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Thanksgiving is, hands down, my favorite holiday of the year. There's no stress of gift-giving, there's no major decorating to contend with (and dismantle afterwards), and it hasn't been ruined by over-commercialism. Nope, it's just about being with family and friends and, of course, having a huge and delicious homemade meal.
But I've always been least enthused by the turkey itself, even though it's supposedly the centerpiece of the feast. Give me the sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top, the cornbread stuffing, the pumpkin pie. That obligatory slice of turkey always takes up the least space on my overloaded plate.
Naturally, turkey also has no place on the plates of my numerous vegetarian friends and family members. No matter — there's plenty of other stuff for them to eat, right?
Not so fast. This year, I asked some of my friends and family members what it's like to be a vegetarian at the biggest feast of the year. And, dinner hosts, take note — there is plenty you can do to make their meals more enjoyable, without relegating them to a dinner of side dishes.
For many vegetarians, going meatless is an ethical choice they're very passionate about. Just seeing that whole turkey on the table is a turnoff.
"I hate that I know how that plump carcass cooking in the oven was raised," says my brother, Jake, who became a vegetarian after doing some disturbing reading about the meat industry. "I have lived a life of sheer bliss compared to the conditions the turkey was raised and ultimately slaughtered in."
My sister-in-law Rebecca points out that, although she's at plenty of meals where meat is served, there's something different about the Thanksgiving turkey.
"There is something about having the whole bird there," she tells me. "Dealing with the neck and the innards, carving away at the meat and exposing the bones ... it's much more visceral and butcher-like than I am accustomed to."
And, for many of my meatless friends, Thanksgiving becomes a time when they're questioned or nagged or even teased for their live-and-let-live ethic. One friend said that her brother torments her vegetarian husband during the meal by clucking like a turkey!
Philosophical and moral debates aside, there are a few suggestions I'd like to make on behalf of vegetarians everywhere:
- Make it easy on yourself — and your veggie guests — by making some easy substitutions that will enable everyone to enjoy your side dishes. Use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock in the stuffing and in gravies. "My biggest pet peeve is that one side of our family will often make two versions of the same thing when it is really not necessary," says my friend Amy. She says she hates that there are two versions of stuffing and it is pointed out that the vegetarian version is "special" ... translation, weird.
- Be aware of hidden ingredients that might render a dish inedible by your vegetarian guests. For instance, marshmallows (or anything else containing gelatin) are not vegetarian. So leave them off the sweet potatoes. And, it goes without saying, don't use fatback or pork to flavor baked beans or soup. And be careful not to contaminate other dishes with the juices of the turkey.
- Don't make a fake-meat main dish unless you know that your guests will want one. My friend Hope hates tofurkey. "Vegetarians don't have to have a turkey replacement," she says.
- If you are going to make a meatless entrée, keep the flavors and ingredients somewhat simple, so that they don't compete with the sides. My friend Jennifer points out that a dish like vegetable pot pie would be too substantial and would likely render some of those yummy side dishes redundant.
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