Thanksgiving Food Alternatives

So, your daughter came home from college a vegan, your son is doing the low-carb diet, and both of your great-aunts are watching their gluten and sugar intakes. How do you feed everyone with a minimum of fuss? It's not as hard as you think! Most of the dishes you already make for Thanksgiving will make almost everyone happy -- a few tweaks here and there and one or two new recipes should satisfy without stress.

Organic Thanksgiving

One change many people are making in their diets is the switch to organic foods. Many people also include locally grown food and free-range poultry  in this type of diet. While you can't easily search for local foods online, you can find a listing of a local farmer's market. You can also buy a lot of organic foods online.  Try searching for organic stuffing,  cranberries,  mashed potatoes,  and other Thanksgiving necessities. You can also get an organic, cage-free turkey,  or you can opt for a heritage turkey. (See below.)

Heritage Turkeys

Heritage,  or heirloom,  turkeys are turkey breeds that have been raised for hundreds of years but are now only cultivated by a few farmers. The dominant turkey on the market today is the Broadbreasted White, which as the name implies has been bred for an oversized breast to supply the voracious demand for white-meat turkey. Heritage turkeys, on the other hand, are older breeds such as the Narragansett  (possibly the oldest breed in the U.S.), Jersey Buff,  Bourbon Red  and American Bronze.  Thanks in part to the Slow Food movement, these turkeys are beginning to make a comeback. In addition to being free-range and usually organic, heritage turkeys give you the opportunity to conserve an animal by eating it. How often does that opportunity arise? Heritage turkeys are different from the "traditional" turkey. They have a smaller breast and tend to be leaner overall, but have larger thighs. If you're not sure your family will appreciate your choice of bird, you might want to order one and cook it as a "test run" for Thanksgiving. Nearly everything written about heritage turkeys indicates that despite their sometimes less-than-plump appearance, they have much more flavor than the traditional turkey. (Read this article for some taste-test results.) Keep in mind, however, that heritage turkeys are more expensive than traditional.

Vegetarians and Thanksgiving

Most Thanksgiving dinners can be easily modified to accommodate the vegetarians in your life. If possible, find out ahead of time whether your vegetarian friend or relative is a strict vegan (no eggs, no dairy, no honey), an ovo-lacto vegetarian (eats eggs and dairy but no animals) or somewhere in between. Knowing this will help you decide which recipes to use and how you can modify your favorites to make them a meatless treat for everyone.

If you want to make your vegetarian relatives feel even more welcome (especially if there are several of them), you might want to try your hand at a special veggie main course or order one pre-made. Don't feel limited to choosing something vaguely turkey-like; there are plenty of seasonally appropriate dishes that will go over well. See below for some options.

To read more about making a mixed (veggie and carnivorous) Thanksgiving work for everyone, check out this guide from AllRecipes. You can also check out ShopWiki's Vegetarian Resource Page.

A few other things you might need to alter your recipes:

• Vegetarian gravy  -- mushroom is always a good bet.
• Vegetable stock 
• Vegetarian gelatin  (agar-agar )
• Soy milk 
• Seitan 
• Nutritional yeast 
• Soy sausage  -- great in stuffing!
• Vegan soy cheese 
• Tofu cream cheese  -- makes a great cheesecake.
• Egg substitute  -- you can also use puréed or silken tofu. 
• Vegan margarine  -- look for ones with 0g trans fats and lots of omega-3 fatty acids.

Turkey Alternatives	Pumpkin Ravioli	Stuffed Squash	Lentil Loaf	Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

Low-Carb Diets

Low-carb diets  have little to fear from Thanksgiving, since the main attraction is a big piece of meat. Still, if a number of people in your family are low-carbers, you might want to make a couple of dishes tailored to their needs. One last note: consider leaving the starch or flour out of the gravy. It won't be quite as thick, but it will be one more thing the low-carb set can eat. Look for: Low-carb bread  -- if you make your own stuffing. Low-carb stuffing  Mashed cauliflower  -- instead of mashed potatoes. Sugar-free cakes  and cookies

Other Dietary Needs

Gluten sensitivity -- get spelt bread  for the stuffing. Low fat or low cholesterol -- keep the cheese out; try grilling the turkey instead of baking it. Food allergies -- do your best to keep the ingredient out of food or away from the person. Other food needs -- do what you can, and ask your friend or relative to bring a dish or two to share, so that you know he or she will have at least one or two things to eat. When all else fails, serve a lot of vegetable dishes. Just about everyone can agree on vegetables.

External Links

• Vegkitchen.com -- Veg-friendly Thanksgiving meal.
• Peta -- The animal-friendly group tell how to create a giblet-free meal.
• Receipezaar.com -- Gluten-free recipes for Thanksgiving.
• About.com -- Low-fat dining options for the holiday.