[trishw]

I am going to prepare a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner this year. I'm looking for ideas. I'm a turkey/dressing Thanksgiving person and I want this dinner to be special. Any help out there?

[trishw]

trishw, on Sep 28 2007, 11:37 AM, said:

I am going to prepare a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner this year. I'm looking for ideas. I'm a turkey/dressing Thanksgiving person and I want this dinner to be special. Any help out there?

Good Grief - guess there isn't a spell check on the message board. Yes, I do know how to spell vegetarian but no one is going to know by looking. Maybe that's why I need help. Sorry. Hope someone figures 'vegeratian' out. LOL a lot.

[KellyChron]

I have heard that there are some great tofu turkey alternatives out there, but I couldn't give you a brand name...

There are LOTS of recipes for veggie only dressing/stuffing out there. Martha Stewart has lots of recipes on her website... there should be more out soon too, the Thanksgiving issue of Living is usually really good.

[varanda]

I was a strict vegetarian for 15 years and the worse thing i ever had was a meat eater's idea of what i should eat---like a tofu turkey. Ugh, it was nasty.

As a vegetarian, I enjoyed the mashed potatoes (ate them rarely so they were a treat), I made really good gravy without using meat grease as a base, stuffed acorn squash (with rice, vegetables and nuts), a green salad (my fav). I made an onion tart, corn salad----it's endless what you can make. And it depends on if the diners are vegans---they eat no dairy, eggs or even honey.

[Zaz]

As a meatatarian, I have no clue, so no advice from me. But I was SOOOO intrigued by the title of the post, that I had to look. Imagine my disappointment that it wasn't about a holiday on the planet Vegera.

I'm sure you'll do fine! The onion tart that Valerie mentioned sounds really good to me.

~Zaz

[trishw]

Thanks for the tips. varanda, do you have any recipes you'd be willing to share, i.e., onion tart or corn salad. You've made me anxious to have this opportunity to broaden my food horizons.

Thanks to everyone for any help.

[KellyChron]

I actually LOVE tofu! Granted, I really like Japanese food in general and there are so many ways of making it more than just a meat alternative. I've always just bought the actual firm product, not a particular style (i.e. turkey, beef, etc.) It is really good cut into cubes and roasted with root vegetables (parsnips, beets, carrots).

My uncle's girlfriend is a vegeterian and she eats almost everything but the turkey. We try to make sure there are plenty of other options besides meat and we also try to remember set aside a serving of something if it has a bacon topping. We have corn pudding, green pea salad, yams, green beans, more food than we can eat at 3 meals... ** But something we have learned from her, is that if you are doing this for yourself, fix things that you like (or think you would like), if you are doing it for someone who is visiting, it is never rude to ask what kinds of things they like** She also made this really yummy pumpkin soup with a cranberry relish that was a big hit with the WHOLE family.

[trishy]

Here is a family favorite for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, it is an oldie but goodie!

Green Bean Dish
3 TBSP Butter or Mar.
2 TBSP Flour
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 C Half & Half
20 oz or 16 oz can pearl onions (If you can't find a can, fresh pearl onions sauteed will work just fine.)
16 oz Bag of Frozen French Cut Green Beans
3 or 4 Slices of American Cheese
2 TBSP finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes

In a large sauce pan melt butter first then add salt, mustard, pepper and flour. Cook and stir over low heat until bubbly, then gradually stir in half & half. Last stir in veggies. In a casserole round style oven safe dish, pour some of the vegetable mix in then top with some cheese, then pour the rest of the veggies in and top with the remaining cheese. Add chopped walnuts on top and then put in the oven.

I like the walnuts, but DH doesn't, so it is just a matter of taste.

[Becca]

I have some vegan recipes to share, too. Let me do some digging.

Thanks for the motivation actually. This is the first Thanksgiving that my daughter will actually be eating "people" food (vs. baby food), so it'll allow me to figure out what I can make for her this year, too. BEFORE the week of Thanksgiving that is!

[HallieC]

I'm a vegetarian, and actually, this Thanksgiving will be my one year mark for being veg! And till now, I hadn't really thought about it. My first thought though is lots of sides! Be sure to not cook with chicken stock. For me, the sides were always my favorite part anyhow. So that is my biggest suggestion, is to focus on side dishes. I love the foodnetwork website because you can browse by chef (Alton Brown being my fav) or by type of recipe, and even if not veg, you may be able to subsitute (such as veg stock instead of chicken stock). If you want some vegan recipes, check this site ( http://www.veganlunc...om/recipes.html ) I have her book and I LOVE it. For the holidays, her Pumpkin Carob muffins are GREAT!

[varanda]

Check out these books:
The Greens Cookbook: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine From The Celebrated Restaurant
Fields of Greens: New Vegetarian Recipes From The Celebrated Greens Restaurant
The New Moosewood Cookbook (Mollie Katzen's Classic Cooking)

They are vegetarian CLASSICS, much used in my house, although Green's recipes are a bit more complicated

I don't remember where I got the onion tart recipe, and the corn salad is a Raw food salad: you can hardly go wrong, I vary it all the time, but the basics are Fresh corn shaved off the cob (uncooked) (3-4 ears) avocado, chopped (just before serving), some red pepper chopped small, Kalamata olives, green onions, oil and vinegar and lime juice. Depends on how big you want to make it. I add cilantro sometimes, or sprouts, sliced raw mushrooms. I cook by looks and feel, hardly ever measure. If I don't have red pepper, oh well. Sometimes I put Jicama in instead. Sometimes fresh tomatoes in season. Add salt and pepper to taste.

When I was a veg, i hardly told anybody as it made them worry and I just enjoyed the side dishes, avoiding things that had stock or meat (like stuffing, often has liver or oysters.) And I like tofu, but my mom took a huge block of tofu, cut it with a turkey shaped cookie cutter and fried it to death. Nice thought but not nice tasting----it was like 4" thick, who wants that much tofu?

Now, back to the planet Vegera. lol, zaz!

[HeidiD]

I'm with you, V! When I was a vegetarian, Thanksgiving was the worst! People fussed and fussed, and all I wanted was the mashed potatoes and broccoli!

Thanksgiving isn't about the turkey anyway, right? (I know, blasphemy!) But if you focus on the family and friends, and not the food as much, just make stuff people will/can eat, it'll be great. You can do it!

[April Showers]

I believe I read an article on that with recipes in Cooking Light a few years ago. Their recipes are on their web site.

[trishw]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my request for vegetarian recipes to help me with my Thanksgiving dinner. I got a lot of good help and am excited to look into all the possibilities you gave me. This isn't going to be as hard a task as I first thought.

If anyone has other 'help', please share it. It will be greatly appreciated.

Scrap Girls are great.

[KellyChron]

Quote

When I was a veg, i hardly told anybody as it made them worry and I just enjoyed the side dishes, avoiding things that had stock or meat (like stuffing, often has liver or oysters.) And I like tofu, but my mom took a huge block of tofu, cut it with a turkey shaped cookie cutter and fried it to death. Nice thought but not nice tasting----it was like 4" thick, who wants that much tofu?

Valerie... this made me laugh out loud! I think the cookie cutter part was the real kicker!

Trish, If you still want to make dressing (stuffing), you can make it with canned veggie stock, cornbread, sauted veggies, and a main veggie (I really like to use roasted acorn squash- yummy). Hard boiled eggs are also common in the dressing recipes I've made, but I don't know if you'll be eating eggs... and I don't know that they really add anything anyway... Dried fruit is also really good in dressing.

[c2s2i]

I agree with V....I hate food that is supposed to taste or look like meat! I have been a vegetarian since 6th grade. I don't like the taste of meat but it doesn't bother me if other people eat it around me. I usually don't tell people because they feel self-consious (sp?) about eating meat around me. I don't care...I live with a carnavior. Anyway, at Thanksgiving my Dad always makes me Veggie Lasagna...yummy! Plus the sides are good as long as they aren't cooked in meat broth, etc.

I don't have any reciepes to share but good luck with it!

[catsrul]

Hi Trish, I grew up vegetarian, and every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas my mother always made Walnut Cheddar Loaf. Even though I'm now an "omnivore", I still love that dish, and actually requested it from my mother a couple of years ago. She lives in Colorado, and I'm in Iowa, so I don't get the chance to enjoy it on holidays anymore. I will look for it in the morning, and post it here for you. I'm sure you won't be dissapointed, it was always our main dish at the holiday meals.

-Autumn