<p>I have seen some great food ideas/advice here, so I hope someone can help me out. I recently became a vegetarian, but I would really like something that tastes like a traditional Thanksgiving meal. I heard some bad reviews about Tofurky, but I am wondering if anyone knows a good brand or maybe an online store where I can order something LIKE a Tofurky. Is there anything good at Whole Foods? Any ideas would be appreciated!</p>
<p>P.S. I know a lot of people suggest having an entirely different dish, but I kind of have my heart set on a turkey-like meal.</p>
<p>It has to do with the way you cook the Tofurky. And by the way, tofurky is the brand.
You need to make a basting sauce (there is a recipe on the box but you can mess with it some according to your taste). Then you put the whole thing in tin foil. Don’t overcook it.
It really does taste good. I don’t care for the stuffing that comes inside it so I make my own stuffing to put on the side.
The key to making the tofurky is moisture because it doesn’t naturally have animal fat/juice.</p>
<p>You said that the key to making a good tofurky is not overcooking it and addin$g enough moisture. If I just follow the instructions on the box, would that work, or should I add extra water to it? I also assume it gives a time for cooking it – should I cook less than that so as to not overcook?</p>
<p>I have never really prepared anything in the oven, so I just want to make sure I get it right.</p>
<p>Someone may have a great recipe. However, I’d just buy bagged stuffing of whatever sort appeals, and then use ALL the vegetables possible, mushrooms, lots of onions, celery, and dried cranberries, whatever else appeals. Use canned vegetarian broth, with a little wine or sherry thrown in. Follow the directions on the bag, and bake in a casserole.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any ideas how not to overdry or overcook the Tofurky? Does anyone have any experience cooking the feast meal (it’s the one with all the trimmings)?</p>
<p>Yes, just follow the instructions on the box but don’t neglect the basting sauce. You don’t need to add extra water but it won’t hurt to stop and spoon the sauce over the top of the tofurky about halfway through.
As far as stuffing, agree with glmom above.
Melt about 1/2 stick of butter in a skilled, stir in chopped onions, celery, carrots. Cook until translucent. Add some dried cranberries. I don’t like the vegetarian broth as it is very salty. You can use water. Add the dry bag of stuffing, mix, put in casserole. I like to cover the casserole with some tinfoil so the stuffing stays moist.</p>
<p>If you haven’t already purchased the torfurkey, here’s my two cents. We’re vegetarians and I used to make a special Thanksgiving entree, like roasted vegetables in phyllo , along with all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, but I realized that what everybody’s looking forward to are the more traditional parts of the meal. So now I just fix a traditional Thanksgiving meal with no entree. As long as you have stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries, and gravy, nobody even notices there’s no turkey. The turkey’s really just a vehicle for stuffing and gravy, anyway! I usually make cranberry sauce, gravy (search “vegetarian gravy” on recipezaar.com or one of the other cooking sites, or buy a packet at a natural foods store), mashed potatoes, stuffing with onions and celery, pumpkin soup (topped with a dollop of the cranberries), green beans with almonds, a salad of greens, citrus, pomegranate and avocado, and pie or other dessert. We did try tofurky one year but did not care for it, and it’s expensive, too. Happy cooking and Happy Thanksgiving!</p>
<p>Tofurkey is the kind of meal that gives us vegetarians a bad name!</p>
<p>You can make a traditional bread stuffing using vegetable broth in a crockpot and it will taste great - there’s a cookbook with all vegetarian recipes that is just wonderful.</p>
<p>If you do make the tofurkey keep your expectations low and your sense of humor high!</p>
<p>D2 is a vegetarian, so I went to Whole Foods and bought a couple of the Celebration Roasts. They’re tiny, and they DO look like little teeny hams. No idea yet how they taste.</p>
<p>We aren’t fond of turkey here and are having the Indian inlaws for Thanksgiving dinner. Some are, some aren’t currently vegetarians (one parent, one child of each in the same nuclear family). I usually make a vegetarian and a nonvegetarian protein main dish. H and B-in-law like my Indian spiced chicken dish so I’ll do that. We’ll have a crazy mix of foods- rice, mung dal, stuffing (Stove Top since I like it), cranberry sauces, Indian spiced vegetable and others… I’ve been doing “fusion” cooking for years. Traditions are what you make them, it was a relief to realize Thanksgiving didn’t need turkey if I didn’t feel like serving it- the feast incorporates favorite foods of various people. I kept some favorites from my childhood and abandoned others I never liked (except brown sugar sweet potatoes for H by his request). There is a sense of freedom in changing foods and yet keeping the spirit of the feast. I’ll bet over the years you will gradually let go of making vegetarian foods mimic meats, or you will occasionally indulge in meat, such as turkey for Thanksgiving. Whatever you do, enjoy!</p>
<p>Agree with 9 and 10. Tofurkey bites. Make baked cornbread dressing with mushroom/sherry sauce the centerpiece of the meal. Use plenty of eggs and vegetarian broth and throw in some toasted pecans, and you’ll have enough protein there. Round things out with cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green beans, etc. and you’ll never miss the turkey.</p>