For people watching their diets for health reasons, Thanksgiving can play real havoc with their best intentions. Although Turkey is certainly a healthy and low-fat source of protein, those that would like to focus more attention on vegetarian choices can still have a wonderful meal with a traditional feel.
“It makes for good eating to reconsider and create dishes that let vegetables play a major role,” said Michael Anthony, executive chef of Gramercy Tavern in New York City.
It is time for home chefs to rethink the place of vegetable dishes in their menu planning. According to Joan Nathan, author of many innovative cookbooks, it is quite possible to have a great vegetable dish stand alone as a main course.
“You can get rid of the idea of the turkey as the center of the meal,” said Ms. Nathan, author of the new “Quiches, Kugels and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France” (Knopf). Vegetarian dishes, she added, “can stand by themselves.”
We are now in the second week of November and for me that means: time to think about Thanksgiving. I travel to visit my parents every Thanksgiving weekend – I can’t get enough of eating my mother’s turkey and watching the Big Game with my Dad! You may be preparing to visit your family, or planning to use the Thanksgiving vacation time to tour a new place. There are lots of ways to make trip preparation easier and more efficient, from how you plan your trip to have you pack your suitcase. For us, the internet generation, planning a trip has never been easier. You can find out everything – from how to get there to what to do to what to eat to where to stay to whether it’s going to rain – from relevant internet sites. So stay tuned… my next few posts will be devoted to helping you have an easier pre-trip period and a more fun trip!