Any ideas for a vegetarian - or even pescatarian! - main dish on Thanksgiving?

Queen of Spoons added over 1 year ago

Last year we did a beautiful baked salmon fillet along side our turkey. With lemons and herbs resting on top, it has much the same visual impact and is always delicious. I also take part of the bread/onion/celery base for my dressing; add a some finely chopped and browned mushrooms, tossed with fresh sage and chopped walnuts, moistened with veggie broth, for a vegetarian version of our traditional sausage dressing. This year I'm considering a sort of fish pie: fish, bechamel & herbs under just a top crust of faux puff pastry (easy from King Arthur Baking Book) instead of the baked fish. [Image is dressing in the works - only t-day photos I have!]

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Lovely idea, thanks! What are your salmon herbs of choice? I often default to dill, but I don't think that would go so well with the other flavors of the Thanksgiving table.... Among other things, I'm thinking of making butternut squash soup and perhaps the red rice & quinoa "stuffing" (doesn't seem quite stuffingish to me, delicious as it sounds) featured in the nyt, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/11/01/health/20111101_vegetarian_thanksgiving.html" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/11/01/health/20111101_vegetarian_thanksgiving.html</a>#Red_Rice_and_Quinoa_Stuffing_With_Mushrooms_and_Kale .

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BlissfulBaker added over 1 year ago

The New York Times has a great feature on a Vegetarian Thanksgiving (and 4 of their selected recipes are from Food52!) .. http://www.nytimes.com... ..

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TheWimpyVegetarian added over 1 year ago

I just went through this link and found so many great ideas! Thanks so much for sharing!!

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healthierkitchen added over 1 year ago

butternut squash lasagne can anchor the plate alongside a number of green and other orange vegetables. I put a version up here a while back: http://www.food52.com/recipes....

There are many others out there, and, if for the holiday you want the extremely lush, full fat version, just check on Epicurious as the inspiration for mine came from Bon Appetit. I can completely vouch for that version - it is delicious - I just needed to lighten it up.

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Queen of Spoons added over 1 year ago

P.S. I've also in past years done a formed tofu turkey (by recipe, not pre-made). it was not very successful and I wouldn't recommend trying unless you're an old hand at working with tofu. A much more successful year included a small platter of marinated, grilled firm tofu. It was popular beyond the vegetarians, so I could have made more. Depending on your guests, an asian marinade, or a smoky barbecue one would work well. It's very inexpensive and quick, too.

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hardlikearmour is a trusted home cook.

added over 1 year ago

I've made this, and it's really delicious for a vegetarian/vegan main:
http://www.epicurious.com...

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I do savory bread pudding with mushrooms, leeks and gruyere for my vegetarians. It goes well with the other dishes and is very filling.

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Meg is a trusted home cook.

added over 1 year ago

have an amazing butternut squash lasagna recipe from my cousin steve, also make macaroni and cheese, vegetarian dressing (stuffing cooked outside the bird), have seen a filled vegetarian pasta timbale a la "Big Night" that looks festive but complicated if you are also making a turkey... luv steamed fish dishes when making a meat dish in the oven... elizabeth andoh has some great vegan dishes in her new japanese cookbook and in her washoku book, made her kabocha squash with adzuki beans for a main vegetarian dish at new year's.

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susan g added over 1 year ago

Here's what we're having: A very large winter squash, halved and roasted, stuffed with a whole grain pilaf with cranberries (made separately, put in the squash cavaties and warmed at the end of the roasting period, from Nov. Vegetarian Times magazine); and a Spinach and Goat Cheese Pie, with a potato crust -- http://www.wholefoodsmarket.... Another year, it will be the butternut squash lasagna!

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healthierkitchen added over 1 year ago

These sound better than turkey!

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Thanks, everyone! These are all great ideas.

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