What To Do About Thanksgiving - Turkey or Tofurkey?

Right before I decided to become vegan, Sanjay Gupta interviewed President Clinton on CNN about being a vegan.  Interesting timing!  Clinton talked about how he ate very unhealthfully, had heart surgery, then after eating better, he had to have a second heart surgery because better wasn't good enough.  Now he's vegan.  And his health is the best it's ever been.

Clinton declared that his only traditional protein these days was "one bite of turkey on Thanksgiving."  At the time, I wondered why?  Why one bite and not more or less?  Just to torture himself on what he's missing the rest of the year?  To remind himself of "the good old days"?  I didn't get it.

Now, here I am - who would have thunk - trying to figure out the turkey or tofurkey dilemna myself.  My family always cooks the turkey for our Thanksgiving gathering.  Always!  We've roasted it, grilled, and even smoked it once or twice.  My house is the house that provides the turkey, which we will do again this year.  

But what will I eat?  At this point, I haven't told anyone outside my immediate household that I'm vegan because there have been a lot of complicated issues in my family - a lot, and I have tried to stay outside the fray.  This so called avoidance is, of course, how I gained 70+ pounds in my earlier life.  So now, as a vegan, should I bring some tofurkey to Thanksgiving, eat a bite of turkey a la Clinton, or just pass on that part of the meal?  

On past Thanksgivings, we have occasionally joked about tofurkey.  What would it taste like?  Is it worth trying to replicate the flavor of turkey?  The consistency is surely NOT going to be like turkey, so maybe never mind.  Huh.  Well, safe to say, we've also joked about the turducken too.  That is a creative collage of birds, right?

At this point, I think that I'm going to pass on the turkey altogether.  My favorite turkey part is the leg - yes, the whole leg, Weight Watchers PointsPlus Values and all.  But, unless I'm going to Medieval Times soon, chomping on the turkey leg doesn't exactly fit my new vegan identity.

We always have other delicious, healthy Thanksgiving choices - baked yams, steamed green beans, a grain/nut/apple medly, and a salad, so I surely won't go hungry.  Yep, that's my Thanksgiving plan for this year.  No turkey or tofurkey.

Now, as for for dinner tonight, we're having Moroccan Chickpeas and Zucchini from my new favorite cookbook - Appetite For Reduction, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  The recipes are 1. low fat (wahoo) and 2. vegan (yeowza) and 3. easy (best of all!!).