Ah, Thanksgiving. A holiday loved by all, especially the food lovers out there. It’s a great time to come together with family and friends to share a meal, tell stories and to recognize all the many things in our lives we have to be thankful for. As we all know, the main attraction of the holiday is generally the turkey, along with many other dishes focused on different sorts of meat. Which obviously makes Thanksgiving a dream come true for vegetarians.
While it may be sad to us vegetarians that our main dishes are generally not the center of attention, the reality is that Thanksgiving can still be great! There are so many delicious veggie options that fit the fall theme of the meal, and generally they are popular among all types of dinner guests. But though this is the case, the weeks leading up to the holiday still garner the same, annoying question:
“What do you even eat on Thanksgiving if you’re a vegetarian? It must be really hard to avoid all the turkey and meat that day.”
As anyone who is committed to vegetarianism knows, meat is
not something that we are constantly craving; if we smell some turkey, we are
not going to crack against the pressure to not eat it. In the past seven years, I
have never considered eating meat; I just don’t want it anymore. And again, there are so many other, and dare
I say better, dishes to make for Thanksgiving dinner.
One complaint people make about vegetarian dishes is that they require a bit more skill to make. This can’t be disputed but it is also a serious generalization. It’s the 21st century; you can find recipes of all skill levels on the trusty Internet. The New York Times has been running incredible recipes for exquisite vegetarian Thanksgiving meals. When I say exquisite I mean it — they look pretty hard to make. But Pinterest is the mecca for finding easier meals, especially because you can literally add the word easy to your search. Even Buzzfeed has been running articles on meatless dishes!
Regardless of how good vegetarian dishes can be, there are always going to be the doubters. Some people just don’t want to accept the idea of trying something new, of moving past the traditional cutout of what Thanksgiving should look like, no matter how good it may taste. People don’t like change, especially when it comes to their yearly turkey dinner.
This Thanksgiving, don’t forget about the vegetarians in your life. You don’t have to change your usual meal, just add a few things to it! Nothing is worse than when you all sit down at the table to enjoy your meal and it becomes apparent that everyone forgot to consider the person who doesn’t eat turkey or stuffing. If you do encounter this situation, it is everyone’s responsibility to give up half of their mashed potatoes so that the vegetarian can have a full plate of them (and nobody wants to give up mashed potatoes).
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone! Eat well!
P.S. If you need some music to listen to when you're cooking, check out this holiday classic.
