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Vegan Thanksgiving celebration a big hit

The Tofu Turkey is on the left

 

The Turkey-Free Thursday celebration on Thanksgiving Day sponsored by Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, catered by Govinda’s and held at Highlands United Methodist Church at 32^nd and Osceola provided a great opportunity for people of conscience to gather and enjoy the holiday completely turkey free. 

 

Beginning with appetizers for early arrivals, the event also featured live music and a silent auction offering everything from books to locks of Marilyn Monroe’s hair. There was also plenty of free educational material including vegetarian recipes, answers to questions about vegetarianism, lists of great alternatives, and outlines of the reason why vegetarianism is not only better for individuals, it is also better for the planet. What was really striking was the long list of celebrities living vegetarian lifestyles and advocating an animal friendly existence. Among the vegetarian celebrities listed were names like Russell Simmons, Natalie Portman, Clint Eastwood, Forest Whitaker, Pamela Anderson, Tobey McGuire and Alicia Silverstone, each with individual reasons for choosing to eliminate meat from their diets. Even a number of athletes and former athletes such as Carl Lewis, Desmond Howard, Edwin Moses and Chris Evert were on the list. 

 

The meal, served buffet style, featured an Organic Tofu Turkey “redux” cooked in large baking pans. This was not “Tofurkey”. The ingredients for the Tofu Turkey were farina, Earth Balance margarine, cabbage, celery, carrots, peas, tomatoes, tofu, lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce, turmeric, asafetida, salt, pepper, parsley, basil, paprika, thyme, marjoram, ground coriander, cayenne, nutmeg and walnuts. All of the buffet offerings, freshly made, came with a list of ingredients for both the curious and those with special dietary needs, such as nut allergies. No one went home hungry and no animals suffered to make the meal happen. 

 

After the great, Thanksgiving celebration, my only question is “What’s for Christmas?” As soon as I know if this or any other venues will offer true, vegetarian Christmas dinners, I will let my readers know. 

 

The church was easy to find and had plenty of parking

 

Folks arrived early for appetizers and an auction

 

Sides featured were potatoes, green beans,yams and stuffing

 

The homeade dressing was unique.