As Promised: Tofurky!!

Yummm...I just had an AWESOME early Thanksgiving dinner! The Tofurky was a hit at the meetup - it disappeared quick! It ended up slightly drier than usual since I accidentally arrived an hour earlier than the meetup actually started, and we didn't bring out the food until an hour after the meetup started. Oops! Two extra hours in the warmer might have been a bit much. It was still moist enough, but I've made better. I guess that means I'll just have to post more pictures of my next one!


The recipe:

Place Tofurky in refrigerator to thaw at least 24 hours before you intend to use it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
1 Thawed Tofurky
2 Tablespoons vegan margarine (I used Earth Balance)
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
2-3 Sprigs of fresh thyme
1/2 - 1 Sprig of fresh rosemary
3-5 Fresh sage leaves
2-3 Cloves of garlic
1-2 Carrots
2 Stalks of celery
2 Medium red potatoes
1 Small-medium onion
Vegetable broth, as needed (I prefer No-Chicken broth, but it was not available at my store. If you can find that, use it!! Otherwise, any veggie broth will do)
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Instructions:
Mix margarine, oil, soy sauce, a few grinds of pepper, and a pinch of salt (easy on the salt...you have soy sauce in there!) in a small dish

Remove leaves from thyme and rosemary and chop into fine pieces. Finely chop sage and garlic. Add to above mixture and whisk together with a fork. Set aside.

Remove Tofurky from plastic casing and avoid injuring yourself like I did.

Now for the REALLY fun part: Attack it! Take a small knife or fork, and stab several small holes around the Tofurky. This is an essential part of achieving a moist end result!

Place Tofurky in the center of a 8x11 baking dish

Apply entire margarine-oil-soy sauce-herb mixture to Tofurky, spreading it around as evenly as possible. If there is extra, just pile the rest right on top!

Peel, rinse, and chop carrot(s) and onion

Wash and chop celery and potatoes

Arrange vegetables around Tofurky

Add more salt and pepper over everything (optional, but recommended)

Add vegetable broth until vegetables are almost covered

Cover tightly with foil

Cook 1 hour 10 minutes covered, remove cover, and cook 10 more minutes (same as package instructions)

Avoid placing in warmer for 2 more hours afterward like I did (ha)

Thinly slice and enjoy!

Note: I would not recommend skimping on ANYTHING! The oil and margarine might sound like a lot, but c'mon. It's the holidays! Fresh herbs are absolutely essential. If you don't want to buy tons of fresh herbs that you don't plan on using anything else, take another look in the fresh herb section of your grocery store. Usually around the holidays (if not all year round) I am able to find a "poultry seasoning" mix containing those 3 herbs. This will cost you much less and leave you with much less waste. The vegetables are also important, even if you don't want to eat them. The flavors season the broth even more, and the broth steams and soaks into the Tofurky. I've had this thing prepared many ways, and trust me - This is the way to do it!

Ahh...Now if only I had recipes for all of the food that everyone else brought tonight...YUM!