It's really amazing to watch the growth of "faux meats" or "meat analogs" in conventional grocery stores. 25 years ago I would have gone into anaphylactic shock walking into today's markets and seen so many vegetarian (and vegan) options. Yesterday, at a Giant (in Burtonsville, Maryland, for gawd's sake... a tiny 'burb North of DC), I found a new Morningstar Farms Vegan product: Chicken Strips. Surprising, too, as many of their vegetarian products often have "egg whites." Here's my take on it all.
Okay, not the optimal food product on many counts, but I do allow myself the luxury of trying new vegan products that show up in the marketplace and that fit into a range of personal dietary boundary conditions.
I'll get into the nutrient statistics shortly. But, the basics are that the product is frozen and looks remarkably like, well, a range of variously-sized chicken strips. You can see little "red and green" pepper bits. Frozen doesn't taste too great (it's all pre-cooked). They've done a nice job of getting the "striated muscle" texture (ouch.... sounds awful, but that's true). My first experiment was to saute half the strips in a wok for a few minutes, added sliced onions, continue stir-frying, then added hydrated sliced shitake mushrooms. Maybe a little white wine.
A few minutes alter, I added pre-cooked organic penne pasta (probably around 8 ounces), and then a Vegan Golden Gravy mix (like Hains, forget the brand), and left-over water from steamed vegetables (broccoli?). Pepper, little nutritional yeast to taste... perhaps a bit more liquid and some flour, don't remember. Baked in 350 degree oven for around 30 minutes+ until the pasta had a little bit of crust (first 2/3 of the cooking time covered).
Results? Tasty... uncanny how much like chicken the strips are (when cooked). I prefer White Wave's "Meat of Wheat" Chicken for sandwiches (expensive, but awesome) and this wasn't, imho, as good, but still for a quick meal for some people quite adequate. I'm not real keen on the red/green pepper addition, as it limits what I can do with the stuff. The picture on the front of the package is an accurate representation of what was inside. Someone in marketing must have messed up.
My second test a week or so later was sauteing the strips with spinach, onions, and garlic... then, with Tofutti "cheese" slices making quesadillas. Excellent!
Conclusion: the salt content is around 710 mg per serving (I figure 2 or 3 servings an 8 oz. package in reality). Fat content is marginal (25 percent from calories), and I can pronounce most of the ingredients, 30% the RDA of B12 (surprising) and other well-thought out additions (like, 30% iron). From a financial standpoint, I can get two pounds of tofu for the same price, but then, for a "fast food" quick couple of meals, it has it's appeal. Whether it would "fool" a carnivore, I don't know (and that's not really the goal). Bonus points for the back cover having a symbol and text for "100% Vegan." Negative points that it's a Kellogg company (let's face it... they are usually nutritionally myopic).
Suffice it to say that it's absolutely wonderful to see another edible vegan product in a conventional grocery store. For those not intensely into "fresh" foods, you could easily make a quick and reasonably tasty meal with these strips, indeed, as a "meal starter." I wouldn't make a steady diet of the stuff, but as an occasional treat, sure (add more veggies).
Can't wait to try the Steak Strips.... they didn't have them in (yet).
Although they don't mention the two new Strip products yet (at least in recipes), their website is here.
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