[joeysmama]

I'm new to the borads so I don't know if this is allowed. I work for Marilu.com and that website has public boards and a members area. I don't really know what's going on at the public site but the members area has a class beginning Monday for the US Thanksgiving. I'm leading a vegetarian forum for 10 days.

If this counts as advertising or is not allowed someone please delete this post---but I just wanted to let you know that there are some good recipes there that are meat and dairy free. Many are also vegan.

Linda McCartney's cookbook, Linda's Kitchen is also a WONDERFUL cookbook. It's not vegan but it is totally vegetarian and most of the recipes easily convert to vegan if you switch to non dairy milks and cheeses.

I made a wonderful parsnip and butter bean soup from that cookbook the other day and it was creamy and satisfying.

I can get the exact amounts tomorrow but I used a small bag of parsnips and three small potatoes, one small onion, 2 cloves of garlic.

Chop all the veggies and saute the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. (I used a press for the garlic) Add the potatoes, parsnips and a can of butter beans, with the juices from the can. Add about 3 and a half cups of vegetable broth and cook gently until the veggies are tender.

Puree in batches, adding milk or cream to each batch. Be very careful not to have too much liquid in the blender as it can splash out and burn you. I drain the soup through a colander first--add the broth back to the pot and puree the thick veggies and the cream. I used Silk Soy Creamer. Then reheat gently.

I topped mine with a sprinkle of nutmeg and a dollop of soy sour cream.

This doesn't take long to cook and it's a great fall soup !!!