I’ve never been a passionate vegetarian or vegan the way some of my friends are. In fact, I don’t label myself as a vegetarian or a vegan at all. Although some non-meat-eaters would strike me down for saying so, I’m not entirely morally opposed to eating meat so long as it’s locally sourced.
Recently, however, my palate has not been able to handle the taste of meat. Although I refuse to box myself into the title “vegetarian,” something about meat has been utterly unappealing to me recently, and I won’t be eating it this Thanksgiving holiday.
Some may find this utterly problematic; Thanksgiving is traditionally marketed as being about turkey and nothing else. But I’m here to tell you that veggies are the best part of the Thanksgiving holiday, anyway.
This really should be obvious. Despite the presumption that one must consume turkey for the big Thanksgiving feast, vegetables are really the star.
Just think about the spread of vegetables usually prepared for Thanksgiving dinner. There are often three types of potatoes — mashed, roasted, and au gratin — as well as a green bean dish of sorts, squash, brussel sprouts, a harvest salad, and, of course, yams.
These options fail to take into consideration the non-vegetable, vegetarian options present at the meal. Between cornbread, stuffing, cranberry sauces, and dessert, you have enough options to keep you well-fed for the whole year.
Turkey is given far too much credit for owning a meal that is so clearly dominated by other food options. When you consider the options of veggies during Thanksgiving time, you’ll start to think of turkey as the side dish rather than the main course.
The myth that vegetarians require a turkey substitute such as the often mocked tofurky is simply false. I can’t speak for other non-meat eaters, but I would much rather have an array of the quite hearty vegetables listed above than eat a cocktail of wheat gluten, organic tofu, canola oil, natural vegetarian flavors, shoyu soy sauce, cornstarch, white bean flour, garbanzo bean flour, lemon juice from concentrate, onion, carrots, celery, salt, and calcium lactate from beets as my main course.
This coming holiday, there is no need to eat your steroid-infused turkey or your long-ingredient-list tofurky, just eat wholesome vegetables instead.
This could save you more than you might think. You’ll not only spare putting unsavory ingredients in your body, but you will also save some money. A 16-pound turkey is about $23, while at Trader Joe’s, a three-pound bag of organic sweet potatoes sells for about $3.99 (depending on the store and season). A little sweet potato goes a long way, too: Just three pounds of sweet potatoes can usually serve about eight people in most recipes.
With just vegetable-oriented meals, you’ll be able to focus that turkey money elsewhere, like on dessert. Pumpkin pie, apple crumble — who can deny these as being some of the best food options Thanksgiving has to offer?
Uninviting turkey to your table this holiday will make for a guilt-free Thanksgiving this year, and a tasty one too.
Reach Opinion Editor Rebecca Gross at arts@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @becsgross
