Beyond Meat Chicken-Free Strips

Beyond Meat is a new company that recently released a chicken-less protein strip that has been eagerly anticipated for a while. Biz Stone (the Co-founder of Twitter) is an investor, so there has been a lot of hype (even outside of the Vegan community) that Beyond Meat is the next meat alternative game-changer. The first time I tried Beyond Meat was at the Whole Foods salad bar. I really wasn't blown away by it, but I chalked that up to the fact it hadn't been cooked or seasoned. But now that Beyond Meat has graciously sent me all three flavors of their strips, I'm going to cook some up and see if the hype is real.

First off, after eating cooked the cooked Chicken-Free Strips for the first time, I NEVER want to eat them raw again. The cooked version with a little bit of oil is so much better, it's like night and day. I haven't had chicken in over ten years, but as far as I can remember, Beyond Meat tastes eerily similar. Not to the point where I'm weirded out because I think I thought I just ate chicken, but it definitely has those flavors you're going to remember. As for the texture, I thought it was spot on. Now if that's your cup of tea, well, that's up to you.  I love that you can throw them into a salad, pasta, taco or virtually anything.

On the plus side, I think meat eaters will dig this. In fact, I bet a lot of meat eaters would prefer Beyond Meat when cost, social responsibility and health are taken into account. Maybe that's just me being a optimistic Vegan, but I believe people in the end would like to do the right thing. When it comes to the three different flavors, there are subtle differences. I think the Grilled was my favorite -- of course it has grill marks and a smokey flavor. The Southwest Style had some spice to it and the Lightly Seasoned had a bit of a salty flavor. Overall, I think the flavors are subtle enough to put them in any dish you want.  

So, the good news is I think think the hype on Beyond Meat Chicken-Free Strips is warranted. My only suggestion is to cook it up in a skillet. Will all Vegans like it? No. Will some meat eaters like it? Yes. And to me, that's the most important aspect. If we can get meat eaters to eat less animals, it will make a difference. Give it a try and tell me what you think!

Soy Dreams

I can vividly remember the first time I ate fake meat. It was before going Vegetarian but I was at the point where I started thinking about cutting out meat. While in the frozen foods section I noticed a meatless meatloaf. I thought to myself "how the hell is it meatloaf without meat?" It was an Amy's Veggieloaf frozen dinner and it turned out to be one of the most delicious frozen dinners I've ever had. It was one of those a-ha moments where I realized I didn't need meat to have a hearty delicious meal. For a couple years I ate the shit out of those dinners but once I went Vegan I had to stop because it contained honey. I would LOVE it if Amy's could bring out a Vegan version or just get rid of the honey all together (pretty please!!!).

Anyway this brings me to the point of my post. For those of you that think you have to give up all of you meat/dairy convenience foods because you go Vegetarian or Vegan, you are just dead wrong. I'm not going to lie to you and say everything tastes just like the original, but in most cases it tastes better. Down below are a couple of examples where I think someone got it right.

Tofurky Deli Slices by Turtle Island Foods

I never had any desire to try these because I was never a big lunch meat person. Late last year someone very sweet made me a sandwich with Tofurky Deli Slices and it was amazing! Now I buy them fairly often for my sandwich fix.

Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage Sausages

These were forced on to me by Whoa Wren. I'm serious, she fixed them in my house! I wanted nothing to do with them because sausage used to make me sick. Amazingly they were delicious and now I keep a couple packs in my refrigerator at all times. I'm also anxious to try Field Roast's other products...all in due time.

Yves Meatless Pepperoni

I don't make pizza that often but when I do I usually go with all veggies. A couple months ago I had a Vegan pizza party at my house and my friend Jenny brought some Yves Vegan pepperoni. I thought it tasted great! If you are really missing that pepperoni flavor this should do the trick.

Teese Mozzarella by Chicago Soydairy

Teese is my favorite pizza-making cheese right now. I agree Daiya is hella good but until I can buy some at the store I'm rollin' with Teese.

Follow Your Heart Sour Cream Alternative

This is a must for nachos! I also enjoy the Follow Your Heart Nacho Cheese, good stuff! Oh and of course Vegenaise, the O.G. of Vegan condiments.