Your brother's new wife doesn't eat meat and he's bringing her to your house for Thanksgiving.

Your daughter is dating a vegan and they're coming, too.

So much for the fresh turkey you ordered. Forget about Gramma's sausage and corn bread stuffing. And skip the butter-rich butternut squash you serve every year. What are you going to do? Serve salad?

The first step is to breathe deeply and stop worrying. You don't have to shove tradition aside entirely. You can just add some delicious food that doesn't contain meat, and some other great meatless dishes that don't call for eggs or dairy products. My guess is, you already have these things in your culinary repertoire. You just never thought about them that way before.

For your vegetarian guests, look through your recipes for dishes that are satisfying and delicious and don't contain meat. You need something that will serve as a main dish, perhaps something with cheese.

For the vegans, you need a meatless dish that also does not include any dairy products. No butter. No eggs. No cheese. No milk. No kidding. Try to find something that includes nuts or seeds, beans or even tofu. But don't go crazy. Now is not the time to experiment.

When it comes to the side dishes, use fresh, local ingredients and you won't have to do much to them at all. You may want to splurge a bit. For instance, if you roast some potatoes and sweet potatoes, you can serve them will a drizzle of white truffle oil and aged, syrupy balsamic vinegar. No one will complain about that.

Cook the turkey. Make the stuffing and gravy. Add a filling, meatless side and an array of dairy free dishes and you're well on your way. A look back through the Spilling the Beans archives produces a selection of recipes that will be loved by the meat-eaters at your table as well.

Roasted Beets and Onions Agrodolce — You can make this delicious sweet and sour, vegan friendly side in honor of chef and author George Germon, co-founder of Al Forno restaurant in Providence, which served locally-sourced ingredients long before the farm-to-table trend was born. Germon died recently at age 70. His Onions Agrocole are easy to prepare and mixed with a selection of roasted beets will provide an earthy counterpoint and beautiful color to your plate.

Roasted Winter Vegetables with Miso Vinaigrette — A spectacular white miso dressing  adds a satisfying savory richness to this warm mélange of roasted vegetables of your choice, making a very pretty and filling main dish fit for a vegan.

Jellied Cranberry Sauce — No matter what you don't eat, everyone appreciates food prepared with love and care. Whip up this homemade jellied cranberry sauce well in advance, and you'll never buy the canned stuff again.

Broccoli Cheese Strudel — Broccoli gets very special treatment when combined with onions, fresh bread crumbs and cheddar cheese, and wrapped in buttery filo dough. You can make and freeze these tasty rolls in advance, then bake and slice them on Thanksgiving morning. But beware. The vegetarians surely will return if you serve them this.

Might As Well Be Mac & Cheese — If the strudel seems like too much work, go for this cauliflower gratin. The rich, creamy, gruyere sauce will love a side of those beets and onions. Be careful to make a big batch or the vegetarians will be battling the meat-eaters over the crusty, cheesy edges. 

Wilted Kale and Roasted Potato Winter Salad — If you want a less caloric main dish for your vegetarian guests, try this truly amazing and easy to prepare kale and potato bake. Don't skimp on the lemony, tahini-garlic sauce. You'll love this one so much, you'll soon be making it year round. To make it fit for vegans, skip the Parmesan and try sprinkling on some ground salted peanuts before serving. Or, if you want to go further, make a batch of this cashew-nutritional yeast crumble.

Zucchini Bread — A perfect accompaniment for everyone, this terrific, not-too-oily loaf is dairy free and, if you make it this week, it will keep very well in the freezer until Thanksgiving arrives.

Lastly, this nutty bulgur and pearl onion dish will suit vegan and meat-eater alike. It will bring a wonderful texture to your plate and the frozen onions make it a snap to prepare. Don't skip the step where you pat the onions dry after thawing. They are very wet and need a good, gentle press between layers of paper towel in order to get them to brown well.

The original recipe called for fresh oregano, but I think thyme would be much better suited to the day. Or just double up on the parsley. The lemony, chewy bulgur won't be any worse for it.

Don't fear the vegetarians. Embrace them and you just may end up changing your Thanksgiving menu for the better.

Enjoy!

Jill Blanchette is the multiplatform production editor at The Day. Share comments and recipes with her at j.blanchette@theday.com.

Bulgur with Pearl Onions and Almonds

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 16-ounce bag of frozen pearl onions, thawed and onions patted dry

1 cup bulgur

1½ cups water or vegetable stock

Coarse salt and ground pepper

½ cup almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped (I used slivered, blanched but you can use any you have around)

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme (or more fresh parsley, whichever you prefer)

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons lemon juice

In a medium pot, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add you thawed and dried pearl onions and cook, stirring, until golden brown in spots, 4 to 5 minutes. Add bulgur and stir to combine. Add water of stock, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Stir in almonds, herbs, lemon zest, and lemon juice; season to taste with salt and pepper.

Original recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine, November, 2001.