I like the Florida type which are the large smooth green avocados. They contain more water content and have a less”avocadoey” taste which is perfect for this dessert! The citrus zest also masks the taste. For each avocado, use 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, you can use almond milk or water to blend (just enough to get it going), the zest of one or two citrus fruits like clementines, tangerines, mandarins, blood oranges, etc. You want at least one tablespoon of zest. You can also add orange extract for more “pop”. Add stevia to taste. If agave nectar is part of your diet, go for it ! A swirl once or twice around while blending gives it a lustrous sheen and of course, that pure sugar taste!

• 3 lemons, juice and zest
• 3 limes, juice and zest
• 2 cups ice
• 2 cups water (approximately)
• Handful mint
• Handful basil
• Stevia to taste

Put all in high speed blender, scraping down sides and adding up to 2 cups water as needed. You can also substitute the limes for yuzu, a Japanese lime. (they sell it in Asian and/or speciality stores in bottles) It lends a more aromatic flavor. You can also add sparkling water to give it a fizz! Just add manually after blending (you have to reduce the amount of water used in facilitating the blending).

• 1 Large Jicama, sliced (like in potato salad)
• 1 C corn kernels
• 1 C celery, diced (reserve celery leaves)
• 1 C cucumber, diced
• ½ C red bell pepper, small dice
• 1 tbsp celery seeds
• 1 dill pickle, small dice
• 1/8 C parsley, chopped
• 1/8 C Dijon mustard (or wholegrain)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 zucchini, peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp tarragon, chopped
• Handful radish sprouts

Combine all the vegetables in a bowls including parsley. In a blender, add mustard, garlic, lemon juice, tarragon and zucchini, adding water to facilitate blending. Toss dressing with vegetables and serve garnishes with reserved celery leaves and radish sprouts.

• 3 Acorn Squash, cut horizontally to form two bowls, leveling the bottoms
• 1 lb of kale, stems removed and chopped
• ½ C shallots, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbl sage, chopped
• 1 tsp crush red pepper
• 1 med citrus, orange, tangerine, rind only
• 1 red bell pepper, finely diced

Dry roast the acorn squash, no cover, 400 degrees, 30 to 45 minutes depending on size of your squash till edges brown and middle is soft when pierced with a knife 

In a large pot, heat up coconut butter or butter, add garlic, shallots, citrus rind and sage and crushed red pepper till warm and fragrant, taking care not to burn the garlic. Add kale, handfuls at a time and toss well. When all the kale is in turn up the heat, add a splash of water and cover. You want the kale to steam up a bit and keep the rest of the ingredients from drying out. After 5 minutes or so when kale is a deep green, remove lid and continue cooking till the liquid evaporates. 

Stuff the roasted squash with the kale (removing the citrus rinds) garnish with diced red peppers and grate some fresh nutmeg on top.

Brussel sprouts are abundant this time of year, buy a pound or two and use a mandolin to shave it. Use the guard or a corn holder to hold it in place! Alternatively, slice thin with a knife. Slice some 1 to 2 red onions really thin and mix it up. Add ¾ cloves of minced garlic and roast it in (400 degree oven) with butter or coconut butter till charred. Add some fresh thyme and a squeeze of lemon.

• 8 cups of whole corn
• 2 tbl fresh oregano, chopped
• 2 fresh bay leaves, chopped (optional)

Remove husks, with a sharp knife, shave off the top 1/3 of the corn kernels into a large bowl. Using the back of the knife or with a dull dinner knife, scrape of the rest of the kernels, pressing on the cob to “milk the corn”. Add the chopped oregano and bay leaf.

If you want it extra creamy, throw half of it in a blender with almond milk.

• 6 C cauliflower florets only
• 1 tbl thyme, chopped
• 1 tble horseradish
• 3 tble chives, chopped
• 1 lemon, zest only

Blanch or steam cauliflower till soft, add thyme, horseradish and puree in food processor, adding almond milk or vegetable stock to help facilitate blending. Season with s/p, garnish with chopped chives and lemon zest.

• 8 C cauliflower, chopped including stems
• 4 C fennel, medium dice, fronds reserved
• 2 C parsnip or turnip, medium dice
• 2 C onion, chopped
• 2 lemons.sliced
• 1 tbl thyme, chopped
• 1 tbl fennel seeds, crushed or put though a spice blender
• 2 C vegetable stock, heated

Roast vegetables and lemon slices in a preheated 400 degree oven. Use butter or coconut butter or dry roast. Let it roast a bit, 30 to 40 min. 
Remove from oven, and put in oven proof dish, chop up the lemon slices, add thyme, fennel seeds, parsley and vegetable stock. Cover and put back in the oven 15 more min) Garnish with reserved fennel fronds. 

This makes a loose stuffing. You can add ½ cup of kamut, spelt, brown rice flour or choice to thicken up the vegetable stock to tighten up the stuffing. Just sift the flour over the broth when simmering and mix thoroughly so there are no lumps. Add a pat of butter to make it richer. 

You can add dried currants or cranberries and raw or toasted pine nuts if you are having a nut/dried fruit based dinner.

• Take 1 whole head of garlic and cut the top off.
• Wrap in tin foil and roast in a preheated, 400 degree oven for 1 hour or until cloves are soft a creamy.
• Squeeze the roasted cloves out of the skins and add to 1 cup of the reserved sautéed mushrooms from the loaf recipe.
• Put in blender, adding water or almond milk as needed to facilitate blending.
• Season with s/p.
• Add some finely chopped parsley to garnish. Serve on the side of Mushroom Loaf.

• 1 lb assorted mushrooms, chopped (portobello, cremini, button, shitake, porcini….)
• 4 C parsnip, small dice
• 1 C carrot, small dice
• 1 C red onions, small dice
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 sprigs thyme
• ¾ sage leaves, chiffonaded
• ¼ C parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• 1 C zucchini, grated
• 2 tbl tomato paste
• 2 tbl nama shoyu

Preheat oven 400 degrees; Dry roast parsnips, carrots, red onions till soft, 30 to 40 minutes. Flip once if it browns too quickly. 

Saute garlic, thyme sprigs in butter or coconut butter till fragrant, 5 min. Add mushrooms and nama shoyu and sauté till soft, 8 to 10 min. Reserve a cup of the sautéed mushroom for the gravy. 

Put mushroom mixture (remove thyme sprigs) and the roasted vegetable in a food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times depending on your machine. You want it to keep it chunky but blended together.

Transfer to a large bowl, add rest of the herbs, tomato paste, grated zucchini (to keep loaf moist) and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Put in a meatloaf pan, thin out the tomato paste with a little water and spread on top to form a crust. 

Bake covered 30 min. Uncover and bake till crust gets a bit more toasty…. 15 min.

From my Thanksgiving table to yours with a heaping of family love, here’s the recipe for the Mushroom Loaf and all the Thanksgiving fixin’s below. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the recipe; the Thanksgiving flavors come through with the savory herbs and spices. You can pick and choose the sides. I bet a pumpkin spiced tea with a scoop of unsweetened chocolate powder with cinnamon sticks (and sweetened with stevia) will make your evening complete! Happy Holidays! 

Serve 6 to 8 people

• Mushroom Sage Loaf with Tomato Glaze
• Roasted Garlic & Mushroom Gravy
• Cauliflower “Mashed Potatoes” with Horseradish and Chives
• Roasted Fennel “Stuffing” with Lemon
• Raw Cream of Corn with Marjoram
• Shaved Brussels Sprouts
• Stuffed Acorn Squash with Spinach and Nutmeg
• Raw Jicama “Potato Salad” with Tarragon Mustard Vinaigrette

Now for the desserts…

• Citrus Sorbet (Neutral)
• Citrus Avocado Pudding (Starch Based)
• Maple Syrup Sweet Potato Ice Cream (Starch Based)
• Easy Yam Brulee (Starch Based)
• Chunky Monkey Banana Ice Cream (Nut/ Fruit Based)
• Beet & Cinnamon Ice Cream (Protein based)

• 4 C Jicama, peeled and cubed
• 2 Red Bell Peppers, roasted and marinated (recipe below)
• 1 Avocado, julienned
• 1 Scallion, cut lengthwise in strips
• Nori Sheets

Marinade:

I mix ½ teaspoon of Sriracha (asian hot sauce) or you can use any type of hot sauce, add liquid stevia, and a tiny splash of nama shoyu and a squeeze of lime. Adjust spiciness according to taste!

Shoyu Vinaigrette Dipping Sauce:

• 3 tbsp Shoyu with equal parts water
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 garic, minced
• 1 knob ginger, in matchsticks
• 1 scallion or chives, chopped
• 1 dash of cayenne
• A couple of drops of sesame oil (optional)
• Stevia to taste
• Sesame seeds to garnish (optional)

Combine all ingredients, let flavors steep. Thin out with more water to taste if shoyu is too salty.

Directions:

Roast the red peppers whole over a burner or cut remove core and broil skin side up till charred. Remove skins and cut into strips. Add to marinade and let sit while making “rice.” 

To make the “rice”:

• Make sure the jicama is firm.
• They tend to get soft and moldy.
• Remove all tough fibrous parts with a knife (peeler will not work) until you have only the white of the jicama left.
• Cube and pulse in food processor three or four times till it resembles white rice. Go slow! You don’t want it too mushy!
• Place the jicama on a clean kitchen towel and wring out the excess moisture. Do it in batches. This is important; otherwise the “rice” will make the rolls soggy.

Next: 

• Take a nori sheet and place on top of sushi mat (yes, you need it!)
• Add rice to lower second half of sheet
• Add avocado strips in a row
• Top with red pepper strips
• Add scallions
• Roll bottom half, tucking in the rice inwards
• Keep rolling until you reach the top and moisten with water to seal.

Finally:

To make it a complete and satisfying meal, start with a bowl of vegetable miso soup with carrot, shitake mushrooms and scallions. (In a pot of water add dried shitake mushrooms and a slice of ginger and boil for 10 minutes. Remove shitake and cut into slices, add thinly sliced carrots and simmer till slightly soft. Add mushrooms back in. Take off heat and stir in your miso paste of choice; red, white, etc…) 
Add sliced scallions to garnish. 

As an extra, a plate of steamed zucchini sticks will take this meal over the edge. Make extra shoyu to dip zucchini sticks!

 For the Sweet Potato “Pasta”:

• 2 med sweet potatoes, peeled and spiralized
• 1 handful basil
• 2 inch stalk of lemongrass
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 clove sized ginger
• 1 or 2 limes
• stevia to taste
• handful of whole cilantro

Instructions:

Blend all ingredients and toss with spiralized sweet potatoes. Top 
with cilantro. 

N.B.: 

1. Allowing the mixture to marinate will soften the pasta.
2. Butternut squash or carrot can be substituted in place of the sweet potato if necessary.

For the Chopped Salad:

• 1 head romaine, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 med seedless cucumbers, finely chopped
• 1 sm red onion, finely chopped
• 1 handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

For the Spiced Eggplant Dressing:

• 1 lg italian eggplant
• 1 clove garlic
• handful parsley,
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp of cumin, coriander, paprika

Instructions: 

1. Toss salad ingredients together, add s/p as desired.
2. Cut eggplant lengthwise and broil skin side up till charred (10 min). Let cool an scrape out flesh, add rest of ingredients and put in a food processor and blend till smooth. Add water to thin if necessary. Season with salt and pepper as desired.

For the Salad:

• 1 lb spinach, blanched
• 3 med carrots, shredded
• 1/2 lb mung beans, blanched
• 1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
• 1 scallion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• kosher or fine sea salt

For the Dressing:

• 1/2 tsp korean hot pepper paste (Kochujang)
• 1 tbsp nama shoyu
• drizzle of toasted sesame oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• stevia to taste

Instructions: 

1. Mix all ingredients together, adding water to thin the sauce so it pours freely.
2. Blanch the spinach till it turns a bright green; ten seconds or less. Immerse in an ice bath to stop the cooking process and to retain the bright green color.
3. Repeat process with mung beans but blanch for thirty seconds and skip the icebath.
4. Salt the shredded carrots and let sit for 10 minutes. Rinse off salt and drain.
5. Place shredded romaine lettuce in a salad bowl, add each vegetable in three separate mounds on top of lettuce, sprinkle with scallions and serve sauce on the side.

Note: To make carnivore friendly, you can take a piece of high quality chopped beef and marinate it in a splash of soy, sesame oil, minced garlic and ginger for 10 minutes and then saute it quickly till desired doneness. Serve this alongside the vegetables.