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For the Thanksgiving version of our Cooking for Compost series, we known as on the award-winning cooks of Candle Cafe to design a very waste-free Thanksgiving meal particularly for Earth911.com. Based in New York City, Candle provides an upscale eating expertise with an suave menu.
While Candle 79 is a vegan restaurant, it has garnered a formidable superstar following and has earned prime evaluations from die-hard meat eaters. As an area sizzling spot, it’s commonplace to see traces of patrons ready to be seated, even on a weekday night time.
This menu was fastidiously chosen by co-owner Joy Pierson and COO Benay Vynerib. The base recipes for these dishes may be discovered within the Candle Cafe Cookbook, however the Candle crew has added some particular touches for this Thanksgiving meal.
Prepared by Chef Eugenio Miranda, we sampled these recipes for ourselves and have been actually stunned to seek out simply how straightforward it’s to create a five-star dinner at dwelling with little to no waste.
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Recipe: Wild Rice Salad With Cranberries
Chef Miranda added leafy greens to the unique recipe for this salad to present it a real appetizer really feel. This dish will also be used as a stuffing later (see the Stuffed Winter Squash recipe beneath).
Serving measurement: 4-6 individuals
Ingredients
Instructions
- Boil 1 1/3 cups of water. Add wild rice, cowl, and simmer for 50-60 minutes.
- Mix collectively cooked rice and sunflower seeds, toss in cranberries and onion. In a separate bowl, whisk collectively tamari soy sauce and lemon juice, and slowly whisk in oil till effectively mixed. Pour over rice combination and toss. Sprinkle orange zest on salad.
Chef’s tip: Add salad to mesclun greens and prime with thinly shaved Gala apple slices.
Recipe: Pecan-Crusted Seitan
Tofu is among the most well-known meat substitutes in vegan dishes, however don’t ignore seitan. Its agency texture makes it nice for breading, and it’s a tasty substitute that even meat-eaters will get pleasure from.
To accompany this dish, Chef Miranda chosen brilliant inexperienced Brussels sprouts with cashews for a crunch. He additionally topped cabbage with a aspect of conventional yams.
Serving measurement: 4-6 individuals
Ingredients
- 8-10 seitan cutlets (about 1 pound)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly floor black pepper
- 1 cup floor pecans
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
- 1/4 cup further virgin olive oil
Marinade elements
- 3/4 cups tomato paste
- 1/4 cup umeboshi vinegar
- 1/4 cup pink wine
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup tamari soy sauce
- 1/4 cup minced garlic
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons minced tarragon
- 2 tablespoons minced rosemary
Instructions
- Blend collectively elements for marinade and pour over seitan. Marinate within the fridge for at the least three hours or in a single day.
- In a shallow bowl, combine collectively flour, salt, pepper, pecans and rosemary. Dredge the cutlets.
- Heat the oil in a sauté pan and sauté cutlets till golden brown, about 2-3 minutes on both sides. Serve instantly.
Recipe: Stuffed Winter Squash
For extra sides, Chef Miranda paired this dish with blanched inexperienced beans and grilled tofu. His tip to actually hitting a house run with this dish? Top the tofu with toasted sage, and don’t neglect the gravy (see separate recipe beneath).
Serving measurement: 4 individuals
Ingredients
- 4 winter squash (corresponding to delicata, butternut, or acorn)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon floor cinnamon
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound white mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 1/3 cup recent sage
- Extra-virgin olive oil for brushing
- Ground black pepper to style
Wild rice stuffing elements
- 2 quarts vegetable broth
- 3 cups wild rice, rinsed
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Pinch of salt
- 6 massive shallots, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 levels.
- Cut squash in half, and scoop out the seeds. Brush with oil and maple syrup, sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 20 minutes, till tender.
- Meanwhile, put together your stuffing. In a stockpot, deliver vegetable broth to a boil. Add the rice and salt to the broth. Reduce warmth, cowl and simmer for 35-45 minutes, or till water is absorbed. Remove from warmth.
- Sauté shallots and garlic with oil, and prepare dinner for 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and proceed to prepare dinner, stirring often till mushrooms launch their juices. Add tamari soy sauce, thyme and pepper to style. Cook till liquid evaporates. Transfer to a bowl with the rice. Toss in parsley and sage.
- Spoon the stuffing into the baked squash halves and return to the oven. Bake for quarter-hour and serve with Wild Mushroom Gravy (see subsequent recipe).
Extras: Wild Mushroom Gravy & Cranberry Relish
What would a Thanksgiving meal be with out condiments? Pierson selected to incorporate the Wild Mushroom Gravy and Cranberry Relish recipes for his or her sturdy flavors and flexibility. The gravy is a simple addition for the seitan, grilled tofu, and stuffed squash.
Wild mushroom gravy elements
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cups onion, 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 of oil in massive skillet. Sauté the onion and mushrooms till tender, about 10 minutes. Set apart.
- In a medium saucepan, warmth the remaining oil and sauté rice flour over low warmth to make a roux. Stir 2 cups of water, tamari soy sauce, sage, rosemary and tarragon into the roux and blend effectively. Bring to a boil over medium warmth, and simmer till the gravy is thickened and clean, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in mushroom-onion combination and prepare dinner over low warmth till warmed by way of. If gravy is simply too assume, add 1 tablespoon water at a time, till desired consistency.
Cranberry relish elements
- 1 bag or field (16 ounces) of cranberries
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup agave nectar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- Rinse recent cranberries. Combine all elements in a medium saucepan and produce to a boil. Lower warmth and simmer, stirring often for about 25 minutes. When sauce has thickened, put aside.
- Serve heat or refrigerate and serve chilled. Refrigerate and retailer for as much as three days. This makes a fantastic addition to post-Thanksgiving sandwiches!
Dessert: Pumpkin Pudding
One key factor to recollect when composting at house is that dairy won’t combine effectively in your bin and can typically trigger a rotten odor. If you’re actually in search of a compostable dessert recipe, go for one with out dairy. As pumpkin is a fall favourite, we thought this clean pudding was an beautiful finale to your Thanksgiving meal.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup arrowroot powder or kuzu
- 4 cups vanilla soy milk
- 3 cups canned pumpkin purée
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon floor cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 levels.
- In a big mixing bowl, dissolve arrowroot powder in soy milk. Add the pumpkin purée, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt. Mix effectively to mix. Transfer to a big greased glass or ceramic baking dish, and bake for 1 hour, till calmly browned and bubbly.
- Remove from oven and let cool for about half an hour earlier than serving. If the pudding has developed a pores and skin on prime, skim it off earlier than serving.
Why It’s a Waste-Free Meal
The recipes chosen for this Thanksgiving meal have been chosen for his or her recent elements and compostability. A typical dwelling compost system permits for vegetable peelings, espresso grounds, egg shells, grains, and extra.
To get much more mileage out of your meal, Pierson suggests saving your leftover potato cubes, Brussels sprouts, onion peels, or every other vegetable scraps for a hearty inventory that you should use for one more week!
Simply throw scraps into a big stockpot, cowl with water and boil for about an hour. Pour your inventory right into a reusable container and compost the stays. You get essentially the most bang in your vegetable buck with out wasting your vitamins that will have in any other case been tossed.
Candle Cafe and Candle 79 are avid composters and ship as little waste as potential to the landfill. According to Pierson, the restaurant saves its leftover cooking oil to ship out for recycling into biodiesel gasoline with an area firm. Candle Cafe and Candle 79 have earned three out of 4 stars from the Green Restaurant Association and constantly rank as a favourite for New Yorkers and vacationers alike.
Editor’s notice: Originally printed on November 15, 2010, this text was up to date in November 2024.
