What are you doing for your vegetarian Thanksgiving?
November 12, 2004 8:47 AM Subscribe
What are you doing for your vegetarian Thanksgiving?
I eat a ridiculous amount of my mother's stuffing, baked in a casserole dish, with fake veggie sausage from Morningstar Farms (*droool*). I would give you the recipe, but even I don't know it. I'll weasel her out of it someday. She puts a lot of mushrooms and mushroom gravy in it, that's all the peek I've been able to sneak.
posted by nelleish at 9:07 AM on November 12, 2004
posted by nelleish at 9:07 AM on November 12, 2004
while the store bought tofurky is a holiday staple, making a tofurky from scratch is something quite amazing. my mom started cooking one from scratch a couple years ago for thanksgiving and i look forward to it for months. it takes awhile to get it all put together and cooked, but is many orders of magnitude better than the store bought stuff. even my turkey loving relatives take big helpings of it.
here is the recipe.
posted by chrisroberts at 9:35 AM on November 12, 2004
here is the recipe.
posted by chrisroberts at 9:35 AM on November 12, 2004
My family is by default vegetarian, because the ones who cook in my family are vegetarians. We have managed to skip the obligatory tofuturkey, as none of us were crazy about the taste of turkey in the first place.
So, we either start with butternut squash soup or a mixed squash aromatic soup. Then a green salad with goat cheese, pear, walnut, and a hot apricot dressing. Followed by a huge grilled/roasted (with olive oil and balsamic) vegetable platter that serves as our entree: asparagus, acorn squash, yellow zucchini, radicchio, brussel sprouts...sometimes rutabaga. Then a bunch of side vegetables: stuffed mushrooms, some sort of roasted, grilled, or mashed sweet potato dish, and usually a potato and cheese casserole. Then usually a wild rice dish with cranberries and pecans. And then always some sort of salsa/relish with either vegetables like shredded fennel or a slaw, or a grainy salsa with peppers and fresh herbs. Sometimes a roasted yellow beet salad with champagne vinegar. Then lastly, we always make a vegetarian dressing, with chestnuts, shallots, and honey grain croutons. But then again, my family always goes overboard, and we prepare for days...not to mention dessert, either.
posted by naxosaxur at 9:45 AM on November 12, 2004
So, we either start with butternut squash soup or a mixed squash aromatic soup. Then a green salad with goat cheese, pear, walnut, and a hot apricot dressing. Followed by a huge grilled/roasted (with olive oil and balsamic) vegetable platter that serves as our entree: asparagus, acorn squash, yellow zucchini, radicchio, brussel sprouts...sometimes rutabaga. Then a bunch of side vegetables: stuffed mushrooms, some sort of roasted, grilled, or mashed sweet potato dish, and usually a potato and cheese casserole. Then usually a wild rice dish with cranberries and pecans. And then always some sort of salsa/relish with either vegetables like shredded fennel or a slaw, or a grainy salsa with peppers and fresh herbs. Sometimes a roasted yellow beet salad with champagne vinegar. Then lastly, we always make a vegetarian dressing, with chestnuts, shallots, and honey grain croutons. But then again, my family always goes overboard, and we prepare for days...not to mention dessert, either.
posted by naxosaxur at 9:45 AM on November 12, 2004
I offer a, "meh" on the tofurkey.
Our current tradition is to make vegetarian hot and sour soup, and have that along with the vegetarian stuff my mother in law serves up (which hopefully will include lanttualaatikko).
posted by ursus_comiter at 9:46 AM on November 12, 2004
Our current tradition is to make vegetarian hot and sour soup, and have that along with the vegetarian stuff my mother in law serves up (which hopefully will include lanttualaatikko).
posted by ursus_comiter at 9:46 AM on November 12, 2004
I think the tofurkey blows.
I usually do this mushroom strudel from Moosewood.
I've been a veg for almost 15 years (with the occasional forays into "hydroponically grown protein" of the raw with lots of wassabi variety). The first year I went to a big gathering at my then girlfriend's house everyone looked at me funny, tried the strudel, and fell in love. The next year I made two of them, and barely got any. At this point--almost 10 years later--over half of what the two families eat ends up being veggie as I've tricked them all into liking it so much.
Try cooking something big, in season, and involved. You'll probably end up liking it better than the faux turkey, and you'll definitely get fewer funny looks if it tastes good.
posted by togdon at 9:52 AM on November 12, 2004
I usually do this mushroom strudel from Moosewood.
I've been a veg for almost 15 years (with the occasional forays into "hydroponically grown protein" of the raw with lots of wassabi variety). The first year I went to a big gathering at my then girlfriend's house everyone looked at me funny, tried the strudel, and fell in love. The next year I made two of them, and barely got any. At this point--almost 10 years later--over half of what the two families eat ends up being veggie as I've tricked them all into liking it so much.
Try cooking something big, in season, and involved. You'll probably end up liking it better than the faux turkey, and you'll definitely get fewer funny looks if it tastes good.
posted by togdon at 9:52 AM on November 12, 2004
tofurkey is expensive too for the little ball you get.
im bringing a few cheesy homemade quiches to the potluck!
posted by c at 10:03 AM on November 12, 2004
im bringing a few cheesy homemade quiches to the potluck!
posted by c at 10:03 AM on November 12, 2004
I've been making a "tofurky" like chrisroberts' mom for years. It doesn't taste anything like turkey, but it's very, very good and has become a turkey-day staple among those with whom I share the holiday.
posted by maniactown at 10:04 AM on November 12, 2004
posted by maniactown at 10:04 AM on November 12, 2004
We do Mexican. Perhaps there is some sort of unreconstructed Native American sympathies in that choice, but it's also the yummiest most filling veg food. Stuffed butternut squash (as the fake "bird"), burritos, enchiladas, moros y cristianos, corn masa stuffing, jicama-avocado-citrus salad, cranberry sauce (surprisingly enough that is native), margaritas, sangria, cacahuatl, you get the picture. Oh, and pumpkin pie w / cool whip, because some classics are classic for a good reason.
posted by milovoo at 10:37 AM on November 12, 2004
posted by milovoo at 10:37 AM on November 12, 2004
Usually we do homemade squash soup, salad, and serve a turkey for those that want it. There is in the bird and out of the bird stuffing for the same split in eaters. Tons of mashed potatoes (which I think are fine sans gravy, with salt), fresh peas and/or green beans, and fresh cornbread and bread rolls from the oven. I think that's what we did last year.
This year, I tried out chicken for the first time in 13 years and I'm having turkey for the first time in that many years as well.
posted by mathowie at 10:49 AM on November 12, 2004
This year, I tried out chicken for the first time in 13 years and I'm having turkey for the first time in that many years as well.
posted by mathowie at 10:49 AM on November 12, 2004
The November/December issue of Vegetarian Times is also packed with tons of holiday recipes. I definitely recommend checking it out.
posted by invisible ink at 11:08 AM on November 12, 2004
posted by invisible ink at 11:08 AM on November 12, 2004
The November/December issue of Vegetarian Times is also packed with tons of holiday recipes. I definitely recommend checking it out.
Seconded: that's where the recipe I linked above initially came from.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 11:11 AM on November 12, 2004
Seconded: that's where the recipe I linked above initially came from.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 11:11 AM on November 12, 2004
Tofurkey doesn't taste like turkey, naxosaxur. It's heavy and savory and surrounds stuffing and is covered with gravy, so it makes a turkey-like impression overall, but it doesn't have anything like turkey's texture or taste.
I've already got the Thanksgiving Tofurkey in the fridge, but now I wish I'd seen this thread and the recipe chrisroberts pointed to first.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 11:58 AM on November 12, 2004
I've already got the Thanksgiving Tofurkey in the fridge, but now I wish I'd seen this thread and the recipe chrisroberts pointed to first.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 11:58 AM on November 12, 2004
Mmm, Quorn. If you can get past the fact that it's vat-grown fungus, the "turkey-style roast" is uncannily like the real thing.
posted by jjg at 4:46 PM on November 12, 2004
posted by jjg at 4:46 PM on November 12, 2004
Fake meat in large quantities barfs me out, as well as most of my family, so we have made every possible effort to avoid Tofurky like the plague. I usually do Thanksgiving for 30+ people so my central dish has needed to be flexible and something that looks impressive when it's put front and center on the buffet.
In the past, I have used lasagne rolls, stuffed acorn squash, stuffed eggplant, shepherd's pie with portabella mushrooms and veggie loaf (mushrooms, lentils, onions, green peppers, TVP crumbles, breadcrumbs and seasonings) with a mushroom gravy as the centerpiece of the meal, with the traditional sides. The veggie loaf, lasagne and eggplant have gone over the best, the shepherd's pie made people angry because I skipped the regular mashed potatoes that year. (Big mistake, everyone loves mashies!) This year we're doing a quiet family Thanksgiving, and veggie loaf is on the menu. It's a hit for young and old alike.
posted by Dreama at 11:36 AM on November 14, 2004
In the past, I have used lasagne rolls, stuffed acorn squash, stuffed eggplant, shepherd's pie with portabella mushrooms and veggie loaf (mushrooms, lentils, onions, green peppers, TVP crumbles, breadcrumbs and seasonings) with a mushroom gravy as the centerpiece of the meal, with the traditional sides. The veggie loaf, lasagne and eggplant have gone over the best, the shepherd's pie made people angry because I skipped the regular mashed potatoes that year. (Big mistake, everyone loves mashies!) This year we're doing a quiet family Thanksgiving, and veggie loaf is on the menu. It's a hit for young and old alike.
posted by Dreama at 11:36 AM on November 14, 2004
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I am seriously not kidding. It's really quite good. Just prepared to be given a lot of shit for it by meat-eating family members and friends.
posted by xmutex at 8:50 AM on November 12, 2004