I can't remember what I did last year exactly for Thanksgiving but I figure its good to hash out ideas. I will probably visit the inlaws for Thanksgiving but not sure. If so, they'll cook a turkey for themselves and I'll take care of the rest.

I remember I did make chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon
http://www.chow.com/recipes/11364

I also did a mushroom gravy, that I got from either Veganomicon or Vegan with a Vengeance

For veggies, I probably steamed some green beans and roasted potatoes. For dessert, I made an apple tart.

I will probably do something similar this year if we decide to spend Thanksgiving with the family.

Sounds great! I bought the ingredients for the chickpea cutlets but haven't tried them. Are they as good as everyone says?

From what I remember, yes, they are very good. You should try them! I haven't made them since but that is mostly because I'm lazy. I also ran out of wheat gluten and keep forgeeting to buy some more.

I also plan to peruse blog.fatfreevegan.com over the next couple weeks for ideas. I just looked and she had this awesome looking pumpkin/black bean casserole. I'm so addicted to pumpkin right now, its not even funny.
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/10...casserole.html

You're awesome Nelie! Great ideas I'm excited!! Every new thing I make is exciting lol

Oh that pumpkin dish looks fantastic! I'm surprised it has less than 300 cal, too.

All of these ideas look great! I'm planning to make this Hemp Loaf: manitobaharvest.com/recipes/recipe.asp?id=85 using flax as an egg replacement. It's not the most diet-friendly, but you know, it's Thanksgiving, right? Plus, you get all sorts of fiber and omega-3s from the hemp and flax. Other than that, I usually just whip up some veggie gravy and enjoy the rest of the dishes available. The chick pea cutlets and pumpkin dish sound awesome... may just have to change my plan.

OMG the chickpea cutlets are heaven. I'm making some this weekend. I make a large batch as they freeze pretty well also

I think I'm taking the Pumpkin Ricotta with Cashew Ricotta and Sage Breadcrumbs as a sidedish to my grandmother's t-day dinner. She normally does everything but isn't quite clear on this vegan thing. There will be veggies also that I will eat.

I'm making about.com's tofu turkey, mushroom gravy, green bean casserole, cornbread stuffing, wheat rolls, pumpkin cheesecake, and an apple pie, all vegan. I'm not vegan myself, but I want to be one day down the road, and I wanted to see how my family would react to the animal-free goodness (no one will touch the tofu turkey besides me, unfortunately {or fortunately?}).

Thanks for starting this thread. My son is bascially vegan (except for chicken) because of his allergies.

I am still transitioning to vegan, but have found the VeganDad blog very inspiring so far. Things just look so yummy! I was reading (drooling) last night and worried about Christmas dinner with Mom and Dad and found two recipes that were vegan versions of roast and stuffing:
http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/06...-stuffing.html
http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/10...-rice-and.html

I wanted to report back, the black bean/pumpkin casserole is awesome!! I plan to make it often.

I did quarter and microwave the pumpkin a little to make it a bit easier to peel.

Okay, I made the chickpea cutlets the other day, and I have no idea what I did wrong, but they were terrible. I'll probably try them again just to see if it was a fluke. I do know that I didn't mash the chickpeas as well as I could have. Any hints I may have missed?

If you have a stand mixer that really helps. If you cook your chickpeas instead of using canned, I like to cook them a little softer than I would if I were going to put them in a soup or bean salad or something like that. I use the paddle mixer to break up the chickpeas and use the dough hook to mix in the gluten and the rest of the ingredients. Before I had the stand mixer I used my food processor, that worked fine, but it's pretty thick so I think it's a little hard of the food processor. I actually prefer them baked in the oven, easier to keep them from burning that way in my experience. I gotta cook some chickpeas so I can make more of these now.

i made the chickpea cutlets for the first time on thanksgiving and they turned out really well. i agree with shananigans. i cooked my chickpeas all day long in a crockpot--like 7 hours or so. they were supersoft. i kneaded everything by hand for a really long time. soft chickpeas and a good mixin is key. did the gluten get stringy for you? i had to add just a little more olive oil than the recipe called for. i also baked mine and added more lemon zest than it called for along with a nice dose of cayenne. i made them with potatoes, muchroom gravy and the brussel sprouts that jill nicole is always talking about. so thanks for all the ideas gang!

Thanks for the hints. I used canned chickpeas so I'll try cooking from dry. With all the positive comments that the cutlets get, I'm sure I'll love them once I get the hang of it.