With Thanksgiving just a week away for Canadians (and under two months for those of you south of the border), some of you may still be looking for food ideas, especially alternatives to the standard turkey or ham.  Recently, I was invited to a tasting event at Whole Foods Yorkville that included items that were vegetarian and vegan friendly.  Typically, when one thinks of vegetarian mains for Thanksgiving, the first that comes to mind is a soy-based “turkey.”  However, for those looking for something other than soy, there’s a hazelnut-based “roast cutlet” that the store is offering as part of their vegan/vegetarian menu.

It was definitely an interesting dish.  Even as a flexitarian, I would never have thought of using hazelnut in a main course as in my mind, it has always been something for dessert (or a flavour of coffee).  A little bit crunchy on the outside, but soft inside, it reminded me a bit of tonkatsu, a breaded pork dish found at many Japanese restaurants.  It’s a little bit softer inside, of course, but the dish itself will unlikely make even the biggest of carnivores miss meat.  The Whole Foods version does contain wheat and yeast, so this is not for those who are gluten-free.  The field roast also has lentils, garlic and pea powders as well as spices.

The hazelnut field roast is part of Whole Foods’ Vegan Holiday Dinner menu (available to order until this Friday, October 5), which includes green beans with roasted shallots and fresh herbs, ginger mashed yams and apples and fresh cranberry sage compote.   What’s interesting is, however, that I cannot find a recipe for anything similar online – only pre-packaged hazelnut roasts!  Strange.