Thanksgiving is linked, more closely than any other holiday, with a single, particular food. The noble turkey. Benjamin Franklin's favorite fowl (and the one he nominated to be our national bird) is eaten nearly universally in the good old U.S of A. on the fourth Thursday in November.
However, not everyone sitting around your dining room table on Thanksgiving Day is a happy meat eater. My younger sister was a vegetarian (and then a vegan) for a number of years, sending my mother and me searching for holiday worthy fare for her. We discovered that tofurky is a poor substitute and that it was better to make a wonderful, non-turkey dish than try to fake poultry.
I've worked up a Roasted Pumpkin and Creamed Kale Lasagna that incorporates all the wonderful, fragrant, earthy flavors of Thanksgiving without a drop of meat. Add to that sides of a Arugula, Goat Cheese and Pomegranate Salad, Napa Cabbage Gratin, Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts and for dessert, an Oatmeal Apple Crisp and you have a wonderful, filling and totally meatless Thanksgiving meal.
11-19-2008 @2:10PM Almost Vegetarian said... That sounds wonderful. This year, for our main course, I'm thinking of making a vegetarian French cassoulet. We, too, were thinking of going the tofurky route, but decided if we were going to eschew meat, we were going to eschew it in all its real and fake forms.
Besides, the cassoulet looks divine!
Cheers.
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11-19-2008 @2:25PM fancastfan said... Hi all, here’s a fun and unique Thanksgiving resource. Fancast has put together a full Turkey Day menu compiled of recipes from some of the biggest celebrity chefs out there, from appetizers through dessert. (Recipes from such superstar chefs as INA GARTEN, GIADA DE LAURENTIIS, GUY FIERI, and RACHEL RAY.) You can print-out their recipes and watch video clips of the chefs cooking or just reminiscing about the big day at
http://thebiz.fancast.com/thanksgiving_celebrity_chefs/
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11-19-2008 @3:59PM Avery said... My family has been making vegetarian thanksgiving dinners ever since I can remember. While no one in my family is a vegetarian or vegan, we do appreciate non-meat based meals (although we still acknowledge that meat is delicious). Ever since I have been conscious to Thanksgiving, my family has been making pizza in the shape of a turkey.
We roll out the dough and cut it into turkey form and then place various vegetables on the dough to replicate a turkey (roasted peppers for feathers and giblet, mushrooms for feet, olives for toes, and onions and mushrooms for relief). After the ceremonial bird is made, we then make regular pizzas based on what people want using different cheeses, sauces, and other vegetables. While there are other traditional/seasonal foods present in the meal—pumpkin, cranberry, apples—pizza is the heart and soul of this meal.
Also, making a communal pizza involves the whole family, so everyone can help make dinner.
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11-21-2008 @8:14AM Christina said... I just blogged about vegan Thanksgiving entrées.
http://vegan-vanguard.blogspot.com/2008/11/guide-to-vegan-vanguard-thanksgiving_20.html
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11-23-2008 @2:22PM Jo said... I agree - it's much better to find a delicious non-meat dish than to worry about making something turkey-like. The mock meat will only disappoint. After a few years of mediocre Thanksgiving entrees since I became vegetarian, this year I did my research and I'm going to make something appropriately festive: http://handsfreecooking.net/blog/2008/11/a-vegetarian-friendly-thanksgiving/
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