Vegan Turkey-less Roast from Trader Joe's 2014

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Trader Joe's took their already amazing vegan holiday roast from last year, and kicked it up a notch with a new crispy breaded coating. The stuffing inside the roast contains cranberries, wild and brown rice, celery, apple puree, breadcrumbs, and lots of other yummy things. This may well become one of my new Thanksgiving faves.

This delicious roast can be found in the refrigerated section, by the tofu and prepared foods. The basic directions say to bake it in the oven, but there are also directions for preparing it stove top/in a toaster oven, and even in a microwave oven. Since the roast has a crispy breaded coating, however I imagine the regular oven (or toaster oven) would work best. I didn't have a rack that fit in the roasting dish I wanted to use, so I put together a makeshift rack using carrot halves. It worked wonderfully! The coating browned very nicely and was crispy all around. Plus, we had a nice side of roasted carrots as a bonus (just drizzle the carrots with a little bit of oil and sprinkle with salt before setting the roast on top of them).

There are two packets of savory gravy in the box, that just needs to be heated up (stovetop or microwave). Although I love making my own crimini mushroom and onion gravy, that's one less thing to worry about for those who don't like (or don't want) to make gravy from scratch. The box also has instructions for making a holiday roast using baby Dutch potatoes, carrots, onion, and celery.

For those who don't live near a Trader Joe's, Field Roast's Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute (wrapped in a flaky puff pastry) and Gardein's Holiday Roast are also excellent options.

I plan to stock up and freeze some of these to bake once the holidays are over. I don't think I can wait until next year to eat this again. I guess I better go eat up some vegan ice cream to make room in our freezer...

Thanks for reading. Peace and love to all who live.

Susan

Heating instructions for Trader Joe's 2014 Vegan Turkey-less Stuffed Roast...so easy!

Optional fancier preparation instructions for Trader Joe's 2014 Vegan Turkey-less Stuffed Roast.

Trader Joe's Vegan Turkey-less Roast with sides...the first of many vegan Thanksgiving meals we will enjoy this year. There are just so many options when you are vegan and aren't limited to turkey!

Henrietta and Martha getting lots of love from compassionate human friends at Farm Sanctuary's Celebration FOR the Turkey's in 2013. Turkeys love to be hand-fed and stroked!