Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck

Every year, our vegan social club — Food Awareness — holds a vegan Thanksgiving potluck in one of our members' homes. Honestly, for the past couple years, that's about all we've done as a group. Food Awareness, which used to meet for monthly vegan lunch outings, went on a semi-permanent hiatus because our main organizer dude Vaughan needed a break, and another vegan meetup group — Memphis Vegan Dine-outs & Potlucks — had started up to fill the void.

But we still have that annual potluck, and this year, we made it a joint event with the new meetup group, which I'm also a member of. So it ended up being a GIANT vegan potluck! I'd say we had at least 50 people come through. I tried to capture images of all the food, but I don't think I even managed to cover half of it. So many latecomers kept showing up with more dishes!

I blogged yesterday about what I brought — the Holiday Cornucopia with Roasted Cauliflower, Acorn Squash, Mushrooms, Brussels, Onions, & Carrots from Vegetarian Times. You can read all about how I made this crazy bread cone and find links to the recipes on yesterday's post.

Here's what everyone else brought — or least what I managed to photograph. My fave dish of the night was Anju's Nacho Casserole. It may not be a traditional Thanksgiving dish, but who cares?! It's a cheesy Mexican casserole with layers of tortilla and vegan cheese.

Anju actually went all out and brought 4 dishes! She also brought a yummy Hash Brown Casserole. It's a staple in my family's Thanksgiving, so it was good to see that there!

And she brought this fun twist on stuffing. It's Lasagna-Style Stuffing with vegan cheese, zucchini, & chickpea flour. So yummy!

I'll get to other dish later when I add the dessert pics. I'm posting all the savories first, like these Crostini with Rosemary White Bean Spread. No idea who brought this, but the spread was fantastic!

Someone brought a massive pot of vegan-buttery Mashed Potatoes because if it's gonna be that kind of party ...

This was a yummy casserole with rice, veggies, and breadcrumbs. Not sure who brought this either. Wish I'd taken a shot of the inside, so you could see what was under those crumbs.

Elizabeth brought this Roasted Cauliflower, Leek, & Fennel Soup that I didn't get a chance to try. When I was going down the line to fill my plate, I realized that I didn't have a bowl. And then after I got out of line, there was a massive line behind me. So I thought I'd come back and get some when the line died down. But by the time I made it back, I didn't see the pot there anymore. 

Vaughan and Nicole, who hosted the party at their house, made this dish of pasta, beans, and millet. Healthy and delicious.

They also made a big pot of this Moroccan-style rice with raisins. Loved the flavors in this. 

And they made the world's biggest bowl of Kale Salad. Sadly, I didn't get any of this because my plate was full by the time I made it to that side of the table. Probably should have eaten more greens though.

Not sure who brought this, but it was a really flavorful Black-eyed Pea & Quinoa Salad. It tasted a little like tabouleh but with quinoa.

Adam and Kristie, the owners of Imagine Vegan Cafe, showed up late, after I was already super-full. But they brought their famous Spinach-Artichoke Dip from the restaurant, so I just had to make another plate!

Brad and Sharon showed up late too, but they brought this lovely pumpkin stuffed with Pumpkin Stew. I put some in a bowl and took it home to have for lunch today. It was wonderful! It had beans and corn, and it tasted just like fall.

Not pictured was the awesome gluten-free Vegan Margarita Pizza from Whole Foods, Pam's Roasted Brussels & Squash, Judith's Raw Sweet Potato Pie, Stephen's Lentil-Walnut Pate, Grace's Spicy Cashew Noodle Salad, and probably a bunch of other yummy stuff I missed. There was just so much food! Here's my savory plate (or at least the first one).

Now for dessert. Remember when I said that Anju brought 4 dishes. Well, her other contribution were these awesome Indian Kulfi bars. It's vegan ice cream — some with tamarind-fig and others with cardamom-rose. I went with cardamom-rose because cardamom! Really enjoyed these.

Susan made this perfect Chocolate Pie. Creamy, rich, smooth. Yummy!

And finally, Amy walked in a little late with this Vegan Pumpkin Pie. I don't get pumpkin pie at home on Thanksgiving because my parents think they don't like it, so this was a real treat. I shared my slice with Pam since someone in front of her in line got the last piece.

There were a few more desserts that showed up too. But by that time, I was too stuffed to even care about taking pictures. Now, I just have to find room to do it all over again this Thursday!