Skip meat and 'veg out' this Thanksgiving

Flo Barnes | For The New Mexican

11/14/2007 -

Creating an elaborate Thanksgiving feast with a huge turkey as the centerpiece is a beloved holiday rite. However, most of us also recall that groaning, guilty feeling of being overfull — as stuffed as the turkey was a couple of hours before.

During this time of growing ecological awareness, why not try something different? Why not "veg out" on the big day?

Full disclosure: I am not a vegetarian, but am finding it increasingly difficult to reconcile my love of animals with the consumption of meat.

So why trade a delicious meat entrée for the unfamiliar?

"If people are concerned about their health, or don't want to participate in suffering, or want to lessen their footprint on the planet, the biggest impactful act they can (make is to) take meat off the plate," said Kathy Stevens, former teacher, founder of Catskill Animal Sanctuary in Saugerties, N.Y., and author of Where the Blind Horse Sings, which went into its second printing in October.

"I know we are a meat-based culture," Stevens said in a recent telephone interview from her home. "Food, besides keeping us alive, is a comfort for a lot of us. Those of us who want to encourage people to reduce their consumption of meat ... can't just say 'Go get a frozen tofu turkey.' It feels like a bummer to people.

"We know what a Thanksgiving table is supposed to look like. If we're going to take the turkey off, (we'll have to) replace it with something festive," she said.

For her Thankgiving celebration, Stevens each year prepares a delicious variation on a stuffed pumpkin.

"There are about 3,000 stuffed pumpkin recipes out there," she said. "I've not found one that I didn't like."

Last year, Stevens served a pumpkin with a red wine and mushroom stuffing. The year before, the stuffing was based on lentils and mushrooms. Some people, she noted, celebrate with a chestnut roast, vegetable-based tortes or pies.

Becoming a vegetarian

Americans did not really understand the cost of our culture's consumerism until the last few decades, Stevens said.

"We're cooking the planet," she said. "Whole species are dying. We're unhealthier than we've ever been. We can buy a hybrid car and buy local, (but) what we're not hearing anyone say is 'Stop eating animals.' Even Al Gore, who won the Nobel Prize, doesn't say it would do more to slow the rate of global warming if we stopped eating meat."

For Stevens, becoming a vegetarian was a gradual choice.

"I've always been fairly health conscious and loved animals," she said. "I watched a film compilation from slaughterhouses and said, 'I'm done. I'm not going to be a part of this.' "

Stevens believes that farm animals are no different from dogs and cats — if you love them. Since 2001, her Catskill Animal Sanctuary has provided refuge for a variety of creatures, including horses, ponies, cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, pigs, rabbits and birds.

Another benefit of a vegetarian diet for Stevens is being able to avoid the growth hormones, antibiotics and pesticides that are in much of the meat we eat. "I want to be conscious and control my aging," she said. "I don't get sick. I have more energy than I know what to do with."

Can a vegetarian diet meet our protein needs?

Stevens thinks so. "Previously, she said, "there was a myth that said you need a whole lot of protein."

Stevens points out that the United States Department of Agriculture now confines meat and dairy products to a very narrow segment of its food-guide pyramid. You can find protein in many dark, leafy vegetables and in nuts and beans as well as in animal products, she said.

Her one caution regarding vegetarianism, Stevens said, is to beware of becoming what she called "a junk-food vegetarian." When people eliminate meat from their diets, she said, they often fill the hole it leaves with junk food rather than other, healthy sources of protein.

Stevens believes that animal agriculture is killing the planet. When we see a piece of plastic-wrapped meat on a white Styrofoam container, she said, we forget that it was once part of an animal with feelings like ours.

Working with animals, Stevens said, has taught her that "in ways that count, we're all the same." She believes that if more people truly understood this, meat consumption would naturally plummet.

Dishes to please all palates

People new to vegetarianism — and even old hands — can enjoy the holiday without working themselves into a swivet in the kitchen. Many local markets and restaurants offer meatless main courses along with the prototypical turkey.

One of the main dishes served at Sunrise Springs Resort Spa's Thanksgiving buffet this year is a polenta torte with layers of tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant along with fresh mozzarella cheese. The restaurant also will have butternut squash with fresh sage, said John Bobrick, the new chef at the helm of the property's Blue Heron restaurant. "You don't even have to be a vegetarian to enjoy dishes like this," he said.

Although the Blue Heron works hard to serve vegetarian clients, it is not a strictly vegetarian restaurant. There will be locally raised heritage turkey from Talus Wind Ranch in Stanley as well as other meats and seafood on the restaurant's buffet table — along with other vegetable-based options like a chilled red beet salad, pasta salad, roasted baby red potatoes, sweet potatoes with green chile, glazed carrots with fresh ginger, jasmine rice pilaf, fresh green beans and brussel sprouts.

Bobrick recommends vegetarian casseroles to home cooks who want to serve an easy-to-prepare vegetarian entrée. "They're easy to make and you can put any vegetable in them or mix them."

He also suggests oven-roasting an assortment of seasonal vegetables. "You can boil them and toss with oil. Butter isn't necessary," making the dish appropriate for vegans, too, he said. Adding a dash of fresh citrus juice at the end of cooking can brighten up the dish as well, he said.

Pumpkin tends to be stringy, Bobrick said, and it can be a lot of work to fix. But "it's fine for a meal for two to four people," he said.

The chef recommends hollowing the pumpkin out, removing the seeds and cutting the pumpkin meat into quarters. Baking it in a medium oven covered with foil and adding a little water or vegetable stock to the pan will help keep the pumpkin moist, he said.

The Thanksgiving buffet at Sunrise Springs, 242 Los Pinos Road, will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 22. The price is $40 per adult, $38 for seniors, and $16 for children 12 and under. For reservations or more information, call 428-3600 or log onto www.sunrisesprings.com.

Markets offer veggie options

Prepared vegetarian and vegan options for Thanksgiving dinner also are available for takeout at local markets. Please note that orders must be placed ahead of time to avoid last-minute disappointment.

Whole Foods Market (753 Cerrillos Road, 992-1700) is taking orders for a take-out vegan feast that includes harvest shepherd's pie, wild rice and cranberry pilaf, carrot salad, green beans and a vegan pumpkin mousse. Also available at Whole Foods are roasted vegetables — potatoes, carrots, butternut squash and onions — with fresh herbs and balsamic vinegar; orange mashed yams, creamy mashed potatoes, fresh green beans with toasted almonds and olive oil, wild mushrooms and sage gravy in a creamy vegetable stock, roasted brussel sprouts and wild rice with cranberry pilaf.

Trader Joe's (530 W. Cordova Road, 995-8145) will have Tofurky made with organic, nongenetically engineered soybeans and wheat protein available for takeout. Touted as the vegetarians' bona fide holiday centerpiece, the faux bird has been made by Turtle Island Foods since 1995. Each Tofurky serves four and cooks in about an hour. The complete vegan feast includes a Tofurky roast with giblet and mushroom gravy, cranberry-apple-potato dumplings, herbed brown and wild rice stuffing.

According to Michelle Blodget of the market's deli section, La Montañita Natural Foods Co-op (931 W. Alameda St., 984-2852) also is offering a Tofurky vegetarian entrée, along with green beans almondine, roasted squash with pecans, vegan potato-basil salad, spinach-artichoke salad with artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and feta cheese, cranberry relish, cranberry chutney and vegetarian pastas.

Aaron Freund says Wild Oats Natural Marketplace (1090 St. Francis Drive, 983-5333) will have a vegetarian hazelnut-cranberry crusted "roast," garlic-mashed potatoes, cinnamon-orange yams, shitaki wild-rice dressing, mushroom gravy, green bean almondine and citrus glazed carrots.

So go ahead and veg out this Thanksgiving. Do it out of caring for yourself, the animals and our beloved planet — and enjoy every guilt-free bite.

Recipes

Kathy Stevens likes this stuffed pumpkin recipe from The Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook by Lucy Moll (John Wiley & Sons). It may be accompanied by a vegetarian gravy of your choice. Stevens used a thick mushroom gravy and said it was delicious.

Note: If you have too much stuffing for your pumpkin, place the extra in an oiled casserole, cover tightly and bake for 1 hour.

THANKSGIVING STUFFED PUMPKIN
(Serves 5 to 6)

1 (5 pound) pumpkin, organic if possible
2 to 3 cups brown rice, cooked
2 cups crumbled dry whole-wheat bread (can substitute corn or other bread for part of measure)
1 onion, chopped
1 generous cup chopped celery with leaves
2 tart unpeeled apples, chopped
1 cup roasted chestnuts or a handful of cashew nuts, cut in half
Herbs: Healthy amounts of chopped fresh sage, savory, marjoram, and/or oregano and paprika to taste
1 to 2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 to 1/2 cup vegan margarine or safflower oil
Soy sauce or salt to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut off top of pumpkin to make a lid. Remove the seeds and scrape out any stringy pulp.

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well with hands. Add stock and oil or margarine and mix well, adding soy sauce and salt to taste if desired. Stuffing should be moist but not wet. Pack loosely into pumpkin, replace lid, and bake on oiled cookie sheet for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until done. Pumpkin is ready when a fork pushes easily through the shell.

Transfer the pumpkin to a casserole dish and serve at the table, scooping out some of the tender pumpkin flesh with each serving of stuffing. If the pumpkin is organically grown, you may eat the skin, too.


This festive vegetarian main dish is courtesy of Sunrise Springs Resort Spa general manager Tracy Pikhart Ritter and executive chef John Bobrick.

SPINACH-FILLED HERBED POLENTA TORTE
(Serves 8)

For the filling:
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 cup zucchini, thinly sliced
1 cup yellow squash, thinly sliced
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup chopped, seeded tomato
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts; drained and coarsely chopped
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup (1 ounce) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 large whole egg
For the polenta:
1-1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cups water
Additional 1/4 cup (1 ounce) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Cooking spray
To finish:
1 cup (1/4-inch-thick) tomato slices
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded, part-skim mozzarella cheese
Homemade or purchased tomato sauce, for serving

To prepare spinach filling: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first five ingredients in large nonstick skillet; stir well. Cook over medium-high heat 7 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and liquid nearly evaporates. Spoon into a bowl; stir in chopped tomato, garlic powder, onion powder, artichokes and spinach.

Combine remaining filling ingredients in another small bowl; stir well. Add to mushroom mixture; stir well. Set aside.

To prepare herbed polenta: Combine first seven polenta ingredients in a large saucepan. Gradually add water, stirring constantly with a whisk. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Cook 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in Parmesan cheese.

Spoon hot polenta into a 10-inch spring-form pan coated with cooking spray, spreading the corn-meal mush evenly.

To complete recipe: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread spinach filling over herbed polenta. Top with tomato slices and sprinkle with 1/2 cup shredded, part-skim mozzarella cheese.

Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour or until set. Let cool on a wire rack 10 minutes.

Cut into 8 wedges and serve with your favorite tomato sauce.


*To learn more about Kathy Stevens and the Catskill Animal Sanctuary for farm and domestic animals, visit www.casanctuary.org or call 845-336-7430 or 914-388-4984. To learn more about Stevens’ book, log onto www.BlindHorseSings.com.

*For more information about Tofurky (and other vegan products from Turtle Island Foods, Inc.), visit www.tofurky.com; call 800-508-8100; or send an e-mail info@tofurky.com

*The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine offers a Vegetarian Starter Kit for people considering changing their diets. It can be downloaded from www.pcrm.org. It also can be ordered as a printed booklet by calling 202-686-2210, ext. 306, or sending an e-mail to literature@pcrm.org.

*The Web site for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has a number of vegan recipes developed especially for Thanksgiving as well as tips for cooking for a crowd and up-to-date information about meat and dairy alternatives. You can find it all at www.VegCooking.com.