Just a really short blog tonight because my camera isn't working, my computer is overheating and I have homework to get finished...
I'm not much on "endorsements" because taste is a very personal preference... But... I FOUND SOMETHING YOU MUST TRY!!
I don't use an abundance of "faux" meats in my cooking, not because I have a problem with them being like dead animal meat or not, but because they're usually expensive, not locally produced, I don't always like the taste or texture and the ones I DO like are sometimes hard to find. (No Whole Foods or Trader Joes around here!!).
But I'm the first to admit certain products work really well in certain recipes and I do have a short list of favorites (*cough*Field Roast*cough*). Well, add a new name to the list, because tonight I happened to try a new product (well, new to me anyway) and was totally and completely THRILLED with it!
Gardein products are a meat substitute from Vancouver, Canada, (hey, almost local) made from, as they advertise, "garden protein". They also claim to be fast, convenient, tasty and healthy. Claims which I would say are pretty much accurate. The 'Tuscan Breast' style product that I had tonight contains soy and wheat as well as quinoa, kamut, amaranth and millet. 3 grams of fat and 26 grams of protein (if you are concerned about those things) per serving.
Convenience? OK. So, to start out, I heated these things in a foil-covered pan in the oven, mainly because I have a microwave-phobia that we won't go into here... I can see how, if you were willing to nuke your food, they would be super-fast and convenient. Even in the oven wasn't terribly time consuming, so that's a plus.
Taste? OK, to be totally honest I'm not in love with the bit of sauce these "breasts" came in. But that's easily remedied, if I made these again, I'd simply drench them in my choice of sauce. The actual "chicken" though, was very tasty! Amazingly delicious in fact!
Texture? This is the BEST, easily (in my opinion) beating every other "chicken" product out there, hands down. Not mushy or stringy or dry or bready... I would absolutely try this again!! SO, SO YUM!!!
6 comments:
Thanks for the review. I recently tried their BBQ Skewers and had a similar opinion: the texture was nice but the sauce was very bland.
I tried the Sante Fe version. It was stuffed with black beans and corn. I'll agree with you, the sauce was bland, but it was a nice change of pace. It was handy to have for a quick lunch for two, but if you are feeding more, I think it's too expensive. It was $4.89 per package here.
I know that I have not been around in a while... hope you and the family are well.
I've tried all the Gardein products I found in my East Canadian supermarket, and I like them all. Yesterday, I tried the herb dijon breasts (cooked in the oven), and I enjoyed it very much. Even the sauce was tasty.
thanks for the review. i feel the same way about faux meats, largely because of cost--but these have been on sale at kroger, and i think i will give it a try.
I feel the same way about this product! Everything was great about it, except for the sauce.
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