For the Thanksgiving edition of our Cooking for Compost series, we’ve brought together award-winning chefs. candle cafe Specifically for Earth911.com to design a completely lean Thanksgiving meal. Based in New York City, Candle offers an upscale dining experience with an artistic menu.
Although Candle 79 is a vegan restaurant, it has a celebrity following and receives top reviews from avid meat eaters. It’s a popular local spot, so it’s not uncommon to see lines forming even on weekday nights.
The menu was carefully selected by co-owner Joy Pearson and COO Benay Vinerive. The basic recipes for these dishes are candle cafe cookbookBut the Candle staff added some special touches for this Thanksgiving meal.
We sampled these recipes ourselves, created by Chef Eugenio Miranda, and were really surprised at how easy it was to make five-star dinners at home with almost no waste.
This article contains affiliate links to help us raise money. recycling directorythe most comprehensive in North America.
Recipe: Wild rice salad with cranberries
Chef Miranda added leafy greens to this salad’s original recipe to give it a true appetizer feel. This dish can also be used later as a stuffing (see recipe for stuffed winter squash below).
Servings: 4-6 people
material
Instructions
- Bring 1 1/3 cups water to a boil. Add wild rice, cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes.
- Mix the cooked rice and sunflower seeds, then add the cranberries and onions. In a separate bowl, mix together the tamari soy sauce and lemon juice, then add the oil and mix well. Pour over rice mixture and toss. Sprinkle the salad with orange zest.
Chef’s advice: Add the salad to the mesclun greens and top with thinly shaved gala apple slices.
Recipe: Seitan Crusted with Pecans
Tofu is one of the most well-known meat substitutes in vegan cuisine, but don’t ignore it. seitan. The firm texture is perfect for breadcrumbs, making it a delicious alternative that meat eaters will also appreciate.
For this dish, Chef Miranda chose crunchy, bright green Brussels sprouts and cashews. He also served it with traditional yams and topped it with cabbage.
Servings: 4-6 people
material
- 8-10 Seitan cutlet (about 1 pound)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup pecans
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
marinade ingredients
- 3/4 cup tomato paste
- 1/4 cup Umeboshi vinegar
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup tamari soy sauce
- 1/4 cup minced garlic
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped tarragon
- 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary
Instructions
- Mix marinade ingredients and pour over seitan. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- In a shallow bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, pecans, and rosemary. Dredge cutlets.
- Heat the oil in a sauté pan and fry the cutlets until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Serve immediately.
Recipe: Stuffed Winter Pumpkin
For additional sides, Chef Miranda paired this dish with blanched green beans and baked tofu. What are your tips for really hitting a home run with this dish? Top the tofu with some toasted sage and don’t forget to add the gravy (see separate recipe below).
Serving size: 4 servings
material
- 4 winter squash (delica, butternut, acorn, etc.)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
- 6 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1 pound white mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 1/3 cup fresh sage
- Extra virgin olive oil for brushing
- ground black pepper to taste
wild rice stuffing ingredients
- 2 quarts vegetable soup
- 3 cups wild rice (washed)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- pinch of salt
- 6 large shallots (chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds. Brush with oil and maple syrup and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 20 minutes until tender.
- In the meantime, prepare the stuffing. Bring vegetable soup to a boil in a saucepan. Add rice and salt to the soup. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 35-45 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat.
- Fry the shallots and garlic in the oil for about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms release their juices. Add tamari soy sauce, thyme, and pepper to taste. Cook until liquid evaporates. Transfer to a bowl with rice. Add parsley and sage.
- Spoon the filling into the baked pumpkin halves and return to the oven. Bake for 15 minutes and serve with wild mushroom gravy (see recipe below).
Extras: Wild Mushroom Gravy and Cranberry Relish
What’s a Thanksgiving meal without seasonings? Pearson chose to include a wild mushroom gravy recipe and a cranberry relish recipe for their robust flavor and versatility. Gravy can easily be added to seitan, baked tofu, and stuffed pumpkin.
Ingredients for wild mushroom gravy
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups onions, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cups finely chopped mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, chanterelle, or portobello)
- 1 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup tamari soy sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried tarragon
Instructions
- Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet. Sauté onions and mushrooms until softened, about 10 minutes. Let’s set it aside.
- Heat the remaining oil in a medium saucepan and stir-fry the rice flour over low heat to make the roux. Add 2 cups of water, tamari soy sauce, sage, rosemary, and tarragon to the roux and mix well. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer until gravy thickens and is smooth, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the mushroom and onion mixture and simmer over low heat until warmed through. If there is too much gravy, add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
cranberry relish ingredients
- 1 bag or box (16 oz) cranberries
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup agave nectar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- Wash fresh cranberries. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 25 minutes. When the sauce thickens, set it aside.
- Serve warm or refrigerate and serve chilled. Refrigerate for up to 3 days. A perfect addition to post-Thanksgiving sandwiches.
Dessert: pumpkin pudding
One important thing to remember when composting at home is that dairy products often don’t mix well in the bin, causing a rotten smell. If you’re looking for truly compostable dessert recipes, choose dairy-free ones. Since pumpkin is a fall favorite, we thought this smooth pudding would be the perfect finale to our Thanksgiving meal.
material
- 1/2 cup arrowroot powder or arrowroot
- 4 cups vanilla soy milk
- 3 cups canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Dissolve the arrowroot powder in the soy milk in a large mixing bowl. Add pumpkin puree, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well to combine. Transfer to a large greased glass or ceramic baking dish and bake for 1 hour, until lightly browned and bubbly.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for about 30 minutes before serving. If the pudding has a skin on it, remove it before eating.
Why lean eating?
The recipes chosen for this Thanksgiving meal were chosen for their fresh ingredients and compostability. A typical home compost system can use things like vegetable peels, coffee grounds, egg shells, and grains.
To get more out of your meals, Pearson suggests saving leftover potato cubes, Brussels sprouts, onion skins, and other vegetable scraps for a hearty stock to last another week. .
Simply place the scraps in a large pot, pour water and simmer for about an hour. Pour the stock into a reusable container and compost the rest. You can maximize the value of your vegetables without wasting valuable nutrients that would otherwise be thrown away.
Candle Cafe and Candle 79 are avid composters and send minimal waste to landfills. Pearson said the restaurant stores leftover cooking oil for a local company to recycle into biodiesel. Candle Cafe and Candle 79 receive 3 out of 4 stars. Green Restaurant Association It is consistently ranked as a favorite among New Yorkers and tourists alike.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on November 15, 2010 and updated in November 2024.
