Thanksgiving dinner (vegetarian and not)

[Henrietta23]

Moving the vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner conversation from my thread to here:
I think I may just go with lasagna after all. For me Thanksgiving dinner is all about comfort food and that fits the bill perfectly. Another option would be a vegetarian shepherd's pie.
What are your family's favorites for Thanksgiving meals? I'd especially like to hear the less traditional ones! We used to have the meal at my husband's Italian aunt's home. There would be so many different dishes I couldn't name them all. I think she started cooking the day after Halloween and didn't stop until the minute the food hit the table!!

 

[Zenbirder]

We always go to a big family pot luck, so I need to take a main dish for DH and I. I like to take something that everyone will like, in fact it usually goes so fast that I have to make sure we are early in the line! My all time favorite is Green Chilie Cheese Enchaladas. YUM!

 

[Henrietta23]

We always go to a big family pot luck, so I need to take a main dish for DH and I. I like to take something that everyone will like, in fact it usually goes so fast that I have to make sure we are early in the line! My all time favorite is Green Chilie Cheese Enchaladas. YUM!

oh yum!!!!

 

[ScottyG]

You mentioned on the other thread:

Vegetarians eat cheese, vegans don't. I'm not even really a vegetarian since I eat fish. I'm just not eating beef, poultry or pork unless I can get it humanely raised and processed.
Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm sure I'll find something yummy once I put my mind to it. I just have to get that Norman Rockwell print of Thanksgiving dinner with the big roasted turkey out of my head! It will be there, I just won't be eating it! : )

Not to be obvious, but have you searched your area for humanely raised and processed turkeys? I have similar dietary habits myself, and have found some excellent local farms with all kinds of good meats, including one just 15 miles away with free-range heritage turkeys. I reserved one! Yaaaaay!

But yeah, if that's not an option, really anything delicious is good. I like Zenbirder's enchiladas idea because you can justify the corn in the tortillas as a New World food item. But I've definitely done the "big pan of lasagna" holiday before, and it always works and is foolproof.

 

[Henrietta23]

My brother insisted as a kid that we MUST have cranberry sauce from a can, the jellied kind, not whole berry, and it must be served in the shape of the can! It's become such a family joke that we still do it. He's now 41...

 

[Henrietta23]

Just discovered that Whole Foods has a ton of recipes on their website, including some vegetarian gravies. I can go without turkey but ask me to eat my mashed potatoes and stuffing with no gravy and we've got a problem! :/

 

[annmarie]

I've been a vegetarian most of my life, but I'm a traditionalist when it comes to Thanksgiving, and I just love basically every other food besides turkey in a Thanksgiving meal, so some kind of roasted tofu usually takes the place of the turkey, but this year I'm tempted to try something really unique! I bought a slow cooker and a vegetarian slow cooker recipe book a few months ago, and it has a recipe for "Savory Stuffed Wheat Meat Roast". It seems to be a sort of homemade slow cooker Tofurkey, stuffed and all! Everything else in the cookbook has been fantastic, so I just may be daring and make this the centerpiece of our Thanksgiving feast!

 

[ScottyG]

Good luck on that annmarie! For what it's worth, I've always thought that "wheat meat" (wooo seitan!) is definitely the tastiest of the "fake meat" products, and a delicious food item all its own. Mmmm.

 

[Henrietta23]

I've been a vegetarian most of my life, but I'm a traditionalist when it comes to Thanksgiving, and I just love basically every other food besides turkey in a Thanksgiving meal, so some kind of roasted tofu usually takes the place of the turkey, but this year I'm tempted to try something really unique! I bought a slow cooker and a vegetarian slow cooker recipe book a few months ago, and it has a recipe for "Savory Stuffed Wheat Meat Roast". It seems to be a sort of homemade slow cooker Tofurkey, stuffed and all! Everything else in the cookbook has been fantastic, so I just may be daring and make this the centerpiece of our Thanksgiving feast!

Hmmmm, just grabbed MY copy of Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker and there it was! Looks like a definite contenter! I haven't tried seitan before. Maybe it's time.

 

[sufficientforme]

Will you post the recipe for the slow cooker roast, I was going to make tofurkey but that would be awesome too. Thanks.
Edited to add PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP!