Munshi Meals!: Thanksgiving Dinner!

This year, Shyam and Ami came over for Thanksgiving, and I cooked a traditional Thanksgiving dinner...vegetarian style! I made my own tofu turkey from scratch with stuffing, baked macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and homemade rolls! We had mushroom gravy and cranberry sauce as well (not homemade) to add to the meal. And we finished off with some homemade pumpkin pie! I have tried to make a vegetarian version of Thanksgiving dinner in the past with little success, but this year, everything tasted delicious! I will definitely be using these recipes again next year :)

Cross-section of the tofu turkey with stuffing in the middle!

Recipe for Tofu Turkey with stuffing

INGREDIENTS

2 packages of extra firm tofu

1/4 cup sesame oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

Stuffing made according to package instructions (I used celery, onions, and vegetable broth with the stuffing mix that I bought. Make sure to read the ingredients to make sure it is vegetarian!)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Drain the water out of both packages of tofu and place the tofu into a blender or food processor. Blend until it is a mushy texture.

2. Line a strainer with a cheese cloth and put the mashed tofu into the cheese cloth. Wrap the top of the tofu with the cheese cloth and place a weight on top of it. You can put the strainer in a large bowl to catch the liquid. Allow the liquid to strain out for 2-3 hours.

3. Once the liquid has strained from the tofu, unwrap the top of the cheese cloth and scoop out the middle of the tofu to make a "bowl." Use the tofu that you scooped out to spread on the bottom of a greased baking pan in a layer about 1/2 an inch thick. Fill the tofu "bowl" with your pre-made stuffing. Then carefully flip the whole tofu "bowl" using the cheese cloth onto the tofu in your baking pan so now it is like a dome. Shape it with your hands.

4. Mix together the sesame oil and soy sauce in a small bowl. Used a brush to "baste" the tofu dome with about half of the bowl of oil and soy sauce.

5. Surround the dome with more of your pre-made stuffing. Then cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.

6. Remove the baking pan from the oven and take off the foil. Baste with the remainder of the oil and soy sauce mixture and then put back in the oven uncovered for an additional 15 minutes until browned on top.

7. Serve warm with gravy and cranberry sauce!