What do I cook for a Vegetarian Holiday?

[Kolesar]

This shall be my first of many holidays as a vegetarian and I am wondering what I could prepare for my guests that would be sufficiently festive. A Thanksgiving dinner with "everything but the bird" seems pretty lame. I am usually happy eating simple meals like spaghetti with mushroom sauce and frozen vegetables, but obviously I need something more appealing than that to serve.

So what captures the spirit of the winter soltice holidays that will perk up an appetite? I am a pretty good cook, so I can manage ambitious recipes.

[GOPisEvil]

1. Tofurkey.

Seriously. People tell me it's tasty, but I've never sampled it myself.

[FDRrocks]

3. Seconded...

Tofurkey and Black Olives for the woman and I.

[WillParkinson]

8. Well, no black olives...

But Tofurkey here at the Ha-Ha-Hacienda, too!

[curse10]

16. Tofurkey is nasty!

On thanksgiving I stick with mushroom streudel or various veggie pies :-)

[RebelOne]

20. Agreed. I tried Tofurkey. Not at all appetizing.

[RoadRunner]

2. Mexican food!

veggie fajitas, refried beans, cheese or veggie enchaladas, rice, guacomole, burritos, Margaritas, and flan for desert. Guaranteed to please.

[Elad]

4. Tofurky is alright, but not the best turkey replacement

There's one by a company called Now & Zen, it's called the Unturkey Feast. 100% vegan, and totally delicious. Try Whole Foods. Also, depending on where you live, if you can find a local vegetarian restaurant they usually have all kinds of stuff you can pick up, made special for Thanksgiving. If you live near Chicago, the Chicago Diner is making all kinds of goodies, www.veggiediner.com

Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions. :)

[WillParkinson]

9. The same company that makes "Hip Whip"?

<SHUDDER>

I tried the Hip Whip. It was the NASTIEST stuff!

However, I am always willing to try something new so will have to see if I can find something else from the company.

[Elad]

12. Yeah, imitation lines are like that though

Health is Wealth makes incredible imitation chicken patties and buffalo wings, but their imitation nuggets are horrible. :shrug:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

I am across the street...

from the Now & Zen bakery as we speak!

They have some truly delicious baked desserts -- chocolate cake, strawberry cake with cashew cream -- I was very leary at first of trying vegan goodies, but I've had some wonderful stuff.

[eyesroll]

5. Stuffed squash?

Maybe with mushrooms, dried cranberries, wild rice?

[Kolesar]

14. I like that because it is native to this continent, like turkey & yams

...and pumpkin pie. The Mexican food idea would meet that goal, too. Corn, beans, and squash were the traditional foods of this continent (plus game), and you see those items in Mexican food.

[eyesroll]

15. Oooh!

My favorite Mexican restaurant in the area makes something it calls "CERCA DEL CIELO"
Symbolic of the thirteen layers of the Mayan heavens, corn masa cakes are stacked with beans, spinach, squash, peppers and cheese on a roasted tomato salsa.
http://www.cempazuchi.com/regionale.htm

I've had this before and I think doing something like it would be perfect for Thanksgiving.

[alonso_quijano]

6. "Everything but the bird" can be great!

It's what I normally do, anyway.

Can't STAND Tofurkey. Fake meat technology is nowhere near where it should be in the 21st century.

There's a new cookbook out from the Moosewood Collective that is all about holiday dinners (it's called something like "Moosewood Celebrates"). Great recipes--it'll be a good investment if you're planning years and years of festive veggie cuisine.

[omshanti]

7. PM me if you want recipes

This has become a Thanksgiving staple menu in our family:

Harvest stuffing (with Apples, raisins, and lots of herbs)
Winter fruit salad with lime-poppyseed dressing
hearty home-made mac-and-cheese
Roasted spicy sweet potatoes
greens with vinegar (used to be greens with ham before my in-laws met me)
Whole Grain rolls from our local bakery
devilled eggs (if you do eat eggs)
Pecan Pie a la mode.

I've even won over my Southern meat-and-potatoes in-laws (now everything is veg except for a small turkey breast which the in-laws get for themselves)

also try looking for Vegetarian Times in your local bookshop - they usually put out a holiday issue right about now. Also try some of these online sites:
http://allrecipes.com/cb/w2m/thanx/default.asp
http://www.vegsource.com/christmas.htm
there are many more.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

10. Check out..

Vegetarian Times online -- they usually have a holiday issue with loads of great recipes.

I do not do the Tofurkey -- I had a bad experience.

There are so many dishes you can make -- stuffed/grilled portobello mushrooms are a great main course -- they are hearty and "meaty" for those not used to veggie fare. The rest of the traditional holiday fare is very veggie friendly.

[prolesunited]

11. My favorite

especially if you're having guests is vegetable lasagna. I always end up caving, though, and also cooking meat for my family when I host the holiday dinner.

I find it kind of gross touching it and smelling it, but I try not to impose my beliefs or diet on others.

Even when I did eat meat, I always filled up on so many vegetables, I hardly missed it. And for dessert, mmm... pumpkin pie.

[bicentennial_baby]

17. Me too

My fiancee and I do Veg. Lasagna for Thanksgiving, and my meat eating family is always more interested in that than in the Turkey! This year, I think I'm doing Stuffed Manicotti though, switch it up a lil bit :-)

[HFishbine]

13. Got a Crock Pot?

Here are two of my favoites. Delicious even for this carnivore.

Squash Caserole
http://southernfood.about.com/library/cprec/bl68_13.htm

(Substitute cream of mushroon soup for cream of chicken. I've also baked this and it gets a nice golden brown on top, but you'll have to look around for baking times)

Spinache Souffle
http://southernfood.about.com/library/cprec/bl37_8.htm

Here are lots more vegitable crock pot recipes:

http://southernfood.about.com/library/crock/blveg.htm

[Kolesar]

21. What is a "pared shredded carrot "?

Does pared mean peeled?

[HFishbine]

29. Yes

As in the action one performs with a "paring" knife.

[Lefta Dissenter]

18. I'm so glad you brought this up!!!

My son has been a vegetarian since his junior year in h.s. (he's 22 now), but I've never really felt like I've done a good job coming up with ideas for Thanksgiving meals. Last year, a veg. friend suggested Tofurkey, which my son did like, but I guess, given the suggestions here, I'll try that other brand this year.

BUT, what I really wanted to whine about is a new sister-in-law, who is a juvenile b*tch. For some reason she continually makes a big deal over my son's being a vegetarian. I don't know why, but she thinks it's really odd or something. He has never made a big deal of it at family get-togethers, he just eats what he wants, and I make sure whatever I take as a dish to pass is something that he'll like. But this b*tch s-i-l actually said to me last year, "Oh comeon, there must be some times that you just sneak some meat into his food, just to see if he'll notice." :wtf: Yeah, like I'd try to con my own son who finds it important to live by his own ethical code - just to get my jollies? I really wanted to punch her. :grr: I go to great lengths to read labels and recipes, to make sure I'm not unintentionally feeding him something that he wouldn't choose to eat (gelatin and/or chicken fat seem to be added to practically everything!). I'm just p*ssed off, and I thought you guys would understand!

In the meantime, thanks for all the ideas!

[Kolesar]

19. You're a good mother

As for how to deal with "her", I don't think a sweet guy like your son would want you punching her, but....

[cally]

23. Tell her what you said here

In a more diplomatic way, of course. I respect my son and his choices. I would never do anything to betray his trust. Why would you think I would?

These folks just infuriate me. If someone is Kosher, vegetarian, vegan, low-fat, carbohydrate free, or allergic than I have to respect that. I may not cook for them but I have to honor their choices and let them know what's in the dish I cook. Lying to folks is just evil. Some of our meals include guests following all of the guidelines above. I just ask each to bring a dish and then just cook and let folks know what's in it. I try to serve dishes that are low fat and vegetarian. I've been tempted to put the ingredients next to the dish at times but whatever.

[Lefta Dissenter]

28. You think that the way you said it is more diplomatic than

:wtf: ?

Just kidding! ;) I've never said that outloud to anyone in my life (at least not that I recall).

I recently made a dish with fried pita (!), hamburger substitute, and chickpeas, yogurt (drained), garlic, onion, spinach and pine nuts. It was quite good, and even my hubby, who doesn't like whole chickpeas, liked it!

If anyone wants the recipe, let me know - it's an Arabic dish (it called for real ground beef, obviously) - I thought it would be good for my son, who is struggling through his first semester of Arabic at school. JEEZ, why do they have to make that language so difficult?! Those Arab people must be really, really smart to learn it when they're so young!!!

:D I'm just so funny, I crack me up!

[cally]

30. Don't know

I've said something similar in real life. It worked, well sort of. Noone tried to lie about a dish after that. :shrug: I thought I was pretty diplomatic. LOL

[prolesunited]

26. You know I don't know what it is about some people

But I've had co-workers be very rude to me about being a vegetarian. It's not like I tried to get them to change or force my beliefs on them, but they really seemed to get bent and ridicule me.

We used to order out as a group quite a bit, so they would take it as an opportunity to openly mock me. I joked around with them for awhile, but then it got offensive and lame. I just started bringing my own food and ignoring them.

I don't know what it is but sometimes people just seem to feel threatened by it. If she starts again, I would pull her aside, state your opinion sharply to her and ask that she never make an issue of it again.

[TNDemo]

22. Try vegsource.com.

Haven't read the other posts but they are good and also allrecipes.com.

[LisaM]

24. Spinach pies

My boyfriend's family is mostly vegetarian, and they do this every holiday. They are really good - more like quiches, made with regular pie crust, cottage cheese, eggs, spinach (be sure to squeeze it really dry), feta cheese, and onion. They are really popular and quite good.

[Kolesar]

25. Is that Lebanese fare?

I guess that it is broadly vegetarian fare, but does it have a Middle Eastern origin?

[spinbaby]

27. Stuff a pumpkin

It's a nice festive centerpiece for a Thanksgiving table. Remove top, scrape out insides, put in stuffing, bake. Takes about an hour and a half if I remember correctly. If the stuffing browns on top too much, cover it with a bit of foil. A bread stuffing with some pecans works nicely.

[Kolesar]

31. Bon Appetit' Kick