Vegan offers new holiday traditions.

Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

If you have trouble envisioning a Thanksgiving menu without a turkey, allow David Gabbe to help paint you a picture.

"You'll see lots of different colors - browns, oranges and reds," says Gabbe, author of the book "David's Pure Vegetarian Kitchen."

"You'll see beans and squashes and nuts and whole grains and wild rice. You'll see fall harvest-related produce and a whole new tradition that sort of celebrates why we're celebrating Thanksgiving."

Gabbe doesn't just forgo the turkey, he cuts out all animal products. A pure vegetarian, or vegan, he doesn't even eat honey because, he says, it comes from little animals.

Gabbe's vision of Thanksgiving includes baked squashes filled with stuffing, corn chowder, corn bread, a wild rice pilaf and pumpkin-squash pudding.

"It's something that represents the bounty that we're all blessed with," Gabbe says. "Everything comes from the ground."

For 15 years, Gabbe has been showing Eugene audien- ces how to create a new kind of Thanksgiving Day tradition in his class, "David's Vegetarian Thanksgiving."

Sandie Boggs, a former meat lover turned pure vegetarian, credits Gabbe with showing her how to cook without animal products. Before taking one of Gabbe's courses 10 years ago, she ate a high-protein, high-fat diet that included meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, pork chops and bacon.

"I was known for my pies and cakes and cookies," Boggs recalls. "I ate butter and, sometimes, I put half-and-half on my cereal."

Now Boggs has replaced those foods with whole grains, organic fruits and vegetables, nuts, tofu and other sources of protein. She says giving up animal products doesn't mean giving up great-tasting food.

"What amazes me about this cooking is there is no limit to what you can do," Boggs says. "Some people think if they give up meat and cheese and eggs, they have to do without, but this way of cooking, you don't have to do without anything. There are just new and different ways of making the same things."

Boggs says Gabbe's courses taught her how to make gravies out of garbanzo beans, cashews, miso and vegetables. She learned how to make lentil loaves and tofu loaves, baked apple desserts and tasty pumpkin puddings.

"Most people like these new traditions," Gabbe says. "It's not so much that they taste like (traditional Thanksgiving dishes). I think people see it as being different in a positive way."

A former Eugene resident now living in Portland, Gabbe teaches 30 to 40 vegetarian cooking classes a year at community colleges and learning centers throughout the Northwest. His one-day Thanksgiving course is offered in Eugene through the city's parks and recreation department.

At this year's version of the class, which took place on Nov. 6, Gabbe shared his recipes and showed his students how cooking pure vegetarian-style can be more healthful, more straightforward and less expensive than a traditional Thanksgiving feast.

"I'm (estimating) you can cut your food bills in half," Gabbe says. "And I think a misconception is that vegetarian food takes a lot of time, but it's the reverse."

Speed and frugality aside, Gabbe says the best reason to switch to his diet is for better health. His high-fiber, low fat, cholesterol-free menu is devoid of animal products, which have been linked to heart disease and other ailments, he says. And he uses whole grains instead of refined sugars, flours or rice.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, consumption of whole grains can reduce the risk of several chronic diseases and aid in weight maintenance.

"It's the diet most conducive to vibrant health and increased longevity," Gabbe says in the preface to "David's Pure Vegetarian Kitchen."

"It's also the diet kindest to animals and least demanding of our planet's limited resources," he says.

Gabbe doesn't like Tofurky, the celebrated tofu-based turkey-looking roast that comes in a box. He says the product is too expensive and contains some ingredients he doesn't care for. Instead, the centerpiece of his Thanksgiving table is stuffed squashes. He uses delicata and sweet dumpling squashes that have been baked and had their seeds scooped out. Gabbe fills the vegetables with a stuffing made from buckwheat, whole-grain bread cubes, miso, onions, carrots, celery and other ingredients, and promises a savory stuffing that would fit in on any Thanksgiving table.

Gabbe plans to host eight to 10 people at his house this year. He'll pair his squashes and stuffing with a rice pilaf made from wild brown rice, onions, celery and mushrooms, and he may add a green salad to the mix. He will serve a corn chowder that can be made with almond milk and, for dessert, he'll offer a sweet pudding created from pumpkin and squash and a sweet corn bread made from millet flour, a non-glutinous whole grain. Instead of wine, Gabbe drinks tea with his Thanksgiving dinner.

Boggs will host a half-dozen people for her own pure vegetarian Thanksgiving feast. She'll serve a lentil or tofu loaf with squashes, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, baked apples and a large green salad.

"(My guests) are mostly vegetarians," Boggs says. "They may include a few more dairy products in their diet than I eat, but they certainly like my cooking."

Pure Vegetarian Corn Chowder

4 cups unsweetened plain soy milk

2 cups onions, chopped

1 cup potatoes, chopped

1/2 cup celery, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil or toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons dried parsley

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon paprika 

1 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen

2 tablespoons red miso, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

In a large pot, combine all ingredients except corn and miso. Bring to slow boil over medium heat, reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add corn and miso and simmer an additional 5 minutes. Refrigerate leftovers and use within 5 to 7 days or freeze.

Variation: Replace unsweetened soy milk with 2 cups almond milk (see recipe below) and 2 cups water. If desired, add 2 to 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast or brewers yeast.

Serves 4 to 6.

Recipe from David Gabbe.

Almond Milk

3/4 cup raw almonds

3 cups water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

Sort through almonds and discard any broken or discolored ones. Thoroughly rinse and drain. Place almonds and 1 cup of water in blender and blend about 30 seconds. With blender on, add remaining water and other ingredients. Blend about 60 seconds longer.

Pour blender mix into fine strainer (or strainer lined with unbleached cheesecloth) and press out milk from pulp with spatula. Refrigerate leftovers and use within 4 to 5 days.

Yields 3 1/4 cups.

Recipe from David Gabbe.

INFORMATION

For more on vegan cooking, check out David Gabbe's Web site at www .davidspurevegetarian kitchen.com

CAPTION(S):

David Gabbe's typical vegetarian Thanksgiving meal might include baked squashes filled with stuffing. Wayne Eastburn / The Register-Guard During a class earlier this month, David Gabbe shows students Linda Hovey and Ruth Vu vegetables that will be combined with whole-grain bread cubes for stuffing. "What amazes me about this cooking is there is no limit to what you can do." SANDIE BOGGS VEGETARIAN COOK