I’ve wanted to try gardein products at home since they I first heard of them a year ago. I finally got my chance last month when the products went on sale at Target. (So, gardein did NOT send me products to review, but I would be very happy if they did send me some!)
I picked up the crispy chick’n (info here). It came with a mandarin orange packet, but we didn’t use it.
You basically fry these babies up,
And use them however you want. We put them in our sweet and sour “chicken” dish but I tried a few plain too. Yummy! They have the right texture, were nice and crispy, and had a great taste – not to plain, but plain enough to add to a dish and be covered in sauce.
You can barely see it, but the chick’n is just above the two water chestnuts.
Steven and I used to eat a diet heavily based on meat substitutes – Boca, Moringstar Farms, and so on. Dinner most nights was a burger with veggies on the side. Now our protein mostly comes from legumes (and nuts and eggs for him), but every once in awhile we enjoy these fun meat substitutes.
Have you ever tried a meat substitute like Boca, Morningstar Farms, or gardein? What did you think of it?
And I mean in general – not how much you think it tastes like meat.
I used to LOVE the Morningstar Farms black bean burger. They aren’t vegan so I don’t eat them anymore. But the Boca Chik’n patties are! I have told Steven a few times I might not be vegan if I couldn’t have my Boca Chik’n. They taste sooooo good when you make them in the pan. So good.
I used to eat veggie burgers when I was in college and the chicken patties. I think they were both Boca. I used to make a chik’n parm dish with the Boca chik’n.
I was never a vegetarian but I do enjoy a veggie burger and they were easy to make. Also, my one roomie who would “borrow” food from me would not go anywhere near the veggie burgers so that was part of my motivation. I also used to buy Fresca since I knew she wouldn’t drink it. 😉
Ha! I love that you bought them to avoid your roomie stealing them!!!
I don’t rely on pre-made veggie burgers too much, as I find they are pretty high in fat and have so many fillers. My kids do enjoy them! I love the chickpea cutlets recipe from Veganomicon myself but no one in my family does, so I am still searching for that recipe for a home made veggie burger or patty that all my kids will like and then I will be very happy! When I find it, I’ll let you know…
We haven’t found the perfect patty yet either, so please do let me know!
I tried the Gardein faux beef and loved it. I was totally opposed to fake meat and still would rather eat ‘real’ food but it’s delicious and quick in a pinch.
I like Gardein’s products a lot! I wrote to them about a year ago, and they sent me a bunch of coupons in the mail! You should give it a go! 🙂
I want to try Gardein products so badly! My favorite “faux” products are the Morningstar Tomato Basil burgers…OMG. They taste just like a pizza or something. I will have to try the Boca Chik’n!
I’ve been experimenting with homemade vegan burgers from http://www.ohsheglows.com. But then again, I love cooking. You may not!
I love boca veggie burgers! Pretty tasty. Your dinner looks yum! I should give it a try!
Funny, you’re the second blogger I’ve seen to recommend Gardein!
I am obsessed with Dominex Eggplant Cutlets. They are sliced and then breaded in a whole-wheat crumb coating. Don’t know if they are vegan though. Maybe I should blog about them and see if I can get free eggplant! 🙂
Oh, those are great! I forgot about them.
Updated: I checked on the website and they ARE vegan. 🙂 (not a high protein source, but you could dress them up with vegan cheese!)
http://www.dominexeggplant.com/products-cutlets.html
Ooo, I want to try them! I will have to see if I can find them around us. Thanks for checking!
I had a boca burger a couple of years back. I think I actually quite liked it from what I remember. Of course the fact that I’ve never tried one since might indicate that I hated it.
I was glad to see you bought it at Target, because according to the website, stores that carry the brand in IL don’t exist here in Springfield. But there is a Target. So I will go look one of these days 🙂
As you know, I am not averse to using what I lovingly call “fake meat” in my cooking: I’ve mainly used MorningStar Farms although I’ve played around with other brands like Ive’s and Boca. Something I read recently got me thinking, however, that while these are great meat substitutes, they are fall under the “processed” category, and I’d like to reduce processed stuff in favor of more raw/fresh food. So that most recent dish I cooked with MorningStar Farms fake beef? Might be the last for a while. Unfortunately my experiments with lentils and other bean-heavy dishes haven’t been that great, I’ll keep trying: these are a better source of “un/less-processes” protein, right? 🙂
They look really tasty! I’d try them! Of course, I’ll try just about anything once.
The Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean Burgers are great. I’m surprised that they are not vegan, though. Black beans aren’t animals, are they?
I like their corn dogs, too, although I doubt they’re particularly healthy.
I had a Morning Star Black bean burger tonight. Normal grill them in a pan but tonight tossed it in the microwave (due to time)and it came out good.
Want to try Gardin. Didn’t know Target had them, only seen at Whole Foods. Thanks for the recommedation.
I still eat cheese and eggs, sadly can’t give up cheese but due to the doctor eating less and smaller portions
I’m not vegetarian/vegan soooo I don’t really eat fake meat, although I don’t really eat much meat in general. That being said, fake meat kinda creeps me out! I suppose I don’t necessarily understand attempting to recreate something people don’t eat…why do people need fake chicken if you don’t eat real chicken? Maybe you could shed some light for me. 🙂
I like having the patties so that when everyone is grilling in the summer, I am not the oddball left out. Also, they are easy to make and throw in dishes when you don’t feel like making something else 🙂