This year I have to cook in a new kitchen, where space and the access to the appliances are rather limited.
So I decided to keep the menu simple.
Although the dishes did not require too complicated steps, that doesn’t mean I compromised on taste.
I mostly stuck with the traditional ingredients/dishes but wanted to add some fun flavors.
This was today’s main dish.
Tofu steak with Nira garlic chive “stuffing”.
I’m not a huge mashed potato fan, but my husband is.
So I make it at least once a year, usually for Thanksgiving.
This is garlicky mashed potatoes with Mikan tangerine Shichimi seven spices.
A friend of mine got me this “Mikan Shichimi” spices from Japan.
It’s a great mixture of refreshing and sweet citrus and spiciness.
The label design is lovely, too.
King oyster mushroom gravy.
It was made with garlic, king oyster mushrooms, flour, water, vegetable bouillon, salt, pepper, sugar, nutritional yeast, soy milk, soy sauce, Italian herbs.
This was probably the best gravy I’ve ever made!
Sauteed haricot verts with garlic.
Simple and tasty.
I like that Aldi sells these fancy (skinny) green beans.
Roasted Kabocha squash with cumin cilantro salad.
I was going to make a “hot” dish with the Kabocha, but I thought it would be nice to have something on the lighter side with extra vegetables.
This year I made cranberry sauce myself.
My original plan was to buy canned cranberry sauce, but I did not care for the ingredients of the one I found at a store.
At the same store I saw this bag of fresh cranberries, and it was so cheap, which made the decision easy for me.
Cranberry sauce is so easy to make!
Who knew?!
I added some fresh grated ginger, and I absolutely loved the final result.
Why do I always cook AND eat too much for Thanksgiving???
Cardamom apple upside down cake.
For the dessert I deviated from the traditional choice and went against a pie this year.
I served it with vanilla coconut yogurt.
I was extremely happy with how the whole meal turned out.
It was a bit of challenge not only cooking and baking in a kitchen I’m not too familiar with but also taking photos in a different setting, but it all worked out fine.
Hope your meal was delicious and your day was wonderful as well.
A few day ago I saw this in front of the Union Depot building in St. Paul.
I was surprised to see them putting lights on the tree before Thanksgiving, but I’m okay with that.
I just love this time of the year when things are becoming festive around the city.
