http://www.care2.com/greenliving/bird-free-feast.html
A Bird-Free Thanksgiving Feast
I love birds. I love to see them flying by, perching on branches, trotting across a meadow. Seeing one in a roasting pan or splayed out on a Thanksgiving platter? Not so much.
But the thing about a holiday turkey is that it has become the iconic symbol screaming “festive!” “tradition!” “abundance!” It’s the centerpiece of the table, the dish which all sides revolve around. Can you have a Thanksgiving feast without a big bird in the midst of it all?
Well, of course you can. And the scheme doesn’t have to involve a tofu turkey. (Although I am truly charmed by the concept of a tofu turkey, I’ve just never taken the leap from amused novelty to a tofu turkey on the table.) A feast employing an abundance of hearty and vibrant side dishes will hardly miss a turkey–or you can also make a spectacular non-avian main course to take center stage. We’ve featured a few of my favorite holiday vegetarian main dishes on Care2 over the years, each of them stunning in their own ways:
Pumpkin Tamales with Cherry Mole
Acorn Squash with Jeweled Wild Rice
Spicy Sweet Potato Patties with White Bean Stew
I have made all of these, and can attest to their crowd-pleasing capacity. But I have to say I have little power to resist a recipe I saw in Gourmet: Roasted Pumpkin Cheese Fondue. I have played around with it a bit making it a little lighter - check it out on the next page…
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43 comments
add your comment »We do use the Tofurkey and the Quorn "Turkey" roast as replacement, both are very tasty. But, honestly, all the wonderful dishes, sans meat are PLENTY. I still do my sage dressing, just bake it in a pyrex dish rather than a turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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It's sad to consider how many turkeys die on one day = and they don't even taste that good either.
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i gave up eating turkey about ten years ago but the recipes are fine on their own
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I'm old enough to have spent decades doing both vegetarian thanksgiving and turkey day. I miss my mom's sage dressing, with no bird to stuff. I miss my own mixed pumpkin and squash with cranberry and maple syrup sauce when I make turkey.
Now I have to experiment with stuffing to accommodate my husband's gluten sensitivity - and reminds me of living in Bali - rice, rice and more rice. Even rice flour pastry for my pumpkin pie. Your cranberry relish is the same as Aunt Martha's. mmm
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Thanks. These will go great with my home grown and humanely harvested TURKEY.
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Great Idea Melissa,
Let all feasts from Now on be Sans Birds and Animals on the Table as Food for Feast
MY GREETINGS TO ALL FOR A BIRD FREE THANKSGIVING
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As an ethical vegetarian of 30 years, it's hard not to think about the horror that millions of turkeys experience this time of year. Gut wrenchingly sad! I've made a few tofu-turkeys in the past and have no problem if it helps people transition away from this mean and mindless tradition. I'm thankful for such an article with options to participate in a peaceful, compassionate manner and for the kindred spirits who share humane values. Happy Thanksgiving.
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If you don't like turkey (including free range turkeys that you know are humanely raised because you visited the farm), don't eat it, and don't serve it. There are plenty of good things to eat at Thanksgiving, but mine always include a turkey because I like turkey, and refuse to eat tofurkey because it simply tastes bad.
It's also easy to make Thanksgiving multi-cultural; see what your new (or not so new) immigrant neighbors eat. Even if they have a bird, they may also have lasagne, spanakopia, spring rolls, and all sorts of things which may not be traditional to some, but traditional to others.
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Thank you Melissa I love birds too. Am vegan so have not eaten turkey in almost four years and do not miss it anymore. Mostly it is just the tradition thing but that can be changed and start anew!
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:-)
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