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I've made this meal for years, and now have a set menu everyone likes. If anyone wants to bring a turkey or anything else that's fine. I sometimes have a quorn roast, but don't bother with it much anymore. Here's the menu:

Cornbread dressing (I use No-Chick Broth, works great)
Mashed Potatoes ( and this year we grew them, along with most of the veg)
Wild Rice with toasted almonds
Acorn Squash with honey, cinnamon and rosemary
Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Light Wheat Yeast Rolls
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflower Salad with Remoulade
Yellow Squash
Green Beans
Corn
Sweet Potato Pie
Pecan Pie
Vanilla Ice Cream
Iced Tea with the meal, Coffee with dessert
Everything is made from scratch. I have a game plan written down and start 3 days ahead.
I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm not a vegetairan by any accounts but I did make this recipe one Thanksgiving and it is truly a show stopper.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pumpkin-Stuffed-with-Vegetable-Stew-240601

.Stuffed acorn squash (stuffed with wild rice, sauteed onions, dried cranberries, chopped pecans and other seasonings)

Mashed potatoes (made only with veggie stock, garlic and potatoes) with vegetarian gravy

Homemade cranberry sauce

Any olive cured any way, I love them all. I have a small dish every day after work with a glass of wine. or beer. or whatever is available.

Blue-cheese stuffed olives, in a dirty vodka martini!

Years ago, before they were readily available here, I paid $50 to have a Tofurkey shipped to me (I think it was like $20 for the Tofurkey itself and $30 for the shipping--it arrived packed in dry ice via Fed Ex) and it was absolutely terrible. Looked like an inside out sweat shock, and tasted about what I'd imagine is the same, with the added bonus of a rubbery texture. A waste of money and a disappointing centerpiece to our meal. Maybe they've improved them over the years, but when I see people rave about them I boggle. I'd have been better off just marinating some nice simple tofu.

Now I just go all out with the sides, which is more than enough.

My family's vegetarian and I'm proud to say we've never had a tofurkey for Thanksgiving. For a vegan dish, I'd recommend stuffed grape leaves or this Bosnian vegetarian "meatball" recipe from Sundays at Moosewood:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Bosnian-Vegetarian-Meatballs-in-Yogurt-Sauce-134497

The recipe calls for eggs but you can probably use egg substitute or more tofu instead. They're really tasty, with a lot of flavor from ground almonds, caraway, parsley, and other spices.

Or, pan-glazed tofu with red curry sauce, which is less time-intensive but equally delicious:
http://wednesdaychef.typepad.com/the_wednesday_chef/2007/02/post.html

I make this vegan by leaving out the fish sauce and subbing vegetable stock or water for the chicken stock.

Good for you for taking the time to provide tasty food for your brother!

I love ALL olives. The more the merrier. Kalamata, Black, Green, Nicoise bring it on! What a beautiful idea & a great opportunity! I would love to showcase this on my site!

I too prefer olives in their oil iteration.

My husband and stepsons are vegetarians and I come from a big meat-eating family. So for the holidays, in addition to all the sides that they can enjoy, I usually do some kind of pasta dish, a canneloni, or a lasagna. This is easy to make ahead and freeze and just heat up on the day. I also do a vegetarian gravy -- from a dry mix. The brown gravy is quite delicious and my niece who is not a vegetarian, prefers my "gravy" to the one from the bird drippings.

We also used to do two stuffings, one in the bird and one not. But after a few years, it was just as easy to just do one in a big pan, not in the bird. I can't really tell the difference now.

This year, I am thinking of making a mushroom streudal. Mushrooms are very 'meaty' and I think this would be delicious with a bit of 'gravy'. I'll let you know how it turns out.

My aunt is vegetarian and came to our place for dinner last year. She was the only vegetarian among us omnivores, so it was Mom to the rescue. Having grown up Seventh Day Adventist--though not vegetarian--I am accustomed to occasional vegetarian dinners. Mom made one of her delicious vegetarian loaves--which is always a hit at church pot lucks--from cottage cheese, eggs, ground nuts, bread crumbs, and perhaps mushrooms. She also made vegetarian gravy to go with, so we had to two gravies, the other being made with the drippings. I think more than half of us--owing to the general Thanksgiving pile on--had some of this veggie loaf special addition to the table and it was delicious. I think I also did a vegan stuffing with veggie stock, and all the other veggie sides were without bacon or drippings or chicken/turkey stock, which is not my preference, but everything was a hit!

I think if I were to do a veggie entree it would be three sisters stew, (corn, beans, squash) using either summer squash and corn or winter squash and hominy. The stew can be done in the crockpot and it celebrates foods of the New World and the fall harvest. The veggie loaf, the gravy, and the three sisters stew can all be made ahead and taste better the next day anyway.

Kalamatas are amazing, but I'm a huge fan of the black Greek/Turkish ones, not sure of the name...

Moroccan oil-cured are my favorite, the wrinkled ugly things.