A Vegetarian on a Meat-Eater's Holiday

Sometimes I think I was predestined to become a vegetarian. When holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas would come around, I found myself forcing a slither of turkey or ham down, simply for tradition’s sake.

Side dishes were always my favorite part of the meal, even as a meat eater. I mean who wouldn’t enjoy filling up on broccoli casserole or mashed potatoes? Don’t forget the sweet potato pie or the carb-o-licious dinner rolls.

This Thanksgiving will be my third as a full-blown vegetarian. My family hosts Thanksgiving each year, but fortunately my mom still accommodates our need to be meat free. She even prepares a separate stuffing that’s made with vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

My wife was raised vegetarian and is partially the reason I am one today. I probably would have become one sooner, but I had never really met any vegetarians. In my opinion, I was ignorant to the reality of where the meat I was consuming came from.

I didn’t have to watch any of the PETA videos or read through extensive studies to know that vegetarianism was for me. After my wife and I moved in together I was buying chicken, putting it in the freezer and forgetting it was there. Meaty cuisine cancelled itself out really. I was doing fine without it and after asking some questions, I chose to go full force and cut meat out of my diet completely.

Some people tend to ask “so, all you eat is vegetables?” This assumption is somewhat comical, but also very uninformed. There are substitutes for everything that is meat.

For instance, Richard’s Whole Foods on Tyrone (3455 Tyrone Boulevard) sells one of my favorite replacements. They’re called chicketts and it comes in a roll, like cookie dough or salami. We cut sand dollar size pieces, dip them in eggs and milk then fry them coated in bread crumbs. Chicketts are usually the “meat” of choice for us on holidays.

As far as sides go, you can make pretty much any casserole with a vegetable or cheese in place of the meat. We also use mushroom soup as a base for gravy.

As with many lifestyle choices, some vegetarians are very outspoken and forceful with their beliefs. Although I am just as passionate and probably feel the same way about certain aspects of the diet, I think everyone is entitled to his or her own decision about whether to eat meat.

Be thankful for whatever it is you consume – turkey, ham or chicketts. After all, it is Thanksgiving.