Yves Deli Slices

It's amazing (or scary, depending on how you look at it) how much they can make food taste like meat without actually containing any meat these days. Yves Deli Slices are a good example of this.

They come in a variety of flavors: Turkey, Ham, Bologna, Salami, Roast without the Beef, Smoked Chicken, and Pepperoni. I have tried all of them except the Roast Beef and Smoked Chicken (only because I can't find them) and have enjoyed them all, but my favorites are definitely the Turkey and Ham. It's eerie how much the Ham tastes like ham...

The Turkey is delicious in a toasted cheese-and-turkey sandwich. In fact, for dinner tonight I had a fake Superbird (one of my old favorite items from Denny's) -- Yves Turkey + Morningstar Farms Bacon strips + Havarti and Pepperjack cheese + buttered bread + toasting until melty = veggie heaven!

The Pepperoni looks just like the meaty kind, and is pretty tasty added to a cheese pizza. I also like to add a couple of slices to a sandwich with another fake meat product -- it really helps to liven up a Nature's Burger.

All of the Yves Deli Slices have a bit of a wheaty flavor to them, since wheat protein is one of the main ingredients. However, it's not as strong as in other wheat-meat products I've tried, and the overall quality of the product makes up for it. Plus, they are a good source of protein and vitamins.

Protein Source: Soy, wheat
Allergens: Soy, wheat (made in a facility that uses egg products)
Vegan

Blue Diamond Almond Breeze, Vanilla Flavor

Almond Breeze almond milk comes in three flavors: Original, Vanilla and Chocolate, all of which are also available in Unsweetened varieties. I have only tried the sweetened Vanilla flavor.

It's comparably priced to soy and rice milks, but may be slightly harder to find.

It's also comparable nutritionally, although like rice milk it has significantly less protein than soy milk -- only 1g. Also, almonds are high in vitamin E, and one serving of Almond Breeze gives you 50% of your daily recommended amount.

The thickness of it falls somewhere in between -- thinner than soy milk, thicker than rice milk. The flavor is pretty good, too. Sweet but not too sweet. It definitely does taste like almonds, but it's not overkill. Good for dessert, coffee, and cereal, and the plain unsweetened variety might be useful for some savory dishes.

** 2/25/09 Edited to add: I tried this on cereal, and it was delicious! It is by far my favorite milk alternative for cereal that I've tried.

**3/7/09 Edited to add: The chocolate flavor is SO GOOD! Go buy some now!

Allergens: Almond, soy (soy lecithin)
Vegan

New feature

I have gone back through my previous product review posts and added info about ingredients, such as protein sources, allergens, and vegan/vegetarian status. This info appears at the end of each post in GREEN.

Hopefully this small new feature will be helpful. I'd hate to get someone excited about a product only to later find out they can't eat it!

-jazzhands

Boca Original Chik'n Patties

So, this is the third brand of breaded chicken-style patty I've tried thus far. To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect much from it. I found Boca burgers to be very bland and boring, and figured this would be, too. However, I was quite pleasantly surprised.

Actually, the breading on the patty was on the bland side, but for me, the flavor and texture of the "chicken" made up for it. It had a nice, chickeny bite to it, and was actually juicy. I am glad I purchased these instead of the MSF chik'n patties I almost bought tonight; if the breading had a bit more seasoning to it, I think these could actually give Quorn chik'n a run for its money. And for me, that's saying a lot. In fact, because the breading stays on better than with Quorn patties, these might be a better choice for using in a dish that requires sliced chik'n -- salad, tacos, quesadillas, stir fry... Hmm, I'm gonna have to buy some more...

Protein source: Soy, wheat
Allergens: Soy, wheat
Vegan?

Morningstar Farms Grillers Recipe Crumbles

Two nights ago, I made myself a tasty vegetarian lasagna using MSF Grillers Recipe Crumbles. It was relatively simple and came out pretty well, if a little overcooked. The Grillers Crumbles really made the dish for me, and it wasn't far off from my old favorite meaty lasagna.

I didn't use a recipe or measure anything, but it was something like this:

- 12-14 wide lasagna noodles, cooked
- 1 jar of vegetarian spaghetti sauce
- 3/4 of a bag of Morningstar Farms Grillers Recipe Crumbles
- 15 oz. ricotta cheese
- 2-3 tbsp of grated parmesan cheese
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
- garlic powder, oregano, and basil to taste

Preheat oven to 350F.
While noodles are cooking, mix ricotta, parmesan, and herbs/spices in a small bowl. Also, thaw Crumbles in microwave (30 seconds at a time, then stir; don't let them cook) in a medium bowl, then stir in spaghetti sauce, reserving about 1/4 cup. Spread reserved spaghetti sauce over the bottom of a 13"x9" baking pan, and lay out one layer of noodles. Spread a thin layer of cheese mixture over noodles, then a layer of sauce mixture. Continue layering, ending with top layer of noodles, sauce, and grated mozzarella. Bake about 40 minutes, or until hot all the way through. Don't judge doneness by appearance of mozzarella cheese on top! I was waiting for the cheese to melt, and it never happened -- thus my top layer ended up overcooked.

I think this product would also be delicious in tacos, or other Mexican dishes. MSF also makes a crumbled sausage product, which I would love to try but can't find anywhere...

**2/25/09 Edited to add: This stuff is also really good sprinkled onto a cheese or veggie pizza!

Protein source: Soy, wheat
Allergens: Soy, wheat
Vegan

Lost in the interwebs of cyberspace

4:30 AM, and I was sleepless and bored. I decided to Google it up and see if I could find my blog. Over 13 million results for "vegetarian blog", and I am not in the top 13 pages. If I search directly for "vegetablog", at least I'm on page 2. But who in the world is going to search for "vegetablog"?

I wonder how I can get my blog noticed... in a good way.

Gardenburger BBQ Riblets

I have never eaten real ribs, so I can't really compare this product to the real thing, but...

I've been a fan of this product for a while now -- pretty much ever since I discovered that I love barbecue sauce about a year or two ago.

Unlike many other veg*n convenience foods, you only get two servings per package. Each veggie riblet comes in a plastic pouch, which is microwaveable. Be very, very careful when you microwave this product! It is very easy to overcook, especially if you have a powerful microwave oven. I only have to cook mine for about half the recommended time for it to be heated through. If it is overcooked, it will chewy and tough to the point of being inedible... which is very sad when it smells so good!

The sauce is delicious -- sweet (but not too sweet) and spicy (but not too spicy). I think they should bottle it and make it available separately. The riblets are tasty too, and have a sort of chunky texture. I have eaten the riblets as a sandwich on a long roll or toasted bread with swiss cheese, or as-is with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Yum.

And yes, it's even vegan! Yay!

On my last shopping trip, I noticed a suspiciously similar product from Morningstar Farms. I purchased it, not realizing that I already had a box of Gardenburger riblets at home. I compared the list of ingredients on the two boxes, and sure enough, they were identical. I wonder what this means..? Did MSF purchase Gardenburger? Hmm...

Protein source: Soy, wheat
Allergens: Soy, wheat
100% vegan

Morningstar Farms Chik Patties Original

I bought these one day while at a grocery store that doesn't carry my beloved Quorn "chicken" products. I knew it wouldn't be the same, but I thought trying something new might be good. Morningstar Farms has rarely ever disappointed me. Besides, the Chik Patties now have received the Chef's Best award... though I'm not quite sure what that means (and I wonder what other fake chicken patties they could have compared this to? Hmm).

Overall, this product was about what I was expecting. They do have a different sort of "chicken" flavor and texture than Quorn or Gardenburger; I'd say it resembles more of a dark meat chicken flavor -- only more, um, blah. The "meat" flavor and the breading reminded a bit of something like Banquet chicken nuggets.

The product does stay together better than a Quorn patty -- the breading doesn't just fall off -- so it does have that going for it. Oh, and it cooks at a lower oven temperature, so the oven preheats faster, thus you can eat it sooner (always a bonus in my book!). And, though it still may not be quite as good IMHO, it is nice to have a little variety once in a while.

Protein source: Soy, wheat
Allergens: Soy, wheat, milk, egg
100% vegetarian

Veggie Slices, Mozzarella flavor

It wasn't until after I purchased this product and really looked at the label that I realized this cheese substitute is not intended for vegans, since it still contains milk ingredients. Then I tried it, and really couldn't think of ANYONE who would choose to eat it. I suppose if you were lactose intolerant or wanted to avoid cholesterol and wanted something VAGUELY (I repeat, VAGUELY) cheese-like, you might purchase this.

I chose to try the Mozzarella flavor, since it is one of my favorite cheeses, and since it seemed like it would be hard to mess up -- even artificial mozzarella (like the kind you find on really cheap frozen pizza) is usually passable. It comes packaged just like other processed cheese slices in a plastic wrapper, with each slice individually wrapped.

The veggie slice, once unwrapped, still resembles a processed cheese slice. It has a similar consistency and texture. The smell is pretty disconcerting, though. This should have been a big red flag.

When I first put it in my mouth, it actually tastes alright -- almost cheese-like. But after a couple of seconds, the flavor changes. It's TERRIBLE. The first time I tried it, it actually went back and forth between okay and god-awful every few seconds the entire time I chewed it -- a very bizarre and unpleasant experience. Also, the texture in your mouth quickly goes from American-cheese-like to tofu.

So what did I do with all the other slices? I'm not the type of person who can just throw away food. I decided that it might not be as bad if it were hidden in some other food, so I crumbled a slice and added it into some Nature's Burger mix. I had to be careful about the fake cheese burning and sticking to the pan, but it actually wasn't too bad. It added another, interesting dimension to the flavor of the Nature's Burger. In fact, the next time I had a Nature's Burger without the crumbled Veggie Slice in it, I found that I missed it!

This brand, Galaxy Nutritional Foods, makes many other flavors of cheese alternatives, some even rice-based. They do also make some vegan cheese alternatives, both soy- and rice-based, but I can't find any of these in any local grocery stores. Among all of these, there might be some flavors that taste better than this "mozzarella" -- but I'm not about to try them myself.

Allergens: Soy, milk
Vegetarian

Rice Dream Organic Rice Drink, Original Flavor, Enriched

Rice milk is another popular milk alternative, and has a few things going for it over soy milk:

+ Rice milk is dairy-free and soy-free. Lots of veg*ns already get plenty of soy from other sources, and may prefer a soy-free milk substitute to avoid soy overload (that's not a technical term, btw).

+ Rice milk is white, like traditional cow's milk.

+ Rice milk has a thinner consistency, more like fat-free milk. That could probably be a positive or negative, depending on personal preference, but I generally prefer it over the thickness of soymilk. I have heard others describe it (negatively) as "watery".

+ The rice-iness of it would make it a good choice for use in both savory and dessert recipes.

Rice milk does have a couple of drawbacks:

- It tastes like rice. It's really kind of like drinking liquid rice.

- It has much lower protein content (1g per serving, in this particular brand).

- It may sometimes have a bit of graininess to it.

I have used this product to make mashed potatoes, with mixed results. The rice flavor was not obtrusive so the flavor was decent, but the creaminess that one usually expects with mashed potatoes just wasn't there, due to the thinness of the the rice milk. Margarine helped some, but it still just seemed off.

I have also used this product (in the Vanilla flavor) on cereal. It's not too bad, but you'd want to choose a cereal that goes well with rice flavor. Pouring it on Trix or Cocoa Puffs probably wouldn't taste too great, but it's decent on Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Allergens: ?
Vegan

Archer Farms Organic Soymilk, Vanilla flavor

Archer Farms is a Target-exclusive food brand. I found this soy milk in the refrigerated section of my local Target's grocery department and decided to give it a try.

It has a pleasant flavor, slightly sweet and vanilla-y on top of the usual soy flavor. The beige color may be off-putting to some people who expect their milk (or milk substitute) to be white. The texture is very thick and creamy, and feels a little sticky in your mouth. I guess if you're used to drinking whole milk or whipping cream or something, that might be okay. But I'm used to fat-free milk, so it's a little strange. Also, you don't want to shake the carton too much before you pour yourself a glass, or else it gets really frothy. Unless you enjoy that sort of thing.

As with many milk alternatives, this product has lots of extra vitamins and minerals added, has 6g of protein per serving, and is completely dairy-free.

It's good in coffee. And lately I've been enjoying having a glass with a late night snack. But I couldn't see myself wanting to pour it on my morning cereal -- it's just not the right taste and texture. If you're looking for a milk substitute to go in a dessert recipe (especially if the recipe calls for whole milk or half-and-half), this would probably be a good choice. It is also available in a Plain flavor.

Allergens: Soy
Vegan