It's Thanksgiving so there must be turkey, right?

But it's interesting to note in how many households other options are served — smaller households find a whole bird too much, vegetarians don't eat turkey, some just don't like it.

Here are some recipes for turkey alternatives.

A number of families we spoke to serve a whole fish at Thanksgiving and other holidays. Most common is a simple preparation: steam the fish, heat peanut oil until sizzling, pour over fish, splash with shoyu, scatter shredded ginger and julienned green onion over and serve immediately.

This recipe is a bit more complex. It's from 'Ilima Award-winning Russell Siu's 1996 book, "On the Rise." He prepares this traditional recipe with fillets because, as he says in the introduction, people don't want to deal with bones and fish heads when they're dining out. But he says you can just as readily use a whole fish, which is what most families do at home.

CHINESE-STYLE STEAMED FISH

• 1 quart chicken stock

• 3/4 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce

• 3/4 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1/4 cup cornstarch

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 whole fish (about 2 pounds) or 4 (7-ounce) fillets

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 4 tablespoons peanut oil

• 3 tablespoons Chinese salted black beans

• 1/2 cup julienned ginger

• 1/4 cup julienned green bell pepper

• 2 bunches Chinese parsley, leaves only

• 1/4 cup julienned green onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium-size saucepan, combine chicken stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil and bring to a boil. In a small bowl or mixing cup, whisk together cornstarch and water and drizzle into stock mixture, whisking. Cook until thickened and set aside.

Combine flour, salt and pepper and dredge fish.

In a skillet, heat peanut oil. Add floured fish and pan-sear until golden brown on one side. Turn, add chicken stock mixture and place in oven for 8-10 minutes or until fish is cooked to desired doneness. Remove fish to warm serving platter. Place skillet back on stove over medium heat and add black beans. Simmer three minutes. Add ginger, bell pepper and green onion and simmer 1 minute. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Spoon over fish and top with Chinese parsley leaves.

Serves 4-6.

• Per serving (not including salt to taste): 620 calories, 30 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 125 mg cholesterol, greater than 1200 mg sodium, 39 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 46 g protein

David Izumi, an expert at smoking all manner of things, from meats to fish to cheese and even nuts, says his family enjoys smoked salmon at Thanksgiving, along with some form of smoked fowl — chicken, Cornish game hens or duck.

He first brines the meats overnight, then slow-smokes them. Even if you aren't into smoking, you could use his brining recipe, then roast the meats.

DAVID IZUMI'S BASIC BRINE

• 1 cup sea salt

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1 quart water

• 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper

• 1 gallon water

• Optional herbs for chicken or game hen: thyme, rosemary, garlic

• For duck: rind and juice of two oranges and two lemons plus some garlic to taste

Combine sea salt, sugar and one quart water until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat. If using herbs or aromatics, allow them to steep for 10 minutes while the mixture cools. Combine with remaining one gallon of water and immerse meats overnight (keep cool in refrigerator or a cooler with ice to prevent spoilage).

For Cornish game hens, he keeps the smoker at about 200 degrees and cooks them for 90 minutes to two hours. For chickens or ducks, it's 2 to 2 1/2 hours at 200 degrees.

Izumi likes to make a glaze for Cornish hens from simple syrup combined with orange rind, lemon rind and a tablespoon of orange liqueur; he says to taste and be sure it's very strong and sweet. This is brushed on about 45 minutes before the birds are pulled out of the smoker.

For smoked salmon, Izumi sprinkles thick fillets with sea salt, garlic powder and pepper and applies pats of butter liberally. Then he smokes them 30-45 minutes at 200 degrees.

Vegan chef Mark Reinfeld recommends a tofu entree based on one in his new book. The following recipes are reprinted from "The 30-Minute Vegan" with permission from Da Capo Lifelong Books.

PECAN CRUSTED TOFU

• 1 pound extra-firm tofu

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or your favorite (optional)

• 1 tablespoon water

For the marinade:

• 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)

• 2 tablespoons water or more, depending on consistency of tahini

For the crust:

• 1/2 cup pecans

• 2 tablespoons dried coconut (unsweetened)

• 2 teaspoons blue cornmeal (optional)

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro, Italian parsley, basil or herb of your choosing

Preheat the oven or a toaster oven to 350 degrees. Slice the tofu into four cutlets. Or try making triangles by slicing the block of tofu diagonally and then slice in half to create four cutlets. Place in a baking dish with soy sauce, coconut oil, if using, and water. Marinate for 5 minutes, flipping periodically.

While the tofu is marinating, prepare the tahini marinade by placing the ingredients in a small bowl and whisking well.

Place tofu in the oven and roast for 12 minutes. While the tofu is cooking, prepare the crust. Pulse-chop the pecans in a food processor until they are coarse crumbs. Be careful not to over process or they will turn into a paste. Transfer to a bowl with the remaining crust ingredients and mix well.

Remove the tofu from the oven and coat the top of the cutlets with tahini marinade, using a spoon. Liberally top the cutlets with the crust mixture and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

• Per serving (includes coconut oil): 360 calories, 29 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 350 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 21 g protein

Variations: Replace the tofu with tempeh, Portobello mushrooms or small eggplants cut in half. For optimal flavor, try toasting the coconut and pecans. All or a portion of the pecans can be replaced with walnuts, macadamia nuts, cashews or pistachio nuts. Experiment with your favorite spices and herbs. Try thyme, marjoram, caraway, mustard seeds or tarragon.

Or serve with the following gravy. Reinfeld here uses a couple of ingredients that will require a trip to the health food store. He uses spelt flour; spelt is a nutty flavored cereal grain used in place of wheat flour, particularly by those allergic to wheat. If you like, substitute white flour or whole wheat pastry flour. He also uses nutritional yeast, which lends both nutrients and a background flavor to the sauce.

MUSHROOM ONION GRAVY

• 1/4 cup flour (try whole spelt or white spelt)

• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon safflower or olive oil

• 1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

• 2 1/4 cups water or vegetable stock

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon minced Italian parsley

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, optional

• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

Create a roux by combining the spelt flour and 1/4 cup of oil in a small bowl and whisking well.

Place the remaining tablespoon of oil in a sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and mushrooms and cook until the onions are translucent, approximately 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and add the nutritional yeast, soy sauce, parsley and nutmeg if using, stirring frequently.

Add the roux and stir constantly until the sauce thickens, approximately 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 3 cups.

Variations: Replace parsley with sage or other fresh minced herbs like dill or basil. You can also create the roux by adding the flour to a pan over high heat and stirring constantly until the flour begins to brown. Stir in the oil until the mixture thickens. This will impart a richer flavor and darker color to the gravy.

Here's Mark Ellman's Mojo Verde recipe in case you go the steak and sauce route for Thanksgiving.

MOJO VERDE

• 8 bunches cilantro

• 5 fresh garlic cloves, chopped

• 3 jalapenos, chopped

• 3 teaspoons salt

• 8 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 cups olive oil

• 4 tablespoons ground cumin

• Juice of 4 limes

In a bowl, mix together cilantro, garlic, jalapenos, salt and 8 tablespoons olive oil. Mix and let sit for 20 minutes. Place in a food processor and chop to a smooth paste. Slowly drizzle in 3 cups olive oil. Add cumin and limes. Taste and correct seasonings.