Rohnert park animal shelter gives options for
a vegan-friendly thanksgiving
In this week's blog for the Rohnert Park Animal Shelter in Central California, Mickey Zeldes addresses the question, "Vegan Guests for Thanksgiving?," and provides some wonderfully insightful tips for welcoming guests with plant-based diets to the table.
Most traditional recipes can be made vegan with just a few adjustments. Substitute vegetable stock for chicken stock; Rice, almond or soymilk for dairy milk; vegetable margarine for butter, etc. Those are simple things that most people wouldn’t even notice if you didn’t point it out. When you think about it, most of the typical side dishes are vegetables anyway – squash, green beans, mashed potatoes, and cranberries. So if you don’t add any meat to them, you already have plenty of delicious food for all to enjoy.
There are several items on the market now that can be featured as a main dish, and there are just as many opinions on the appropriateness of having a “turkey” substitute. Tofurky has a seitan roll with stuffing, Gardein also has a stuffed “turkey” as well as a holiday “roast,” Quorn has a vegetarian (not vegan) turkey, Harvest Celebration has a field roast, and Vegetarian Plus has gone all out and has a whole turkey (looks like the real thing complete with drumsticks).
Zeldes also lists her go-to recipe websites and cookbooks. Be sure to check out the article and leave a positive comment or share it with your social media networks. The times are changing, even for shelters. Let's all make this a compassionate, turkey-friendly Thanksgiving!
