It's not easy eating green. I became a vegetarian during my sophomore year of high school in the month of March.
I made plenty of mistakes - I ate too many carbs, I didn't change my vitamin regimen, and I accidentally ate things made with beef or chicken stock. I ate more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches than you could shake a stick at.
But I kept at it. I finished out the school year and eased into a summer of veggie burgers and "Not Dogs." I discovered Indian food and cookbooks designed for "Veggie Kids," and "Moosewood" became my Mecca. I figured out what anemia is and got lectures from my doctor. And I learned I loved tofu.
And then November came. My extended family made plans for Thanksgiving, and of course, I was to be the only vegetarian present. My mom and I scoured cookbooks and came up with a suitable dish I could substitute for the traditional bird.
Thanksgiving Day came, and I found myself getting nervous about the meal - and with good reason. It was hardly the hearty feast I was supposed to be taking part in. Even the stuffing had been made with chicken stock - and the gravy spoon quickly contaminated the mashed potatoes. I picked at green beans and sweet potatoes.
Who tucks into their meal each year thinking, "Golly, I've been dreaming about green beans all year?" Other people weren't interested in the nontraditional dish I'd brought - a tasty concoction of cheese and roast vegetables in phyllo dough.
I suffered a round of questioning. "So, you're a vegetarian now?" They'd utter the word as if I'd joined some sort of subversive cult, and they weren't ever really curious to find out why I'd made that choice. They'd often only want to talk about how they just couldn't ever give up meat - "I mean, just look at the turkey!"
I went home hungry and cranky, uninspired in my vegetarianism and mad at my inability to take part in the holiday. What made me angriest was that I never liked turkey much to begin with! Roasted, cold, smoked, deli style - I'd never been excited about it. But now that I couldn't have it, the meal seemed ruined.
The next Thanksgiving, I was better prepared. My own family hosted the meal at our house, and I made sure the stuffing was vegetarian and that the gravy stayed far removed from the potatoes. I was more secure in my no-meat philosophy and could finally handle the ribbing from the staunch carnivores.
But the pi??ce de résistance was thanks to a discovery my mom made in the frozen food aisle. Tofurkey had long been a staple in my bagged lunches as a faux deli meat. What I hadn't known is that Turtle Island Foods also makes a faux turkey roast from a blend of tofu and wheat protein, complete with stuffing and gravy.
I loved it, and considering I hadn't had any food like it in over a year, I was elated, even while some of my family members were predictably grossed out. They did all want to try it though, and I saw a few sneakily finish the portions they had made such a fuss over.
Even though I occasionally work poultry into my diet these days, I think I'm going to keep up the new Tofurkey tradition. After all, the White House pardons a turkey each year.
Why can't I?
Kate Peck is a senior majoring in English. She can be reached at katherine.peck@tufts.edu.
