Cooking Vegan With Gardein

Running a vegetarian or vegan home kitchen is hard. What do you sub in for protein? How do you make a plant based meal appetizing? The answer lies in Gardein, a company that makes a variety of faux meat products. Use their products and any home chef can expand their meatless repertoire.

Gardein was started by a Canadian chef twenty-five years ago. He had a vision about using the power of meatless dishes t create a healthy version of fast food. The company  strongly believes that eating plant or soy based meals will help the planet and cut down on the global need for killing and eating animals.It is a great company. I discovered them , looking for some kind of change from other brands of veggie burgers and chicken nuggets.  What I like is their variety. They have soy fish  and crab cakes which the other types don;t have. For a fish  lover like myself, this is a huge deal. I can have a Friday night fish and chips dinner, without hurting any sea life.Theirs tastes exactly like cod, especially with the crunchy  beer batter coating.Another plus is that Gardein has a variety of beef flavored soy. It's not just burgers and crumbles. They have steak tips which can be used for all sorts of recipes.The company also has hot pockets and has just introduced skillet meals  which is kind of like Hamburger Helper with the addition of  "meat". I 'm hoping they expand their breakfast foods line. Right now they only have a hot pocket , filled with  scrambled "eggs and sausage", red peppers and spinach.  and a sausage patty that can be used in sandwiches or as a side to eggs.Hopefully faux Canadian bacon and bacon are on their radar.

Still Gardein is my go to main ingredient. I love their variety and t enables me to create all sorts of dishes.An easy and tasty recipe is sauteing the beef tips with minced garlic in olive oil. I could end it there and serve it with mixed veggies however I add a tablespoon of soy sauce  and steamed pea pods . It's ladled over flavored rice (namely white rice cooked in vegetable broth). It's delicious and filling, and definitely more tastier than using the real thing. Gardein's ultimate beefless burger tastes so much like the real thing, that any carnivore would give up beef patties for this. It has the same juicy mouth feel and mineral flavor.. Another favorite is the Mandarin Crispy Chik'n. I served it with edamame for a PF Chang's vibe.Again it was so flavorful  and the feel was very much like the real thing.I  would  love to try the Chipotle Lime fingers, a perfect Saturday dinner served with french fries and home made cole slaw. The only hiccup is their crab cakes.They're  a little too fishy along with being a bit too peppery.Since they're meant to be hors d'ouevres, they should be served with some kind of sauce. I just had them plain, I should have made some kind of cocktail sauce to compliment them to balance out the over crablike taste.

Gardein's products are a must have for any vegetarian or vegan kitchen. They can be used in a variety of dishes, being the perfect subs for the real thing. Try any of their faux meats or fish  for a tasty, healthy meal..