10/22 So Many Options
It’s nearing the launch of the holiday season as Thanksgiving is only a month away. For many, this November dinner feast is the initial family gathering, kicking off festivities that are centered around food and traditions. The standard centerpiece for most families is a turkey, complete with all the trimmings.
I’ve been vegetarian for 14 years prior to becoming vegan, so I’m not new at seeking a comfortable place to feel a part of the Thanksgiving celebration. My strategy is to find a way to focus on sharing joy with those I love rather than embrace a dining experience with which I am not personally aligned. In many ways, Thanksgiving is more challenging than any other time of year, because so much emphasis is placed on eating a turkey.
I’ve brought many dishes to gatherings, taken a seat the furthest away from the carving spot and sometimes chosen to arrive “after dinner” to share in dessert and coffee. Sandy and I have also made various Thanksgiving days of our own design, choosing to watch parades, deliver meals on wheels, eat appetizers all day at home and make homemade treats for gifting. Looking back on many years of working around the turkey day, I think that any of these solutions may have a place in successfully embracing a compassionate Thanksgiving day, without the sacrifice of a large bird.
A cool idea that I recently saw shared anew on Facebook is to “adopt a turkey” by donating to a sanctuary where these birds live out their lives without fear of November. Ellen DeGeneres has endorsed the Adopt a Turkey Project at Farm Sanctuary in New York. The idea is to eat meatless on Thanksgiving of course and make a donation to help care for turkeys at the sanctuary. Here is a link to Adopt a Turkey.
If you are sharing in a turkey feast with your family and friends this year, perhaps you can bring a non-meaty entree to enjoy. Or, if you are hosting, maybe you are ready to attempt a Tofurky or Field Roast alternative. The Tofurky roast is pretty much a veg version of a turkey breast, with stuffing and ready to be heated. Sandy added some magic touches in this recipe, Tofurky roast in mojo criollo (Cuban marinade).
Photo By: S. Duquet
Field Roast makes a ready-to-go veg roast that is wrapped in phyllo and absolutely divine. Here is a review and tips about preparing the Field Roast Hazelnut En Croute.
You can also leave the meaty renditions behind and make this feast your own. Kick it up with a brilliant pasta marinara, a hearty soup and homemade bread or just choose your favorite veg dish and claim this as your new tradition. There is still a month to consider how to re-invent this Thanksgiving, or even test the waters for going meatless next year if the transition needs to go slower. Compassionate choices happen one step at a time, one donation to a sanctuary, one side dish, one entree or a whole family tradition.
How will you celebrate Thanksgiving this year? Please share imaginative ways that you have taken veg steps in this traditionally meatiest of holiday meals. I would love to hear more ideas.
Have a delicious day.
Vintage image courtesy of tucsoncitizen.com
Tags: compassionate eating, compassionate products, Ellen DeGeneres, Farm Sanctuary, Field Roast, going veg, Hazelnut en Croute, Meatless Monday recipe, plant based diet, Tofurky, Tofurky roast, trying vegan, trying vegetarian, vegan, vegan challenge, vegan experience, vegan Thanksgiving, vegan Thanksgiving recipes, vegan wannabe, vegetarian Thanksgiving, vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes
