Juggling Competing Family Needs...

My mom has decided to do the full blown Thanksgiving meal with turkey and all the trimmings on Friday since we have so many travelers arriving late Thursday. That leaves me to do a meal for 13 on Thursday night.

I don't want to do anything too heavy. After all, we'll all be in a turkey coma the next day. It's important to pace ourselves.  To make things even more interesting, I have at least one vegan coming so I need to have a good option for them.

At first, I considered doing two kinds of soup: a thick beef stew and a 15-bean soup. Add a tossed salad, some Grands biscuits, and a dessert and I'd be done.

But that didn't seem very festive. So now, I'm planning to offer number of choices and let people put together their own meal: a spiral-cut ham, some buffalo Swedish meatballs, sour cream & chive mashed potatoes, a fresh veggie tray, and a couple different kinds of bread.

Then for the vegans and anyone else who wants something unique, I found this recipe on the Minimalist Baker's website. It sounds worth trying to me. What do you think?

VEGAN THANKSGIVING WRAPS

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

30 mins

Healthy, hearty, 30-minute Vegan Thanksgiving Wraps with roasted sweet potatoes, crispy chickpeas, and garlic-dill sauce, tucked inside homemade Garlic Herb Flatbreads!

Author: Minimalist Baker

Recipe type: Entree

Cuisine: Vegan, Thanksgiving

Serves: 4

Ingredients

SWEET POTATOES

·         2 large sweet potatoes (~300 g | organic when possible)

·         1 Tbsp (15 ml) grape seed oil

·         1 tsp fresh thyme

·         1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

·         1/2 tsp sea salt

·         optional: pinch cayenne pepper

CHICKPEAS

·         1 15-ounce (425 g) can chickpeas, rinsed, drained and thoroughly dried in a towel

·         1 Tbsp (15 ml) grape seed oil

·         1 tsp fresh or dried thyme

·         Pinch ground cinnamon

·         1 tsp ground cumin

·         1/2 tsp smoked paprika

·         scant 1/2 tsp sea salt

·         optional: Healthy pinch each ground coriander + cardamom

FOR SERVING optional

·         4 Garlic Herb Flatbreads* (or store-bought flatbreads or pita)

·         Garlic Dill Hummus Sauce

·         Toasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds

·         Dried cranberries, chopped

·         Fresh arugula or parsley

Instructions

1.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.       Thoroughly wash and dry sweet potatoes, then slice (skin on) into bite-sized rounds/pieces.

3.       Add to a mixing bowl with grape seed oil, thyme, cinnamon, sea salt and cayenne (optional). Toss to coat, then arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.

4.       To the same mixing bowl, add rinsed, dried chickpeas, and grape seed oil, thyme, cinnamon, cumin, paprika, sea salt, and coriander + cardamom (optional).

5.       Toss to coat, then arrange on baking sheet with sweet potatoes where space permits. (Depending on size of baking sheet, you may need to use a second to accommodate all potatoes and chickpeas).

6.       Bake for a total of 25 minutes, flipping/stirring once at the 15-minute mark to ensure even cooking. You'll know they're done when the potatoes are fork tender, and the chickpeas are golden brown, dehydrated, and slightly crispy. Remove from oven and set aside.

7.       In the meantime, prepare toppings and dressing (if using).

8.       Once potatoes and chickpeas are finished baking, wrap flatbreads in a damp towel and warm in the still warm oven for 1-2 minutes (or in the microwave for 30 seconds) to soften and make more pliable.

9.       To assemble, top each wrap with a portion of sweet potatoes and chickpeas. Add desired toppings, such as dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, arugula, and Garlic-Dill Hummus Sauce (recipe link above).

10.   Best when fresh, though leftovers keep separately in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

So anyway, I'd love to get your take on this. Which menu do you think I should do? The competing soups or the ham/buffalo/vegan buffet?