil to make sure you kill the bugs in the flour, but I don't always bother.) Add pepper. Stir in the sliced mushrooms, if desired. Add salt, if desired.

Lentil Loaf:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.


In a large soup or stock pot, simmer the lentils in water or vegetable broth until cooked, about 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly then mash the lentils until they are half mashed.

Sautee the onions and garlic in olive oil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until soft.

Combine the onions, garlic and olive oil with the mashed lentils and add the rice, salt, ketchup or barbecue sauce, sage, and Italian seasoning.

Gently press the mixture into a lightly greased loaf pan. Drizzle a bit of extra ketchup on top if desired.

Bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool slightly before serving, as this will help the lentil loaf to firm up.

Mashed Potatoes:

follow the instructions on how to prepare the potatoes. Then add earth balance to your liking, and warm milk until the potatoes are the consistency you like. Then salt and pepper to taste and top with the chives.

Butternut Squash:

It's been awhile since I made this recipe so Im going to do my best to remember the measurements....

First, Mix the butternut squash with orange juice, a few leaves of chopped sage, 3 TBL maple syrup and a dash of salt and pepper in a large bowl. Transfer the squash to a baking sheet and spread out evenly. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees or until it begins to turn golden.