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Roasted Tofu "Turkey"A vegetarian can enjoy Thanksgiving Thanksgiving isn't about the food on the table, but rather it is a celebration of autumn and the bounty of the harvest. It has also become a traditional way to celebrate with family and friends. For some, that has come to mean cooking and eating a turkey. For others, this is unacceptable. So plan a menu that includes plenty of alternatives. A meatless Thanksgiving table can focus on the products of the season, which will actually make it a bit more traditional than the meal customarily serve on that holiday. Who could call a table groaning with squash, beans, veggies, potatoes, breads, pies, cookies and cheeses unappealing? A vegan feast would only omit the cheeses. For the more traditional vegetarians, there are manufactured tofu turkeys, "Tofurkey." You can also prepare your own tofu turkey from scratch quite easily. -
Vegan "Dairy" ProductsMost substitutions for a vegetarian Thanksgiving meal are quite simple. For the ordinary vegetarian who still eats dairy products, all you'll have to change is the dishes that include meat. For the vegan diners, substitute soy or rice milk and creamer for dairy milk and cream and vegan margarine for butter. Those two substitutions will handle almost all of the differences. The one other thing you'll need to watch out for is gelatin-based desserts, because most gelatin is derived from animal products. This includes marshmallows, so watch out for that sweet potato casserole. Vegetarian marshmallows are available at most health food stores. -
Winter VeggiesMany parts of the meal will be just the same. Roasted vegetables, squash, sweet potatoes, cranberries, beverages, fruit desserts, all are either naturally vegetarian or can be made so, with nobody noticing a difference. By watching ingredient lists, you can buy breads and other trimmings at the regular grocery store. Odds are, you could prepare an entire Thanksgiving feast without any animal products and the only thing that the meat eaters would miss would be the turkey. Your vegetarian family and friends will have a new reason to celebrate.
Comments
Merriment said
on 3/2/2009 This is a good article!
DenaEBolton said
on 2/6/2009 Good job. My best friend is now vegan. Fortunately I have a lot of veggie recipes. Thanks! 5*
darlenemichaud said
on 2/2/2009 Good article. We celebrated with hardly anything last year! It was not about the feast but the family!
PABechko said
on 2/2/2009 Right on. My Bro's a veggie and I'm close. Tofurkey is a staple around our place at Thanksgiving.
Meno said
on 2/2/2009 I am a aspiring vegetarian. I am down to just chicken and fish. Hopefully with this information I can finally make the leap. Thanks for sharing.