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Monday, November 23, 2015

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!

6 comments:

  1. I was so disgustingly full on so much yummy food! I didn't realize which dishes Vaughan and Nicole made--I loved them all! I want the recipe for the noodle and millet dish... I think I actually have millet! And that salad was my dinner tonight--so filling! Anju's food was so good... hell, everyone's food was delicious. And that cornucopia, Bianca?? Holy hell, it looked GORGEOUS and it tasted delicious. I basically want the recipe for the bread to just eat that, it was yummy!

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  2. Omg~now I'm hungry again! Such lovely photos of everyone's amazing food! And your cornucopia was a real stunner!! So artfully constructed! I'm still dreaming about those two soups as well, so savory! (Btw I tried emailing you on Meetup but it won't let me, wanted to ask you about something :) --Happy thanksgiving! ~~Anju

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  3. Wowsers, what an incredible spread of food!

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  4. Man, I am so hungry now! It looks like it was an amazing night with delicious food and amazing vegans!

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  5. What a super eclectic Thanksgiving pot luck! I am a little jealous!

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