The Vegetarian’s Thanksgiving Dilemma

I am not a vegetarian, but I’m married to a pescetarian. My wife will eat nothing that walked on land-but will eat aquatic animals. When I first met her, this seemed to me a rather unusual practice. I had never dated anyone who did not eat meat. It was and is challenging and will be more challenging in the future as we have decided to raise our son according to my wife’s eating practices. That situation will probably be the basis for many future blogs.

Unlike many cooks that you see on TV, I have never thought you need to mock someone for their eating choices, anymore than you would mock them for their religious views or lack thereof. Still, it is a difficult lifestyle choice and I think it is especially difficult around special events—like weddings and the holidays for these folks to get something more than a steamed vegetable platter or a salad to eat.

To that end—I have struggled to find food that can substitute for things like turkey on Thanskgiving. We have tried the ToFurkey that is sold in many health food stores. The problem is that—although it’s shaped sort of like a turkey—it’s texture is pretty slimy.

The best substitute along these lines I have found is the “roast turkey” pictured above. [By way of total disclaimer-I do not get compensated in any way for recommending any brand names on this site]. The product comes in a 4” tube. You simply puncture the wrap around the tube and cook for about 40 minutes at 425. It actually tastes pretty good and has a turkey like texture. You can also find this in more mainstream groceries stores. I found this in my local Kroger for about $5.00. It could feed about two people.

Nearly as important is the gravy. Most vegetarians will tell you that besides bacon, what they miss the most is gravy. The following is a great recipe that I found in “Meat and Potatoes Cook Book
[http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Meat-Potatoes-Cookbook/dp/1558322051].

Basically it calls for:

1. 2 cups of water brought to a boil. The actual recipe calls for vegetable stock. I think this is unnecessary because vegetable stock tastes like dirty dish water to me. Just use water. However, you can find some non-animal based boullion cubes to give it some extra flavor. I would only use 2 because it can be very salty.
2. Add 1 Tbsp of fresh Thyme or 2 of dried Thyme to the water
3. Add 2 Tbsp of Tamari Soy Sauce-or a good savory stir fry sauce to the water
4. Dilute 1 Tbsp of corn starch in 3 Tbsp of water and then add slowly to the mixture. The sauce will begin to thicken.
5. Take the pot off the heat and slowly stir in ½ cup of milk (soy milk for vegans)–this will cause the sauce to lighten.
6. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Your vegetarian/vegan will be the happiest you’ve ever seen them on Thanksgiving. Also, I guarantee if you serve regular gravy and this gravy side by side either no one will be able to tell the difference or they will prefer this gravy to the real thing.