Meatless Tuesday

I am a strong support of the "Meatless Monday" initiative. I don't expect the entire country to just up and go vegan overnight, but people should make the effort to include less meat in their diet as it is. One day a week will not kill anybody, I promise.

So why am I, already a vegan, writing about Meatless Monday, on a Tuesday of all days? Well my avocado extravaganza kind of upset my meal plans for the week, but in a good way. They need to make some magical meter to wave over those things to tell you exactly what day they will be ripe. I am doing the meatless post theme to support some of my friends in their quest for veggie enlightenment and to show that even stubborn omnivores can still eat their favorite foods without eating animal products. These posts will also give me a chance to try and review some new products. And who doesn't like that?

One thing I always hear people say when they learn that I am vegan is "I could never give up cheese!" Trust me, I used to think the same thing. I was probably a bigger cheese freak than a lot of people, and I can not honestly say that I do not miss it. The same with meat. I just really don't care or think about it anymore. I am also not a huge fan of fake meats, and a lot of them are gluten-based. I used to pick up some Boca chicken nuggets from time to time as a guilty pleasure, until I discovered Gardein.

Gardein is a vegetable-based protein that is used to make some pretty convincing vegan meat substitutes. Convincing to the point of being creepy. The first product of theirs I ever tried were the chicken tenders. They were delicious, but did weird me out in their accuracy. You can find Gardein products in the freezer section of your local health food store, but I recently picked some up at Super Target and I am starting to see more of these products at regular chain grocery stores also.

This week's mock meat installment features Gardein's "Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick'n"
Vegan orange chicken?? What's not to love? Instructions are simple: dump frozen pieces into skillet with some oil, saute until crisp (they are lightly breaded), thaw sauce packet, toss, and enjoy. Hmmm. Can't say I was a fan. Yes, it did have a similar texture to chicken. Yes, it did make my house smell like Panda Express...but something just wasn't "there".

I think that deep down inside I was really wanting it to be like the horrible calorie-bomb orange chicken you get at your local hole-in-the-wall Chinese grease trap. The kind with the thick deep-fried breading and cloyingly sweet sauce. Once I put that image out of my head and told myself that this was a much healthier alternative, it still didn't do anything for me. The sauce was extremely boring. I had to add some sesame seeds and chili garlic sauce (oh darn!) to get it to actually taste like anything. To make it a meal, I tossed in some steamed broccoli and carrots and threw it all over some brown rice. Here is a picture of what the skillet ended up looking like:

It looks tasty, and it was after I doctored it up. I just feel like if I spend the money on a convenience product, it should deliver. Eating vegan does not have to be expensive, but companies can really get you on prepared foods, especially if they say "vegan" anywhere on the packaging.