Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Veggie burgers: A diet disaster?

If you’re like me, all the holiday goodies have left you with a few extra pounds and a desire to eat healthier in the new year. However, if you’re eating at a restaurant, ordering the veggie burger might not be the best option.

The November issue of Cooking Light compared the fat and calorie counts of veggie burgers from three restaurants with meat burgers. You’d be better off with the veggie burger in all cases, but only by comparison: Burger King’s veggie burger (a Morningstar Farms patty) has 420 calories and 16g of fat; Red Robin’s (a Boca burger) has 458 calories and 13g of fat; and Ruby Tuesday’s homemade version has a whopping 952 calories and 53g (!!) of fat. The comparison didn’t specify how much of the calories and fat was from the patty itself and how much was from the toppings (cheese, mayo and the like). But be wary of those seemingly diet-friendly veggie burgers! (Of course, at some of these restaurants, a veggie burger is your only option….)

The magazine also included some recipes for much healthier make-at-home veggie burgers:

Quick Black Bean Burgers
Middle Eastern Chickpea Miniburgers

Monday, December 21, 2009

Daiya taste-test

Daiya brand “cheese” has generated a lot of buzz in vegan circles this year. In March it won VegNews magazine’s “best of show” award at Expo West, a major natural-products trade show. More recently, VegNews named it product of the year. Bloggers have been posting rave reviews. It melts…. And even more, it stretches!

So I’d been eager to try it. The opportunity arrived a few weeks ago with an email from the Vegan Essentials mail-order company. They had five-pound blocks of Daiya available. I ordered a cheddar block immediately, fervently hoping that it wouldn’t be gross. Five pounds is a lot of fake cheese. Luckily, it freezes well. And Vegan Essentials also offers smaller packages of shredded Daiya – although, alas, both the blocks and the shreds are currently sold out.

The flavor has just a hint of the fake-cheese flavor that plagues many vegan cheeses; otherwise it’s pleasant if not overwhelmingly wonderful. But its ability to melt exceeds any other vegan cheese I’ve tried. The texture is fantastic. I’ve enjoyed it in macaroni and “cheese,” atop English-muffin pizzas and various casseroles; and best of all, in nachos. So far, that is my favorite way to use it. I’m conserving the remaining blocks, hoping Vegan Essentials will get more stock in before I’m left Daiya-less and needing nachos!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

What’s cooking?

I think cookbooks make a fabulous gift for vegetarians—especially if they’re fond of cooking, of course. (And if they don’t cook often, maybe a great cookbook could inspire them to get into the kitchen, saving themselves money and calories.)

Delicious Living‘s blog recently picked the best new vegetarian cookbooks of 2009. I wasn’t familiar with any of their picks, but as you know if you read this blog regularly, I’m a sucker for cookbooks. So I’m especially eager to get my hands on Vegetarian Dishes from Across the Middle East, since Middle-Eastern cuisine is one of my favorites. I love so many of the ingredients used in it—eggplants, pomegranates, figs, dates—and having a cookbook of strictly vegetarian dishes is wonderful.

Anybody have any particular favorite vegetarian cookbooks—new or old—to recommend?

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Another favorite discontinued

I’m still cranky over Boca discontinuing their vegetarian sausages (and apparently some of you are, too, since I’m still getting comments from that old entry). Now I’ve discovered that Morningstar Farms has discontinued their steak-style Meal Starters strips. Bah!

They still make their frozen chicken-style strips, but I always preferred the steak-style strips. And they were the basis for my vegetarian Irish stew, so I don’t know what I’ll do this St. Patrick’s Day! Trader Joe’s does have refrigerated steak-style strips, but I don’t like them as much, and they require an hour-and-a-half drive to buy.

I called Morningstar Farms, and, again, the explanation is “low sales.” If you would like to complain about the discontinuation, you can call Morningstar Farms at 1-800-962-0120, or fill out an online form at the Morningstar Farms Web site.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Mooney’s Wine Dinner

One of the most vegetarian-friendly restaurants in the city, Mooney’s Mediterranean Cafe, will have a wine-paired dinner at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 15 – and the dinner will include a completely vegetarian option. According to an email from Mooney’s, courses will include an assortment of appetizers, soup, pumpkin kibbe, stuffed zucchini over couscous, and dessert – with each course paired with wines from the Middle East. At other restaurants, such special dinners as this often don’t often a vegetarian option. I’m thrilled that Mooney’s does. The cost is $35; for information or reservations, call Mooney’s at 722-4222

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

The Frozen Vegan

As I was admiring the gelato and sorbet selection in the prepared foods section at Whole Foods on Miller Street today, a pan of Vegan Chocolate Mint sorbet caught my eye. Of course, I couldn’t turn that down. In between bites of the very rich chocolate confection, I asked whether they always had a vegan flavor. As it turns out, all the sorbets—at least a half-dozen or so—are vegan. How lovely to have that much choice!