Want To Be a Vegetarian But Still Eat Burgers?

Many people are now turning to vegetarianism because they see it as necessary not because they believe in its moral superiority. These new rational converts along with those who never really lost their taste for meat have created a hot new market in vegetarian alternatives to some old carnivorous favourates. Which are good and which are not? We review a five possibilities below.

For those unfortunates whose heads say ‘nut cutlets’ but whose hearts and stomachs scream ‘beef’ meatless burgers and veggie burgers are available. Most popular, apparently, are those from Boca and Morningstar Farms produced using grilled or roasted vegetables.  

Boca can also produce a chicken nugget whilst Morningstar can put a bacon substitute on your plate for breakfast.

Avoiding meat is one thing but Vegans, remember, shun any food product that results from what they see as animal exploitation. This means that they also spurn dairy products and eggs.

To me the loss of meat in the diet would be sorely felt. If I were to lose cheese as well then suicide beckons. However, Vegans must be careful of many supposedly meat or animal free cheese products. Many contain an ingredient derived from cow’s milk.

However Vegan Brand produces a truly animal milk free Parmesan cheese. However such products are often no good when it comes to making pizza. For that you need Heart ’s Brand apparently. Their cheeses melt extremely well and taste delicious.

The race to find a suitable egg alternative has been going on for years but without much success. I can recall the disgust in my parents’ voices as they described the powdered egg they were required to eat during the Second World War. Fortunately the situation has improved enormously.

Tofu, that bland and mysterious import from Japan, has proved itself to be extremely useful as an egg substitute especially when trying to copy scrambled eggs.

Daft as it sounds Vegans regards animal milking as exploitative. However, they need something on their cornflakes so frequently use Soy milk. An outfit called ‘Silk’ produces a particularly popular brand which can be easily turned into creamy flavoured shakes. For those who do not like it rice milk or even almond milk can be a suitable replacement.

For me the ultimate test of a dairy replacement is whether it can produce an ice cream that tastes just like the real thing. Informed opinion suggests that the Tofutti brand and the Soy Delicious brand are close to achieving this using Soy milk.

So this is a great time for new substitutes and if your grocery store cannot find it your web browser can.