Kosher Vegan Thanksgiving Dressing

This hearty dressing makes a great vegetarian main course.

Home made bread cubes really aren't that hard to come by. If you pick up a baugette from the store, just leave it out overnight and it'll go rock hard. If you're well prepared, you can even cut it into chunks first. A baguette is easy, but this recipe works great with artisan breads. Go ahead and pick up that Rosemary and Basil Foccacia or Roasted Garlic Herb Bread. It'll add more flavor. Stay away from sweet breads, though. I'm not sure how this would turn out with Cinnamon Swirl Bagels or Blueberry Muffin Loaf.

• Roughly 7 - 8 cups of stale bread ripped into cubes
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 granny smith apple
• 1 onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp sage
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tsp basil
• 1 tsp rosemary

Preheat your oven to 350.

Peel the apple and cut it into roughly 1 inch cubes. Now peel the onion and do the same thing. Ditto for the bell pepper. Most people put celery in their dressing, but I don't like it. Therefore, we're going to forgo sauteing the onion so it'll still give a little bit of crunch.

Now, in a large bowl, mix all the spices and 2 tbsp of the olive oil with the canned vegetable broth. If your broth has some frighteningly high sodium content, feel free to leave out the extra salt. You're mixing the spices with the broth to better distribute them into the bread. Otherwise, you risk ending up with a big bite of sage at one corner and an unseasoned chunk of dull bread at the other.

I happen to like my dressing moist. I didn't grow up with gravy, so the dressing had to be able to stand on its own. For a vegetarian recipe, this is extra important. If, however, you like your dressing a little drier, only use 3 cups of broth.

Now dump your breadcubes, onion, apple, and bell pepper into the broth. Mix until everything is pretty damp and well blended. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so. This should give the bread a chance to really soak up all the broth. This is especially important if you used a dense artisian bread, like foccacia or cibata.

Rub your remaining tablespoon of olive oil over the inside of a large cake pan (I recommend glass or pyrex, as dark pans are more likely to make the bottom and edges burn.) Press the dressing into the pan. Don't be afraid to squish it down a little. You don't want it too fluffy.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Check it with a fork. Now, this is the only tricky bit. Some people like their dressing a little runny and others like it bone dry. I err on the moist side. If in doubt, go ahead and scoop out a discrete fork full from near the middle. If it's not dry enough for you, let it bake for another 10 minutes. If you bake it too much longer than that, once it hits the table, it'll dry out tremendously. (So much you won't want to use it for leftovers, which is always the best part of the holiday for me.)