The holiday season is upon us, and with it, lots of people feel pressure to make everything perfect. If you’ve read this cooking column in the past, you already know that my style is not perfection. I learned from being a parent many years ago that being “good enough’” was a more-realistic goal; if you think you stand a chance of achieving perfection, you’re just setting yourself up for a lot of stress and disappointment.

We all make mistakes – in the kitchen and elsewhere. So this season, do your best to make food that is healthy and pleasing to those you love, but don’t forget to put it in perspective: it’s just a meal! And if we have food to share with our loved ones, that alone is something to be grateful for.

If you integrate more plant-based foods into your diet, you can also feel good about helping out the environment. Making a positive impact on the environmental health of the planet can seem like an insurmountable task, but most of us eat three times a day, and all those food choices add up. Yale Environment 360 digest, July 2023, cites the results of a comprehensive study: “The analysis found that plant-based diets produce 75 percent less heat-trapping gas, generate 75 percent less water pollution and use 75 percent less land than meat-rich diets — those that include at least 100 grams of meat daily, the equivalent of one steak around the size of a deck of cards.”

Here are a couple of pies you can feel good about, too! They are both vegan, and don’t use much if any sugar, which makes them healthier than sugar-laden pies. I have always served the sweet potato “pie” as a side dish on Thanksgiving, but it’s delicious enough to serve as a dessert, if you wish.

Sweet potato “pie” 

Although this dish looks more or less like a pie, it doesn’t have a crust, which makes it especially easy to make. If you do not want the vegan version of this, use eggs and dairy milk and butter instead of the vegan substitutions. For a vegan butter substitute, I use Earth Balance, found alongside butter in most grocery stores.

For an easy egg substitute, I use Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer, which is a powder found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores. Mix one tablespoon powder with two tablespoons water for the equivalent of one egg.

Filling ingredients

-- 2 medium-large sweet potatoes.

-- 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I use almond).

-- 2 eggs equivalent.

-- 1/3 cup butter substitute, melted.

-- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

-- 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg.

Topping ingredients

-- 1/3 cup butter substitute, melted.

-- 1 cup cornflakes.

-- 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

-- 1/4 cup brown sugar.

Wash, then boil whole sweet potatoes until fully tender (about 30 minutes). Place sweet potatoes under cold running water to easily peel skin. Whip peeled sweet potatoes with a mixer until fluffy, or mash and whip by hand. Add rest of ingredients (not the topping), and beat for one to two minutes

Pour into a greased nine-inch pie plate. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix topping ingredients in a bowl. Spread topping onto hot pie; bake an additional 10 minutes.

Pumpkin pie

I roasted one of our homegrown pumpkins for this pie, but you can use canned pumpkin puree if you prefer. If you’re using a fresh pumpkin, preheat oven to 350 degrees, then cut a small pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy parts and put both sides face down on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Roast for 45 minutes, and then scoop the pumpkin flesh into a bowl. My pumpkin was about the size of a large cantaloupe and yielded about three cups of mashed pumpkin. While the pumpkin is roasting, you can prepare the pie crust.

Crust ingredients

-- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour.

-- 1/4 teaspoon salt.

-- 1/4 cup vegan butter, cold.

-- 1/4 cup canola oil, chilled in refrigerator.

-- 3-4 tablespoons cold water.

Chop butter into small cubes, and then pulse with flour and salt in food processor just until combined. Add canola oil and pulse for several more seconds. Add cold water and briefly pulse until dough just comes together.

Remove dough onto lightly floured wax paper and roll into a 12-inch circle. Place pie plate onto dough; gently lift wax paper while flipping plate to transfer dough. Gently press dough into pie plate; trim any edges.

Pie filling ingredients

-- 2 cups freshly roasted pumpkin or equivalent (canned).

-- 3/4 cup coconut milk (full fat version).

-- 1/4 cup cornstarch.

-- 1/4 cup maple syrup.

-- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon.

-- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

-- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg.

-- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.

-- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger.

-- 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If you’re using fresh pumpkin, puree it in a food processor or blender, or put canned pumpkin into a large bowl. Add rest of ingredients; mix well.

Pour the mixture into uncooked pie crust and spread evenly. Bake for 60 minutes, cool, then refrigerate for several hours until completely set.

Serve plain or with vegan or dairy whipped cream or yogurt topping.

For more recipes and information on how your food choices affect the planet and your health, go to harriscenter.org/rhp.