Happy Tofurky Day

.

Although it is called Thanksgiving, I have more often than not heard if referred to as "Turkey Day". Being vegetarians we don't eat turkey, so while wandering through Trader Joe's last week I picked up a stuffed 'Tofurky Roast & Gravy' for our dinner tonight.

We don't usually celebrate any holidays, but I thought instead of our usual fare I'd make something a bit different and document the process since I'd never made a Tofurky roast before.

I have used Tofurky products though. They are made in Oregon by Turtle Island Foods and make great cracked pepper deli sliced Tofurky. Yummy for sandwiches.

Here is the box prior to opening....

And open......

Gravy on the left and the Tofurky roast on the right. When you take out the roast and turn it over you see this.....

I opened the package and put it in a foil lined dish. I made a marinade to pour over top. From what I read online, the marinade suggested on the box isn't as good as one provided online. I opted for the online version with red wine, balsamic vinegar, fresh ground pepper and poultry seasoning......

Here is the roast with the marinade on it......

I covered it in foil and put it in the oven and set the timer for 1 hour 15 minutes. Then I needed to think of a side dish. I've been avoiding the grocery store since last week. I can't deal with all the frantic shoppers. I hate shopping at the best of times.

I remembered I had two small red potatoes in the fridge and some frozen brussel sprouts. I thawed the sprouts and cut them in half. When grabbing the potatoes from the fridge I discovered one lonely carrot. I chopped the carrot and potatoes and added them to the brussel sprouts.

I sprinkled them with olive oil, black pepper, granulated garlic, 'Herbes de Provence' and voilà!..... roasted veggies had become the side dish of choice. Necessity is the mother of invention......or as Troubadour likes to say: "overcome, adapt, and improvise."

Luckily the oven is large enough for the baking sheet of veggies and the roast. Soon I was ready to take everything out of the oven. I had some sweet potato bread warming in the microwave and the Tofurky gravy heating on the stove. Put the roasted veggies in a dish......

And Troubadour was kind enough to slice the Tofurky for me..... such presentation......

We rounded out the meal with some sparkling cranberry juice. I apologize for the color of the next photo the compact fluorescent lights combined with the white oak table made for a yellow color no matter what I tried....

It looked good enough to eat so we dove in. I did stop long enough to take a picture of my plate. It looks like more than it is since we used salad plates not large dinner plates. But you can fill your small plate and think you are eating a lot.

Overall I think it turned out quite well. It was a little too salty for my tastes, but then, I don't cook with salt and always buy low sodium or sodium free options when buying canned goods, etc. I think it was the organic brown rice and bread crumb stuffing that made it salty. Oh well, we'll just drink lots of water tonight.

A few good things about eating Tofurky and not turkey for Thanksgiving........ no tryptophan crash, no cholesterol, only 7 grams of fat per serving and 42 grams of protein. Can't complain about that. Probably a good thing we went out and walked a few miles this morning though.

I hope everyone had a great day today. Whether you are celebrating or not I hope that you had a wonderful day with the ones you love whether they be family or friends. And please be thankful for what you have each and every day, not just one day in November.

I am thankful for my Troubadour....Sadly the last picture we have of us together is from Troubadour's 40th celebration in Vegas........almost a year ago.

-Au Revoir

"I have strong doubts that the first Thanksgiving even remotely resembled the "history" I was told in second grade. But considering that (when it comes to holidays) mainstream America's traditions tend to be over-eating, shopping, or getting drunk, I suppose it's a miracle that the concept of giving thanks even surfaces at all." ~ Ellen Orleans

.