For someone who is newly vegetarian or vegan, a holiday known specifically for eating a ton of food can be a bit intimidating. If you think about it, though, not every Thanksgiving dish contains meat or animal products as it is.While turkey or ham is regarded as the main dish of the holiday, switching up the entree can be fun for vegans and non-vegans alike. Most Thanksgiving sides are made up of fruits and veggies, so the change is not too drastic in that sense. Add some hummus to dip your favorite veggies in as an appetizer, and season your cooked veggies in a new flavor to spice things up.Thanksgiving may be seen as all about food, but the truth is, what you eat isn’t as important as spending time with the people you love and care about and being thankful for all you have.
Senior Bradford Johnson and his family have nontraditional Thanksgiving meals every year.
“Growing up in multiple ethnic groups, Thanksgiving was always different for me depending on which side of my family I spent it with. On my Vietnamese side we would have Pho and eggdrop soup. On my European side it was always a lot of pasta and bread,” he said. Try a vegan pot pie or shepherd's pie as an entree. More of a wrap person? Search different recipes for vegan burritos. As for dessert, not every dessert has to contain milk, eggs, and other animal products. There are tons of substitutes if you don’t want to give up an old favorite recipe.
If you’re willing to try new recipes, you might just find your new favorite is a classic vegan snack. A quick Google search will give you endless recipes for this rule-free holiday.
Nicole Trexler, 21, was both vegan and vegetarian in the past. She said her favorite vegan dishes were “an amazing cranberry orange sauce with candied orange peel and vegan mac and cheese using daya cheese, nutritional yeast and almond milk, that was awesome.”
