I’m surprised no one mentioned the Chix patties, which I believe are also made by Boca Burger. Really, really good. I just wish they weren’t so pricey.
Oh, geez, I almost forgot . . . one of your local grocery stores or health food stores might carry a product called Veat. It comes in a few different varieties–chicken breast, chunks, etc. It is terrific, especially barbecued. Low in fat (may even be fat-free), and tastes better than most of the meat-sub products out there.
Naw, Morningstar crumble is good too. The main difference I see between some of these soy products and meat (taste-wise) is that meat is commonly a “stand-alone” item, while the soy products need a kick-up by adding ingredients. I have a couple really (and I mean REALLY) good recipes for tofu and faux-meats where the other ingredients just MAKE the meal. Like Tofu Caccatori (sp?) and Hungarian Stew–marvy!
Mmmm, Morningstar Farms. I love their products. Now that you’ve come over to the dark side, try their veggie sausage (“breakfast links”) and bacon. They’re very good, and much better for you than the real thing.
PETA, meet the Sierra Club;
One whacko organization should always know another!
Anthracite
The darkside…
Do not go gentle into that good night
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
I will say that a local bar has a pretty good veggie burger also. Not that I actually bought it or ever would have. When you’re hungry you have to weigh the option that if you try something new and it SUCKS. However we were celebrating my birthday and playing v-ball. Then we all ordered food and one of our friend’s girlfriend ordered the veggie burger. Well just before the food got there(already paid for) she got into a fight with the aforementioned friend and they both left. So… having already eaten and hating to see good food go to waste we checked the parking lot… they were gone… and we divided up the booty. It was actually pretty good. But… they don’t need to dump as much seasoning on a regular burger to make it good.
Still I was pleasantly surprised. Even more surprised than the fact that a bar in central Wisconsin sold veggie burgers.
You guys are making progress but your flavor handicap is still high.
I put so much junk on my cheeseburgers I can just make a sandwhich with cheese onion ketchup and mustard and it just tastes like a regular burger…
Hmm one day without meat and it looks like brain function is already starting to decline.
techchick68 said:
So you’ve never find yourself singing: “Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Mayer weeei-nerrrr…”
A damn good recipe using veggie burgers (I was wrong–not Hungarian, but Greek).
Greek BeefLESS Stew
4 tbsps butter/margarine
6 vegetable burgers*, cubed
12 small onions or 4 medium onions, chopped
2 tbsps tomato paste
2 cups vegetable stock (or water)
4 carrots, chopped
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Melt the butter in a frying pan, brown the burger chunks for about 5 minutes, then place them in a deep stew pot or saucepan. Arrange the onions on top.
Add the tomato paste to the remaining hot fat in the frying pan and stir well. Gradually add the vegetable stock, stir well and bring this mixture to a boil. Pour the sauce over the onions and burger chunks, add the carrots, potatoes, cinnamon, salt and pepper and stir well. Add a little more liquid, if necessary.
Cover hte pot and cook for 40-45 minutes over low heat. Serve immediately in bowls. Have plenty of fresh bread on hand.
(1 hour to make; about 4 servings)
*Use the soy burgers that look like imitation beef burgers not the ones that look like chopped veggies. You can also probably use the frozen, bagged crumple (but I don’t have an exact exchange amount).
ENJOY!
What the heck – I’ll fess up. This is a little more serious than the rest of this thread, so feel free to skip it. But it’s been on my mind, so I’m going to share it.
PETA ain’t convinced me of anything, but pldennison has – at least tentatively.
I have, for the time being, stopped eating chicken because of what I think may be excessive cruelty in the production of it.
I don’t have any special feelings for chickens (or other animals), but I do believe that there is a threshold of cruelty that diminishes us as humans. And I’m starting to think that the poultry industry may have crossed that threshold.
I’m not ready to become an evangelist on this issue yet, for the simple reason that modern chicken production methods have the effect of lowering the costs of the low cost producers. Lower costs ought to (and seem to) bring down the price of the end product, making more chicken available to more people. This is, to me, a good thing.
So I have to think about this some more and come to some sort of conclusion in my own mind what I think about the issue.
OK, so I’m not exactly taking a place on the barricades yet, but there I am. Sorry if I brought down the tone of this thread.
When my brother and I used to live together he would always be eating those molded (not the fungi, but pressed) vegie patties, links, etc. When I would be overcome with hunger, and didn’t have any other edible grub, I would eat those patties. I used to drench mine with garlic flavored Tabasco sauce. It’s all about the condiments! Come to think of it, I cover all my food with garlic flavored Tabasco sauce.
Peta Tzunami - that’s a great looking recipe, I’ll try it tomorrow in fact! Thanks a bunch!
Oh, and I love Tabasco sauce too, Stylus. I wish they sold the Habanero version in stores here - I think you can only order it online now.
There is a canadian co, that makes various meatless products, their “chili-dog” (a chili-flavored hot dog) is VERY good. And about those soy crumbles- try mixing them 50-50 with lean burger (or 1/3 turkeyB, 1/3 beef, 1/3 soy) in your hamburger helper type recipes- all the taste & 1/2 the fat!!
mannie: “free-range” chicken rastes better, is slighter more healthful, and is 'cruelty-free". If I am just buying chicken, i get that, same for eggs.
THANK YOU PETA Tzunami! Your Greek Beefless Stew recipe was fantastic, and we will be having it on a regular basis.
Couldn’t find any soy burgers here in the store, so I used the Morningstar Farms crumbles - it worked great, one of the best-tasting stews I’ve ever had - and the ingredients are so simple too!
On another note - tried Silk Chocolate Soy Milk for the first time. It’s OK, but a little “stoic” tasting, even to a skim-milk drinker like myself.
Welcome to the fence Manny! I’ll just move on over and let you up here with me. I haven’t heard PL lecture series on chicken, but I don’t eat veal for exactly those reasons. I’m sure the US veal industry is quaking in their milking boots, but I’m just not willing to be part of that system.