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"Um, not to add more stress to Thanksgiving (anyone else get cooking-for-20 anxiety?), but it&amp;#x27;s important to think about the guests you may have with special diets. As mouthwatering as your great-aunt Cindy&amp;#x27;s citrus-stuffed turkey recipe is, your lovely vegan friend Sally isn&amp;#x27;t going to be able to eat it. So on a holiday when everyone&amp;#x27;s gathered to give thanks, try whipping up some of these alternatives to traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Your guests will be so grateful. (Heh.) Your guest is: Vegetarian Because Thanksgiving dinner focuses so much on meat, you&amp;#x27;d think it would be hard to find meat-free options for the vegetarian in your life. But no! There are actually tons of meatless recipes that are easy and tasty--so much so, your other guests will be tucking into them, too. And hey, and if all else fails, just whip out a festive Tofurkey. Sample menu: You can still get pretty fancy without the fowl--unlike vegans, vegetarians eat things like cheese and eggs, which leaves you with a ton of usable ingredients. Think: baked acorn squash with chestnuts, phyllo spinach tartlets, mashed potatoes with chives, spice-kissed pumpkin pie, and even a good old cheese-and-grapes platter. Go-to help: The Vegetarian Resource Group, Vegsource, Yum Universe Just remember: &amp;amp;#8220;For appetizers and desserts, fresh fruit and vegetable platters with plant-based dip, such as hummus, can work for almost anybody with a dietary restriction,&amp;amp;#8221; says Erin Palinski, R.D., a New Jersey-based dietitian. Your guest is: Vegan So you successfully (and easily) got rid of the meat for your vegetarian friends, so now you&amp;amp;#8217;ve got to find some animal-product-free choices for your vegan friends. Impossible? Not even a little bit. You can create truly yummy vegan recipes by subbing out things like eggs and butter with ingredients like soft tofu and sunflower oil. Sample menu: The Vegetarian Resource Group has a comprehensive (and totally yummy) lineup of vegan-friendly recipes for things like pumpkin soup, pecan-encrusted seitan, kale and potato galette, and lemon custard bars. Just remember: &amp;amp;#8220;When you&amp;amp;#8217;re cooking, be on the lookout for animal products that you may add without realizing it--butter and cream, for example,&amp;amp;#8221; Palinski says. &amp;amp;#8220;Cook veggies in olive oil instead of butter, and add almond or soy milk to mashed potatoes instead of regular milk.&amp;amp;#8221; Your guest is: Gluten-Free Friends and family members who are sensitive to gluten need to avoid anything containing grains like wheat, barley, and rye, otherwise they could suffer a severe and painful reaction--not fun at any point, and certainly not at a party. The main issue is that gluten is in a lot of things you just wouldn&amp;amp;#8217;t expect it to be, so check out this list of foods that are safe for those who have gone gluten-free. Sample menu: Spice-rubbed turkey, oven-baked mashed potatoes, gluten-free cornbread stuffing, Riesling baked pears Go-to help: Celiac.com, Celiac Central, Gluten Free Girl and the Chef Just remember: &amp;amp;#8220;Watch out for potential cross-contamination that can cause guests to eat gluten without realizing it,&amp;amp;#8221; Palinksi says. &amp;amp;#8220;For instance, don&amp;#x27;t put the stuffing inside the turkey. Turkey itself is gluten free, but stuffing isn&amp;#x27;t and the residue from the stuffing could make someone with Celiac disease sick.&amp;amp;#8221; Your guest is: Diabetic Diabetic guests need food that&amp;amp;#8217;s low in sugar and carbs; roasted turkey fills both bills, so you&amp;amp;#8217;re probably already one step ahead. Yes! Otherwise, it&amp;amp;#8217;s important to have options that are sugar-free or made with sugar substitutes, and low in carbohydrates--diabetics need to skip the bread basket altogether. Sample menu: Mashed turnips with roasted garlic, bacon Brussels sprouts (um, drool), cinnamon pumpkin torte. Go-to help: Diabetes Educator [www.diabeteseducator.org], Diabetic Gourmet, D Life Just remember: Diabetics need to keep their sugar levels regulated, and that might mean having low-cal, low-fat foods to nibble on regularly. Stash some plates of raw veggies and low-fat cheese so that they can nosh until the real meal is served. Are you doing the cooking this year? What other tips--and recipes!--would you add to the list? More about special diets: * Alicia Silverstone&amp;#x27;s Nori Burritos * More Than One Million People in the U.S. Are Gluten Intolerant But Don&amp;#x27;t Know It. Are You One of Them? * Vegetarianism: Is Bacon a &amp;quot;Gateway&amp;quot; Food for Eating Meat? Photo: Thinkstock "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2012/11/thanksgiving-for-special-diets>