If you follow me on Facebook, you know that today is Vegan Recipe Monday. Typically I put up 3 posts relating to a recipe every Monday.... the first is the "story" behind the recipe, the 2nd is the recipe, and the 3rd is a photo album regarding the recipe. Since it's VeganMoFo, today I'm moving Vegan Recipe Monday to the blog, because I can write more here. And, boy do I have a lot to say today! The recipe will follow at the end of this post, or you can go to the Beyond Meat site and read it there.
We were passing through Ft. Lauderdale a couple weeks ago, which means a stop at Whole Foods. We had precious few minutes to forage for food AND shop. As I've said before, my visits to any Whole Foods are mostly about market research. On this most recent visit, I found Beyond Meat on their shelves. I have heard of Beyond Meat, and read the buzz on the product. The reviews coming in are mostly positive, with many people saying this particular meat analogue is a "game changer" when it comes to authenticity.
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| This is the Beyond Meat I selected. |
There's as many opinions on meat analogues as there are people, but often times I hear from the "camp" that says meat analogues shouldn't really be something to aspire to. Personally, I disagree and don't like to see time and effort wasted on this argument. If the meat analogue is plant based, more power to them. Whether I personally choose to make the purchase or consume the item is for me to decide. If the product is cruelty free, why is this an issue? No animals were tortured, abused, and slaughtered for these plant based meat analogues. The fact of the matter, as I see it, meat analogues might help carnivores transition to plant based eating. Yup, these analogues are processed food. Yup, they should be eaten in moderation. But, the fact that there's more CHOICES for plant based eating, thus reaching more "audience" is what I encourage in the world to help reach the goal of veganism.
Meat analogues are nothing new to the veg scene. Seitan has been around forever, same with tempeh. But, within the last few years, there's been far more information finally being exposed about animal cruelty within the food industry, as well as far more information exposed about the true toll "production" is taking on our planet's natural resources. Tofurky has been around quite a while, same with Gimme Lean products. Gardein came out within the last few years, which really stepped up the "authenticity" factor, and now Beyond Meat.
While I was at Whole Foods, there were several varieties offered, and I chose the "grilled chicken free strips." This product is a plant based protein made from soybeans & peas. There is a statement on the packaging that the soy used in this product is non-gmo. I would not have purchased this product if there wasn't a non-gmo statement on the packaging. When I opened up the package, I found what looked sort of like grilled chicken cut into strips, it even had little "grill marks" on it. They are pre-cooked, and re-heating instructions are provided. Although this product is pre-seasoned, nothing about it stood out either good or bad as far as smell.
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| Here it is in the package. |
I was surfing the net and found a recipe on the Beyond Meat site for un-chicken soup. I had all the ingredients, and it was cloudy out, so I was feeling "soupy" anyway. Plus, the other happy vegan loves soup. The recipe called for the Beyond Meat to be dry roasted first. The recipe said this would add color, infuse the herbs, and make for easier shredding. I'm all about following directions the first time I make any recipe.
After I blended my oil & spices, I coated the Beyond Meat, and then spread it onto a baking sheet to roast at 400 for 15 minutes. While this was in the oven, I put a soup pot on, and began to sauté the veggies.
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| This is the Beyond Meat after I tossed it with the spices & oil just before roasting. |
I flipped the Beyond Meat after 7 minutes, and then let it roast for another 8 minutes. I think this was too long (I have an oven thermometer, the temp was running exactly at 400) but the outside became a bit tougher than I would have liked, which made it harder to shred. It smelled really good while it was in the oven, but then again why WOULDN'T onion powder, garlic powder, sage and pepper smell divine?!
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| Close up of the Beyond Meat after roasting. It got slightly golden. |
The veggies were ready, and the Beyond Meat only took a few minutes to cool down. I shredded it as directed. When I did this, it seemed to shred like cooked chicken, as best as I can remember. It didn't have any slimy feel to it, either before roasting or after. I decided to taste a small piece of the Beyond Meat on it's own before it went into the soup pot. It has a very substantial "tooth" feel, in fact it kind of freaked me out. The flavor was really good. The other happy vegan wandered in about this point, and wanted to try a piece, so he did. He is VERY much a fan of meat analogues, and really liked the texture and flavor of this one at this point.
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| This is VEGAN, incredible right? This is the Beyond Meat after roasting and shredding. VEGAN! |
This recipe comes together exceptionally fast once the Beyond Meat is roasted. Once my veggies were ready, and the Beyond Meat shredded, I tossed it all into the soup pot with some bay leaves. Then I added my own broth (I didn't have the one called for in the recipe, so I used my "go to" Better Than Bouillon).
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| I fine diced all my veggies, using extra carrots & celery because that's just how I roll. The celery came from my brother's garden up north. |
Once everything in the pot came to a slow boil, I added in 8oz of quinoa pasta. Although the recipe calls for thin fettuccine broken in half, I am personally working with as much gluten free as possible these days. I happen to really like quinoa pasta, and was able to get a box of elbows.
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| This is everything just before adding the broth and water. |
Once everything in the pot came back to a slow boil, I turned the heat to low, and simmered just about 8 minutes. Some of the liquid was absorbed, as expected.
I stirred in the parsley (I used organic dried, fresh was not in my fridge at the time). I also added more black pepper, but no salt. I think the product itself was salty enough, plus the soup was made with all that bouillon... plenty of salt in there for me.
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| This is the final product. VEGAN! |
This soup was freakishly authentic. Although it's been decades since I had chicken soup, this reminded me of the real thing. As far as the Beyond Meat product goes, it's far too authentic for my preferences, but spot on in the other happy vegans eyes. I don't often reach for meat analogues, but I feel they are very valuable and have their place. I love when companies and people put their money where their mouth is so to speak and develop a product this good as far as a replica. What I really liked about this product is the fact that it's gluten free, so even though it may seem pricey, it's invaluable to many others. The sodium content was a little higher than I would have liked to see, but then again this is not (for me) a staple product, instead it's something I would keep as a convenience if it were available to me. Also, being gluten free this really helps so many people who want something like a seitan, but cannot have it due to illness or allergy issues.
I know there will be those out there who cry about the fact it is soy based, and for those who cannot have soy, I'm sorry this cannot be for you. But, there are many other products being developed, and I would expect a soy free version will come down the pike in due course from someone else.
Beyond Meat raises the bar on authenticity as far as I'm concerned. I would like to see this product be more readily available, and hopefully the price will come down a little at some point to make it even more accessible for more people.
Beyond the cost, which might be an issue for some people, and the sodium which can be a health consideration for others, I see no drawbacks to this product. It is entirely plant based, easy to work with, processed (yes), but made with ingredients I can pronounce. The other happy vegan told me the soup I made was the best soup he's ever had in his life. Now, look, he knows which side his bread is Earth Balanced, so I expect if he wants me to make it again, he'd say it was good. But, he wasn't kidding when he said he loved this stuff, and wants more. In a month or so, I'm going to see if this product is available from my natural foods distributor. And, I'm going to mention it to the local independent retailers down here to consider stocking their shelves with it. It's important to give people choice when it comes to moving towards plant based eating, especially because the (erroneous) perception that we "give up" something when we stop eating animals. For me, becoming vegan opened up an entirely new world of food for me, I have given up NOTHING besides my risk for disease and illness, aiding and abetting animal torture, and prior close-mindedness.
Major kudos to the Beyond Meat company. I hope if you see Beyond Meat you will give it a try. It's an excellent product, and one that can really help save the world. I'm not kidding about that. Plant based eating is the future, and our hope to save our world. I agree that Stephen Hawking is one of the greatest minds of modern times, but I do NOT agree with his statement that we must explore other planets and colonize them to save humanity. Doesn't one of the greatest thinkers of our time (maybe even THE greatest of our time?) realize how special our little spec in the Universe is? It's far better to cherish, nurture and protect what we have, than to look for some place else to ruin. When we save the world, we save our soul. A little compassion never hurt anybody. Go vegan.
RECIPE (UN-CHICKEN SOUP USING BEYOND MEAT)
FROM BEYONDMEAT.COM
Dry Roasted Chick'n:
12oz Beyond Meat (I used grilled)
1T olive oil
1/2 t EACH: onion powder, garlic powder, rubbed sage, sea salt, black pepper
Soup:
1T olive oil
1 white onion, small diced
1 cup baby carrots, diced (I used extra)
3 stalks celery, diced (I used extra)
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used one clove, crushed)
2 - 32oz boxes No-Chicken Broth (I used 8 cups water mixed with appropriate amount of Better Than Bouillon)
12 oz shredded Beyond Meat Chick'n
8oz thin fettuccine, broken in half (I used 8oz quinoa pasta)
2 cups of water
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped (I used about 1T dried organic)
Dry Roast the Chick'n: Preheat oven to 400. In small bowl, toss together the Beyond Meat, olive oil, and herbs. Line a pan with parchment, spread the coated pieces out. Roast about 15 minutes, flipping half way (I would check after 10 minutes... 15 minutes was a bit too long for me). Set aside to cool. When cooled, shred by hand.
Soup & Assembly: In a dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat, add the olive oil with carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Cook and stir about 3 minutes, til golden, splashing broth in as needed to help caramelize and avoid sticking. Add the shredded Beyond Meat, and bay leaf. Stir. Add the no-chicken broth (or bouillon) and water, bring to a boil. Add the pasta when boiling, and stir slowly for the first few minutes. Lower heat to med/low for about 16 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is cooked (mine was ready in about 8 minutes, not 16). Stir in the parsley and remove from heat. Serve as desired.
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