The truth about "The Shire"

Well, it is no secret that most Worcestershire sauces are non-vegetarian. Lea & Perins Worcestershire sauce is no exception. Their FAQ contains the details. Their honest statement in the FAQ is in clear and unambiguous. Always appreciated. Their unwillingness to create a vegetarian version, less so.

Here's the relevant FAQ:

"Do you make a vegetarian version of Worcestershire Sauce? No. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is made to the original recipe created in 1837 and contains anchovies - a type of fish. We believe that altering the recipe to exclude a key ingredient such as anchovies would mean that Lea & Perrins would no longer be the 'original and genuine' Worcestershire Sauce, as claimed on the bottle. "

Worcestershire and anchovies are big Vegetarian 'gotchas' for folks looking for off the shelf barbecue or hot sauce in the average grocery. Many sauces throw in tiny bits of them in rendering useless for the watchful vegetarian.

For those interested Annie's Natural makes a Veggie version of Worcestershire. I've never tried this brand but have found other brands to be perfectly good for the home kitchen. (Should it get one of those 'oh so catchy' veggie names like Best-o-shire)(maybe not)

Review: Breakstone's Sour Cream Fat Free

Breakstone's Sour Cream Fat Free...What would I do without you?


Anyone who has followed my reviews knows full well I am a card carrying ovo lacto vegetarian but not a vegan. In case I have not been fully outed as a non-vegan, this post will leave no doubt. I am about to extol the virtues of Breakstone's Sour Cream Fat Free.

Generally speaking, Mexican cuisine lends itself very nicely to a vegetarian lifestyle. Beans, rice, tortillas and cheese can be combined, mixed and matched into all sorts of concoctions. This fare get even better when spiced up with good old salsa or some other sauce. Here's where we get to the sour cream.

Sour cream on top of cheesy spicy hearty fare really adds contrast and coolness. Real sour cream also adds tons of fat.

I find the BreakStone's Fate Free Sour Cream to be a truly great substitute for its fatty cousin. You get all the flavor and coolness without the fat and guilt. You may not end up like me, but I have come to prefer the fat free variety over the real thing. Real sour cream just seems too heavy to use. It is so thick and so rich it is almost feels like butter now. It overwhelms the food rather than just complimenting it.

I have tried a few different fat free sour creams and Breakstone's stands out. It is thick and creamy and, again, without the fatty weight or real sour cream. Some other brands run a little like Yogurt. The Breakstone's can really stand up on a spoon. The 'sour' comes through and provides the flavor contrast to your meals when desired.

So while this is not strictly a vegetarian product, it is quite yummy and useful

• Overall Rating: 4
• Similarity to meat (but in a good way): n/a
• Similarity to actual food described: 4
• "Worth it?" Rating: 5
• "Would I get them again?": 5

Ingredients: CULTURED PASTEURIZED GRADE A NONFAT MILK, DRIED CORN SYRUP, FOOD STARCH-MODIFIED, CREAM, LESS THAN 2% OF STARCH, ARTIFICIAL COLOR, MALTODEXTRIN, XANTHAN GUM, NATURAL FLAVOR, VITAMIN A PALMITATE.

Serving Size 32g Servings per package 14
Amount Per Serving
Calories
30
Calories from Fat
0
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g

0 %
Saturated Fat 0g

0 %
Cholesterol 5mg

1 %
Sodium 25mg

1 %
Total Carbohydrate 5g

2 %
Dietary Fiber 0g

0 %
Sugars 2g

Protein 1g

Vitamin A 4 %
Vitamin C 0 %
Calcium 4 %
Iron 0 %

Review: Gimme Lean! Sausage Style

From our friends at LiteLife comes their Gimme Lean: Sausage Style. This impressive packaged faux meat is truly loaded with "Style". I like the sausage casing-like wrapper, the density and weight of the unit, and the very fashionable strawberries flanking the sausage patties on the design. This is a faux meat that is ready to go out on the town.

Unfortunately, I don't find this to be the best tasting veggie sausage around. I've had this product in my house numeorus time. I use it mainly for breakfast sausages. It could be that it has other, better, uses than as a breakfast sausage (maybe the strawberries are trying to tell us that this is more of a dessert sausage).

The sausage flavor is too subtle and the main flavors that come through seem to be salt and pepper alone. I prefer other patty style sausage like the ones from Boca or Morning Star. Additionally, with those two brands the patties are made for you. The Gimme Lean is pretty inconvenient and has nether a patty or link version of their product

The first few times I sampled Gimme Lean: Sausage Style, I made the mistake of opening up the whole casing and making patties like one would make hamburgers. Don't bother. If you do like Gimme lean, let me suggest that you take a sharp serated knife and cut into the wrapped sausage hunk and pre-make patties that way. (see image below)It was much easier and saves you the trouble of dealing with patty formation early in the morning.

• Overall Rating: 2
• Similarity to meat (but in a good way): 3
• Similarity to actual food described: 2
• "Worth it?" Rating: 2
• "Would I get them again?": 2

About these ratings

Nutrition Facts
Per Single Serving
Serving Size 2 oz. 57g

Calories 50 Fat 0g Saturated Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 330mg Carbohydrate 4g Fiber 2g Sugar 1g Protein 8g Soy Protein 7g

Ingredients
Made from water, soy protein concentrate, tapioca starch, soy sauce (water, soybeans, wheat, salt), soy protein isolate, wheat gluten, malt extract, evaporated cane juice, beet powder, spices, natural flavors (from vegetable sources), vegetable gum. No nitrites. No MSG.

Don't eat it!

Here's a bug I found on my roof top garden today in Brooklyn. There's nothing in the image to give it a sense of scale but it is longer than my middle finger.

World's Sexiest Vegetarian

"The veggie voters have spoken, and American Idol winner Carrie Underwood and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin have been selected as PETA’s 2005 “World’s Sexiest Vegetarians” "

Expect no review from this reviewer

Review: Vegetarian Ground Beef

Here's a fun product from Lightlife called Smart Ground (Taco / Burrito). I used it in soft tacos and burritos. Typically with some cheese, salsa, and Fat free sour cream. This is a pretty good product with a nice texture and a very good attempt at taco meat flavor. The major drawbacks are that it is pricey, it comes shrink wrapped in a pretty unappetizing bubble of plastic and it is very salty. The saltiness is the biggest downside of this product and many other faux meats.

If you need something fast than you can be satisfied with this. My personal preference is for my own faux ground beef made from TVP, honey, soy sauce, chili powder, (vegetarian) worcestershire sauce, black pepper, onions and garlic. Muy excellente.

Back to the product:

• Overall Rating: 2
• Similarity to meat (but in a good way): 3
• Similarity to actual food described: 3
• "Worth it?" Rating: 2
• "Would I get them again?": 2

Nutrition Facts
Per Single Serving
Serving Size 2 oz. 57g

Calories 50 Fat 0g Saturated Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 330mg Carbohydrate 4g Fiber 2g Sugar 1g Protein 8g Soy Protein 7g

Ingredients
Made from water, soy protein concentrate, tapioca starch, soy sauce (water, soybeans, wheat, salt), soy protein isolate, wheat gluten, malt extract, evaporated cane juice, beet powder, spices, natural flavors (from vegetable sources), vegetable gum. No nitrites. No MSG.

Marathon running for charity

Bad news. My NYC Marathon Entry was denied.

but...

Great news!! I joined the New York Road Runner's Team for Kids charity team and I got in!!!

Please feel free to contribute to my $2,500 pledge commitment to the Team for Kids. Use this URL to donate online

https://www.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/start.cgi/mar-programs/nyrrf/team/donations.htm
Remember to use my last name and entry #:

Ingberman #27778

Really Good Turkey Deli Slices

Maybe you saw my post about a really good sandwich. What made it so good was this Turkey Deli Slice I was trying. Well the turkey deli slice has been a hit at home and is now a regular (and worth a quick review)

It is called Veggie Turkey by Yves. The slices are quite good. They hold up well in a sandwich or even straight from the fridge. They taste great and texture is as meat-like as I prefer. Some mock meats can be salty but these are well balanced in that department. This is strictly turkey slice or turkey roll style. This is not in any way like turkey breast. (for turkey breast see Tofurkey[no review yet]). The slices are a tiny tiny bit slimy out of the package.

One downside is not about the product but rather the packaging. The plastic sealed slices are vacuum sealed and hard to open. Once opened, the slices are hard to separate without tearing. I often end up with a double-slice (that I cannot be bothered to separate) or a torn slice (bcz I was rushing).

This is fine product and lost of fun. It may not have a lot of WOW factor but it has been really good. For lite summer time lunch or picnic, these turkey slices make a nice sandwich.

• Overall Rating: 3
• Similarity to meat (but in a good way): 3
• Similarity to actual food described: 4
• "Worth it?" Rating: 3
• "Would I get them again?": 3

[About these ratings]

Ingredients:
Water, soy protein, vital wheat gluten, natural flavor, canola oil, organic evaporated cane juice, yeast extract, salt, spices, carrageenan, wheat starch, natural liquid smoke, citric acid, vitamin B1 (thiamine hydrochloride), vitamin B12 (cyanocolbalamin), pantothenate (calcium pantothenate), iron (ferric orthophosphate), iron oxide, zinc (zinc oxide), magnesium (dimagnesium phosphate), potassium (dipotassium phosphate)
Nutritional Information
Veggie Turkey Slices: Nutritional Information


Serving Size: 62g

Servings per package: 2.5


Amount per serving:

A good sandwich

Today I am having a vegetarian Turkey Club wrap. The bread is a really neat low carb flat bread I get at Costco called "Roll Ups" from Damascus Bakery. I have Veggie Turkey from Yves and Smart Bacon from Light Life (read review). I also have ice berg lettuce, Kraft Fate Free Shredded Cheddar and Fat Free Blue Cheese dressing from Wish bone.

I wish I had a camera phone. I would post a picture of it.

yum

Review: Bringing home the Bacon

Just recently we've been buying veggie bacon and having a few strips in the mornings with our breakfast. I have always preferred veggie breakfast sausage link as the breakfast meal mock meat of choice. On some whim I brought home Morningstar Farms Veggie Breakfast Bacon Strips. These were quite good. The problem is that our local grocery delivery company, Fresh Direct, doesn't carry Morningstar brand products. Since Fresh Direct tends to be cheaper than my local Grocery I like to use them whenever possible so I order their mock bacon from Lightlife called Smart Bacon. All of this lead to a parade of "fakin' bacon" in my house and this dual product review.

Overall, I'd say that Lightlife Smart Bacon is quite good but is not as good as Morningstar Farms Veggie Breakfast Bacon strips. The Veggie Breakfast strips do a better job of visually and tactically replicating the bacon strip. I'd pick the Veggie Strips every time however Smart Bacon is a good second choice.


See full reviews for:

Morningstar Farms Veggie Bacon Strips

Light life Smart bacon

Review: Lightlife Smart Bacon

Lightlife Smart Bacon

Here, the maker of my favorite seitan, offers a mock-bacon. Their product is tasty but comes up short in the bacon simulation. Their strip reminded me more of pastrami than of bacon. They were heavier cut than the Morning star and the texture had a stringy graininess that is more like pastrami (or some other cuts of steak) rather than bacon. I just had the idea to try their mock pastrami to test my theory that their bacon is more of a bacon-pastrami (look for a review ;)

• Overall Rating: 3
• Similarity to meat (but in a good way): 2
• Similarity to actual food described: 2
• "Worth it?" Rating: 3
• "Would I get them again?": 2

Review: Morningstar farms Veggie Bacon Strips

Morning Star Farms Veggie Bacon Strips

In my world bacon goes with eggs. My mock-bacon reviews are currently based solely to bacons a x breakfast meat. In the future I will review based on a mock--BLT or added bacon to a Boca Burger to do a some kind of end to end test. The bacon as breakfast meat is a more grueling test in that the mock meat has to be visually appealing on the plate (not covered with bread, lettuce or Mayo) and is generally enjoyed as a main food and not a garnish.

Given this criteria, the Morning Start Farms Veggie bacon strips are a very fun and tasty addition to your breakfast. They look like bacon strips and have a bacony sort of taste. They cook up nicely in the pan. You can microwave them but I would recommend doing so only to defrost. I recommend cooking these in the pan with some light cooking spray for best results (as opposed to breakfast sausage links which I like microwaved).

• Overall Rating: 4
• Similarity to meat (but in a good way): 2
• Similarity to actual food described: 4
• "Worth it?" Rating: 3
• "Would I get them again?": 4

I had to give this a low score for similarity to meat only because bacon is so unique. This is a quality mock meat but you just cannot fake bacon (which is probably a good thing) . This also got a medium "worth it" rating because I find all small grocery sized boxed of mock-meat to be on the pricey side.

Goooooogled!!!

Dreadlobster now comes up in Google search results. See:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=dreadlobster

About these ratings

The information below is intended to give readers an understanding of the product review rating system.

Overall Rating:
Name say it all. This is just my high level total opinion of the product.

Similarity to meat (but in a good way):
If a product is a mock meat then this is intended to rate how well it is mocked.
Tofu, for instance, wouldn't get a rating because it is not trying to mock anything.

Similarity to actual food described:
This is a rating about the preparation of the food. If the product is mock buffalo wings, this rating is more about the buffalo sauce than the quality of the mock meat.

"Worth it?" Rating:
Packaged veggie food can be expensive and high calorie. This is an attempt to rate whether you really want this product in your house and if you should spend you dollars elsewhere.

"Would I get them again?":
There is a good chance that I may crave an expensive high calorie item once in a while.
Just because I don;t buy cases of a certain item I may see myself buying once or twice a year
(even if I know I shouldn't)

I'll should hear on June 1st

My NYC Marathon Lottery entry ...still waiting

Review: Favorite Vegetarian Hot Dog

There are all sorts of vegetarian hot dogs on the Market. Some are great, others good, and others downright awful. There are two test for a vegetarian hot dog

1. How do they taste straight out of the fridge?
2. How do they taste on a bun with mustard and sauerkraut?

The best product out there in this category are Lightlife: Smart Dogs


These are quite good. They definitely pass the "out of the fridge taste test" and they also heat well for bun use. I haven't found a vegetarian hot dog that does well on the grill. They don't crisp up like real hot dogs. On the other hand, the number of barbecue grills Ii would cook my food on are fewer than the number of buns in a package minus the number of hot dogs in hot dog package.

• Overall Rating: 4
• Similarity to meat (but in a good way): 4
• Similarity to actual food described: 4
• "Worth it?" Rating: 4
• "Would I get them again?": 4

Lightlife: Smart Dogs
Nutrition Facts Per Single ServingServing Size (1)
Calories 45 Fat 0g Saturated Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 320mg Carbohydrate 2g Fiber 1g Sugar 1g Protein 9g Soy Protein 7g

Ingredients: Made from water, soy protein isolate, wheat gluten, evaporated cane juice, salt, yeast extract, soy sauce (water, soybeans, wheat, salt), granulated garlic, carrageenan, spice extracts, natural flavors (from vegetable sources), vegetable gum, natural liquid smoke flavor, potassium chloride, tomato pulp. No nitrites. No MSG.

Review: Best Vegetarian Chicken

I have searched for the vegetarian equivalent of a dozen hot Buffalo wings, carrots, celery and blue cheese for years. Chicken is the last thing in the world I want to eat and actual little chicken wings fall even behind that. However, the hot and spicy taste of really buffalo wing sauce is fantastic. It has the red hot, almost metallic, spiciness that is oh so good. Dowse that fire with some ice cold blue cheese and celery and you have yourself a meal worthy of the beer you are drinking.

A few months ago I discovered Bill's Best Minit Meat Chik. This is a seasoned powder that is part soy flour and part wheat gluten. You combine the mix with water and boil. It is a little difficult to master (if it is too loose you do not get the chicken effect, too tight and you get a rubbery finished product) I think I've got it pretty much down now and I love it!! It is very useful and I can make 'chicken' cutlets and nuggets and the like. It is the core ingredient in my vegetarian Chicken Wing Experience

This is a solid product but I find the small cans are a little pricey. I get the larger, more economical, tub size from Uncle Don's

• Overall Rating: 4
• Similarity to meat (but in a good way): 4
• Similarity to actual food described: 4
• "Worth it?" Rating: 4
• "Would I get them again?": 4
  
  CHIK
  no msg, all vegetable ingredients
  
  Nutrition Facts
  
  Serving Size 0.9oz(25g) -dry
  Servings Per Container
  Amount Per Serving
  Calories 94
  Calories from Fat 9
  Total Fat 1g
  Saturated Fat 0g
  Cholesterol 0mg
• Sodium 294mg
  Total Carbohydrate 3g
  Dietary Fiber 1g
  Sugars 0.6g
  Protein 18g
  Vitamin A 8 IU
  

Review: Buffalo Wings by Health is Wealth

I has these wings the other day and they were quite good. The spice was present but no too strong. They were breaded and not saucy at all. These are more like really good mock 'chicken nuggets' than mack 'buffalo wings'.

• Overall Rating: 3+
• Similiaraity to meat (but in a good way): 4
• Similiarity to actual food described: 2
• "Are they worth it?" Rating: 3
• "Would I get them again?": 2+

Here are the details form their website:
Ingredients: Water, Textured Wheat Gluten, Textured Soy Protein Concentrate, Natural Chicken Flavor (Tapioca Flour, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Yeast Extract, Sea Salt, Flavorings), Isolated Soy Protein, Vegetable Gum, Wheat Fiber, Dehydrated Celery, Spices, Garlic Powder.
Breaded With: Unbleached Stone Ground Wheat Flour, Barley Malt Solids, Yeast, Sea Salt.Battered With: Water, Yellow Corn Flour, Corn Starch, Sea Salt, Spices, Paprika, Garlic Powder, Red Bell peppers, Guar Gum, Extractives of Paprika, Natural Flavors and Vinegar.Coated With: Vinegar, Aged Red Cayenne Peppers, Guar Gum and Xanthan Gum. Browned in Soybean Oil.


Serving Size 3 Nuggets (63g)
Servings Per container About 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 100 Calories From Fat 15
% Daily Value
Total Fat 1.5g 2%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 490mg 20%
Total Carbohydrates 11g 4%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Sugars 0g
Protein 10g
Vitamin A 8% Vitamin C 4%
Calcium 4% Iron 40 %
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Difficult to know if Red Lobster has anything vegetarian on the menu?

From the Red Lobster FAQ


http://www.redlobster.ca/company/faq.asp#q22

Which menu selections are vegetarian?
It's difficult to say from one restaurant to the next, but only because our chefs are constantly creating and customizing recipes for our menu. While we don't have vegetarian items on our menu, some recipes can be prepared without meat or seafood. Please speak with a manager about specific menu suggestions to best meet your needs.

"Er, um, excuse me sir. When you have a moment and when you are not reeking of fish and tartar sauce, could you tell me if you have anything not made of fish? Also could ask the chef to wear gloves before hanldoing my food. Oh, and bring it on a paper plate with a plastic knife and fork."

Welcome to dreadLobster!!

I am the only person in my office right now for two related reasons

1) There is a going away party for a colleague at Red Lobster
and
2) I am a vegetarian. Have been for 12 years.

Please expect a very upbeat non-militant perspective on being a vegetarian in all of my writings to follow. I am going to post my thoughts on recipes, grocery products, restaurants and general vegetarian lifestyle.

I'll keep it light.

ai