Holiday feast can please vegetarians, meat-eaters alike / LJWorld.com

Archive for Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Incorporating vegetarian-friendly dishes into the Thanksgiving meal can be as simple as making a few substitutions in time-tested recipes.

By Terry Rombeck

November 7, 2007

Nancy O'Connor hears the worry in customers' voices.

"Somebody's child is coming home, or someone's visiting who's a vegetarian, and there's a sense of panic if they won't eat turkey," says O'Connor, education and outreach director at the Community Mercantile, 901 Iowa.

Thus it begins: The Thanksgiving Dilemma.

Should the cook cater to her vegan child/friend and forego the turkey altogether? Or should she let her vegan guest fend for himself or herself, catering to the majority that wants turkey?

Either way, O'Connor says it's important not to let either the meat-eaters or the vegetarians feel like they're out of the norm.

"The biggest thing for those eating the turkey or not eating the turkey," she says, "is to downplay that being the centerpiece of the meal."

Nava Atlas agrees. She's the author of several books and editor of www.vegkitchen.com, and she focuses on the "bountiful harvest" nature of the Thanksgiving holiday.

"What I really like to emphasize about this time of the year is there's always so much emphasis on the turkey," she says. "But Thanksgiving is really a harvest festival. We should give thanks for the abundance of food that's around us.

"That's the thing that the media latches onto - Turkey Day. But that's not really the emphasis of the holiday."

Turkey alternatives

Though vegans and vegetarians can eat many side dishes, it's still important to have a centerpiece for them, Atlas says.

"It's nice to have a main dish," she says. "One of the main complaints from vegetarians is they go to someone's house and they end up eating side dishes."

She suggests either butternut squash with bread stuffing or wild rice in it, or a hearty vegetarian stew for a main course.

Personally, she says, she doesn't enjoy the tofu turkeys that are available at stores.

"I don't like turkey," she says, "so why would I want to have something shaped like a turkey?"

O'Connor says some Merc customers like the option of tofu turkey products. There are products such as Tofurkey (shaped like a turkey) and other soy products that look more like turkey slices.

She suggests making something completely different from turkey - such as something with an international flair - to appease your vegetarian friends.

Or, she says, there's another option for making sure they're going to be pleased.

"You can give them the option to contribute," O'Connor says. "You can tell them you'd love some help with the main dish, if they'd be willing to contribute."

Side dishes

Whether or not there's a main dish that's vegetarian-friendly, you can make your side dishes meat-free with a few simple considerations:

¢ Stuffing: This should be cooked in a casserole dish instead of inside the turkey. And this is good for everyone, as it also avoids the food safety issues that come with cooking a stuffed bird.

For the liquid in the stuffing, use water, wine or vegetable broth rather than chicken broth. And if you're serving vegans (those who eat no dairy products in addition to no meat), use a non-hydrogenated margarine or vegetable oil instead of butter for the fat.

If you add meat, such as sausage, to your stuffing, just divide the batch into two casserole dishes and bake one with sausage and one without.

¢ Potatoes: Most mashed potato recipes are naturally vegetarian. Making them vegan is easy; substitute soy milk and soy margarine for the milk and butter.

If the rest of your family demands traditional mashed potatoes, it's easy to make two batches. Figure out how many potatoes you need for two batches, boil them together, then mash them in separate bowls.

¢ Gravy: Consider making a portion of the gravy vegetarian. Chopped, sauteed portobello mushrooms in a thickened mushroom broth make a delicious gravy for mashed potatoes and stuffing.

Also, natural food stores sell many prepared vegetarian gravies.

¢ Baking: Be sure to use vegetable oils rather than animal fats for baking. Vegetable oil-based products such as Crisco work well for pie crust and other pastries. There also are some coconut oil-based shortenings that work well.

Soy-based butters and margarines work well in baking, too. Most producers have overcome problems with early versions of these products (some of them didn't melt), but it doesn't hurt to ask the salesperson or manufacturer.

¢ Purchased items: Check the ingredient lists on packaged foods. Gelatin and whey, as well as many flavorings, are animal-derived and may not be appropriate for some vegans.

For example, ingredients as innocuous as the marshmallows you put on a sweet potato casserole are likely to be made with gelatin and therefore unsuitable for vegans (vegan marshmallows are available at natural food stores).

Braised green beans with tomatoes

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 cup finely chopped onions

1/3 cup finely chopped celery

1/3 cup finely chopped carrots

2 pounds frozen whole green beans, not thawed

14-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, celery and carrots and saute, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes.

Add the green beans, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are very tender, about 55 to 65 minutes.

Stir in the parsley and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed.

Source: Associated Press

Sweet potato and apple gratin

3 tablespoons butter, divided

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

4 cups thinly sliced yellow onions (about 3 medium)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves or 2 teaspoons dried sage

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 4 small sweet potatoes)

4 cups peeled and sliced apples (about 3 large apples)

Place rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

In large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over low heat. Pour into a small bowl, then add bread crumbs and toss to coat. Set aside.

Return skillet to burner and increase heat to high. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and melt.

Add onions and saute until they are soft and just turning golden, about 8 minutes. Stir in sage and season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove skillet from heat.

Arrange overlapping slices of sweet potato in the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish, using about a third of the slices. Season with salt and pepper. Top with half of the sliced apples and half of the onions.

Arrange another third of the sweet potato slices over the onions and season with salt and pepper. Top with the remaining onions and then remaining apples. Top with remaining sweet potatoes and season with salt and pepper.

Cover dish tightly with foil and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until potatoes are very tender.

Uncover dish and top with reserved bread crumbs. Bake for another 15 minutes, or until the crumbs are browned. Serves 10.

Source: Associated Press

Brown gravy

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) margarine

1 medium-sized onion, diced

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon garlic salt

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth

1 teaspoons yeast extract

1-2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

Pepper, to taste

Heat the margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

Saute the onion for a few minutes, then add the flour and garlic salt and saute for another 8 to 9 minutes.

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water or broth. Gradually add the cornstarch mixture to the onion mixture, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.

Strain the gravy into a separate saucepan and add the yeast extract, soy sauce or tamari, and pepper. Simmer for another minute or 2, stirring constantly. Keep warm.

Source: www.vegcooking.com

Cashew nut roast with herb stuffing

For the roast:

1 cup margarine

2 large onions, finely chopped

3 cups unroasted cashews

1 1/2 cups white bread, crusts removed

3 large cloves of garlic

1 cup water or vegetable stock

Salt and pepper

Nutmeg

2 tablespoons lemon juice

For the stuffing:

3 cups bread crumbs

1 cup margarine

2 small onions, grated

1/2 tablespoon each thyme and marjoram

3 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a greased 1-pound loaf pan with a long strip of greased nonstick paper.

Melt margarine in a medium-sized saucepan, add the onion and saute until tender. Remove from heat.

Grind the cashews in a food processor with the bread and garlic and add to the onion, together with the water or stock, salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice, to taste.

Mix all stuffing ingredients together. Put half the cashew mixture into the prepared pan, top with the stuffing, then spoon the rest of the nut mixture on top. Dot with margarine.

Stand the pan in another pan to catch drippings and bake for about 30 minutes or until firm and lightly browned (cover the roast with foil if it gets too brown before then).

Cool for a minute or two, then slip a knife around the sides, turn roast out and strip off the paper.

Source: www.vegcooking.com

Vegetarian bread pudding with rum sauce

For the pudding:

5 tablespoons cocoa

1 tablespoon hot water

2 cups soy milk

Egg replacer equivalent of 2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

Dash salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 to 3 cups stale bread, torn into small pieces

For the rum sauce:

1 cup margarine, softened

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup dark rum

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine the cocoa with the hot water until smooth. Add more water as needed.

In a large bowl, combine the cocoa mixture, soy milk, egg replacer, sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix in the stale bread. Pour into a prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Beat the margarine until light and fluffy. Sift the confectioner's sugar into the butter. Add the rum, vanilla and nutmeg. Beat on high speed for 5 minutes. Pour over the pudding. Serve warm.

Source: www.vegcooking.com

The Associated Press contributed information to this story.

Discussion

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7 November 2007
at 11:24 a.m.

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HumaneKS (Anonymous) says…

Great story on how easy it is to have an animal friendly holiday! Anyone interested in vegan eating, as well as additional tips on surviving the holidays as a non-meat eater, can join us at the next VegLawrence vegan potluck on November 27, at 6:00, at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries building at 12th and Oread. Please bring a vegan dish and the recipe to share. More info at http://vegetarian.meetup.com/481/
7 November 2007
at 4:56 p.m.

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fascinating_person (Anonymous) says…

Hey, madmike, you're pretty funny. I'm sure no vegetarian has ever heard that jab - “Heh heh, meat, what do you think of THAT?”
7 November 2007
at 5:21 p.m.

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cog_nate (Nate Poell) says…

“They'ss eat what i cook”

Sorry, meth doesn't sound very tasty to me.
7 November 2007
at 5:50 p.m.

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GretchenJP (Anonymous) says…

LJW posters… the “other” white meat.
7 November 2007
at 6:48 p.m.

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labmonkey (Anonymous) says…

For all intents and purposes, Thanksgiving=Turkey. It is the centerpiece of the meal and the item a vast majority of Americans love the most on the table. If a vegiterian or a vegan shows up, they should fend for themselves and not spoil everyone else's holiday.
7 November 2007
at 7:45 p.m.

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oldvet (Anonymous) says…

If you're coming to my house, you can make your vegetarian meal from the sides I serve and vegetarians are always welcome… in fact, many of the things I enjoy eating used to be vegetarians!
7 November 2007
at 9:20 p.m.

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nugget (Anonymous) says…

Nancy O. is a real class act. The Merc is lucky to have her.

7 November 2007
at 9:58 p.m.

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Pywacket (Anonymous) says…

Gretchen and OldVet— Thanks for the laughs! Good comments.

Nugget~ True! Nancy is very cool. I love her comment that if she doesn't like turkey, why would she want something that looks like turkey? That dovetails with the opinion I've always held that tofu turkeys, tofu hotdogs, etc. are LAME. If meat is so hideous, why shape your ground up and extruded soybean meal to LOOK like it?
8 November 2007
at 12:23 a.m.

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badger (Anonymous) says…

“So if I go to their house on Thanksgiving, are they going to have a turkey for me?”

That's actually a really good question. I'm a conscientious omnivore. I eat free-range meat, but eschew GMO products and the output of the corn monoculture. If I go to my vegan friend's house for a meal, the same vegan friend who expects I'll accommodate her dietary needs when she dines at my house, do I have the right to expect that she will provide a GMO-free organic meal in accordance with my personal ethics?

Because, I'll tell you right now that most of the vegans I know take a strictly 'live and let live' ethic when it comes to indulging *my* ethical preferences (in which a nice slice of grass-fed bison is highly preferable to overprocessed soy-based meat substances or industrial corn-heavy dishes), but are outraged at the notion that I won't cater to their ethics in my own cooking. They view my dietary inclinations, which require minimal processing, organic production, and no support for industrialized monoculture agriculture, as quaint guidelines they don't actually have to respect. As a 'meat eater', I'm relegated to being dismissed as inherently less ethical than my vegan counterparts, with my own dietary preferences often dismissed out of hand.

Read Michael Pollan's “The Omnivore's Dilemma.” It's got an interesting spin on food.
8 November 2007
at 5:02 p.m.

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GretchenJP (Anonymous) says…

Tastes like chicken!