Dried fruits and Veggies recipes for Thanksgiving

Normally, every time we think of Thanksgiving the representative dishes are a turkey or baked chicken which almost always leaves out vegetarians and they need to conform with side dishes such as the classic Brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce or potatoes; although they are delicious dishes, we believe it is useful to share different recipes for vegetarians and to give a twist to this date, making vegetarians have more options to choose from.

This celebration was born as a celebration of peace between the Native Americans and the pilgrims. It has become an emblematic day to gather family and friends, to thank for everything that life offers us and the people who are in it, while we enjoy a delicious food. Usually, the turkey is the main piece of this day; however, we can create dishes that make even non-vegetarians want to try them, not only as dishes to accompany the turkey, but creating a vegetarian main dish worthy for the occasion.

To begin, we can think of a very healthy snack made with dried fruits, for this we will need variety of dried fruits. The objective is to simulate a turkey but made with fruits.

For this snack we will need a fresh and big pear, dried coconut, dehydrated banana, dried apple, dehydrated pineapple, dried mango, fresh blueberries and grapes.

The pear will work like the body of the turkey, we will cut it in half and we will use two cloves to simulate the eyes, with the dehydrated apple we can sliced a triangle to simulate the peak, and make two legs. When we have the body of the turkey, you can begin to place the “feathers” with dried fruit and some fresh fruits.

Around the pear, we will place two rows of grapes, then we will place two rows of dehydrated pineapple in squares, then we add the dehydrated banana, later the blueberries so that there is a contrast in the colors. After the blueberries we will place the dehydrated coconut to give it an original touch and then the dehydrated mango at the end. If you wish, you can add another final layer with fresh or dehydrated strawberries.

For the main course we can make a vegetarian lasagna, made with pumpkin, ricotta cheese and Swiss chard. To do it, we will need:

• Lasagna noodles
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion
• 2 pounds Swiss chard
• 2 garlic cloves
• Salt and pepper
• 15 ounces pumpkin puree
• 1/4 heavy cream
• a pinch of grated nutmeg
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 4 cups of ricotta
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of parmeggiano reggiano
• 2 cups of mozarella.

First of all you have to beat the two eggs, chop the onion really finely, chop the Swiss chard and discard the stems. Put aside those three ingredients. Then, turn on the oven to 752 F. In a skillet heat the olive oil and add the onion and garlic until they change its color, then add the Swiss chard, season with salt and pepper and stir frequently until there is no liquid and put aside the heat.

In a medium bowl you need to mix the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Put aside the mixture. After that, cut the chesses into small pieces so they can melt easily in the oven, put them in a bowl and mix them with the 2 eggs, salt and cayenne pepper. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the lasagna noodles until they start to soften (2 minutes), drain them, you can toss them with little olive oil. In a baking dish, put some butter on it so it does not stick. Put a layer of lasagna noodles, spread the pumpkin layer, Swiss chard and cheeses, and repeat the process again until you finish with your ingredients. Cover of the lasagna with aluminum and bake it for 45 minutes, uncover it and spread little of parmeggiano reggiano at the top until is golden.

This is a great recipe for a veggie thanksgiving, lasagna is a main course that will make everyone want to try it. Since we have the main course we can continue with a delicious dessert to complete this amazing meal. For this recipe we are going to need.

2 apples – 1 ½ cup of fruits such as cranberries, blueberries and strawberry 1 tablespoon of cinnamon -1 spoon of sugar.

For the mix we will need – 1 1/3 of white flour – ¾ cup of brown sugar – ¾ cup of melted butter – 1/4 cup of dried coconut -3 tablespoon of oatmeal – 2 tablespoon of dried cranberries and a teaspoon of salt. (You can add apple powder to have a better consistency).

Preheat the oven to 374 F. First of all we need to cut the apple in squares, then add a tablespoon of sugar, the cinnamon and the cranberries, blueberries and strawberry and place it on a baking sheet.

In a bowl we can mix flour, sugar, oats and salt. Then, add the butter, the dried fruits (coconuts and cranberries) and stir with your fingers until we have a mixture like a thick flour. Sprinkle this dough over the fruits that were already in the tray and put in the oven for 30 minutes, we must check until the fruit is cooked and the surface has a crunchy consistency. This dessert is served hot and you can accompany it with vanilla ice cream or whichever you prefer. With these recipes you will have more alternatives to enjoy a delicious vegetarian meal in the company of your loved ones.

At Instantia, we worry about you having a healthy life, offering dried fruits of the highest quality so you can enjoy these dishes in this wonderful season.