For the Thanksgiving holiday this year, my brother and I made our traditional American Thanksgiving lunch at our parents’ home in Central Florida.

I made a fresh green salad with fresh pear strips and calamansi (Filipino tiny oranges) vinaigrette,  vegan cornbread stuffing (see the product post) and vegan sweet potato casserole (see the recipe below). And my brother cooked an organic turkey and lechon kawali (Filipino fried pork belly). 

For the salad dressing vinaigrette, I just mixed some of the freshly squeezed calamansi juice (about a 1/3 cup) with 1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil, and salt to taste. I made sure to add and mix in the freshly sliced pears to the dressing mixture to add some sweetness to the vinaigrette. Also, I made sure the pear pieces were coated with the vinaigrette. Then I tossed the bagged salad mix with the vinaigrette dressing.

The vegan sweet potato casserole was easy to make. I boiled about 5 large sweet potatoes and took off the skins. Then, I combined the mashed sweet potatoes with oatmilk (my favorite brand of oat milk is by Pacific Foods) and 2 tbsp vegan butter (I prefer to use the Earth Balance brand vegan butter sticks). Then, I top the casserole with the Trader Joe’s mini marshmallows. And right before we sat down for lunch, I broiled the top of the casserole for the yummy melted marshmallow goodness.

Overall, we had a delicious Thanksgiving lunch this year!