How to Please Vegetarians at Family Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner revolves around traditional recipes that few families are willing to change. It takes careful planning to make sure your vegetarian friends and family do not feel uncomfortable, while still maintaining those traditional meat-based recipes for everyone else.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Notecards

1. Make a list of any vegetarian or vegan guests who will be attending Thanksgiving. (Vegan dishes take more planning, since they cannot contain any animal by-products, so be especially sure to note any vegans.) With the list, determine how many vegetarian or vegan dishes you'll need to make.

2. Plan a variety of vegetable and fruit-based side dishes. If you're making vegan dishes, you'll have to skip all dairy products as well, including sour cream, cream cheese and butter.

3. Make small decorative cards with the names of each of your dishes. Color-code your cards to designate whether the dish is vegetarian or meat-based. Place a card in front of each dish on the table or buffet. As your guests mingle before dinner, inform each vegetarian guest which card color designates a meatless dish.

4. Leave bacon (or any other meat-based garnishes) on the side in decorative condiment dishes. This allows guests to add bacon to their green beans or potatoes as they want. It also cuts back on the work of making two separate dishes with and without the meat.

5. Make an alternative main course using tofu, soy-based proteins or other non-meat ingredients. For example, you could make a tofu dish and serve it with meatless dressing. This allows vegetarians to have a special main dish, rather than having to make a meal out of side dishes. Display the vegetarian main dish on the opposite end of the table from the roast turkey.

6. Make smaller versions of traditional dishes for any vegans who are attending. Vegan dishes cannot contain any dairy, animal or fish products. For example, you could make a separate dish of mashed potatoes without milk, butter or cheese. Try adding a little soy milk to the potatoes as you mash them, or just use some of the water you boiled the potatoes in. This allows vegans to sample "traditional" dishes without forcing your other family members to change their versions of the recipes.

7. Keep an open attitude when referencing any meat-free items on the tables. Do not allow other guests to mock the vegetarian guests. When discussing different dishes at the dinner table, be sure to point out the vegetable and soy-based dishes as well.

8. Offer a wide variety of desserts, which all the guests can enjoy together. Expressive, luxurious desserts become the centerpiece for food discussion, helping wipe out any divisions between vegetarians and meat-eaters.

Tips & Warnings

• Feel out your guests. Some vegetarians do not like to be revealed to others. Most vegetarians and vegans will not mind you tastefully pointing out the foods that are friendly to their tastes. In fact, most will be touched that you thought of their needs when they are in the minority.
• If you have the space, set up stations of food so the meat-based dishes are on a separate table from the vegetables, salads and fruits.
• Do not allow the vegetarian vs. meat-eater discussion to dominate the dinner table. Be a good host and change the subject to keep guests from becoming uncomfortable.