Veggie Review: Quorn Chicken Cutlets

[asterroc]

Today began the once-a-week vegetarian experiment. Well, technically Sunday did, as that's when we did our grocery shopping - I started out by writing down every veggie thing people suggested to me on this post (and if you've got more, please do drop a note here), and since I knew that we had some Quorn [Wikipedia, Quorn.com] at our local Stop'n'Shop that's what I decided to start with.

I'd previously tried their ground beef substitute, which our local grocery store doesn't seem to carry, so this time I went with the "chicken" cutlets. Quorn is "mycoprotein" - fungus, mushroom, that sorta thing, and in the "ground beef" I can tell it's mushroomish. If you're looking for a meat imitation, this isn't the place to go, but if you're looking for a savory meat replacement, Quorn does seem to do the trick. As I've mentioned before, I require that savoriness (umami) in my meals, and Quorn in all forms does seem to have sufficient (though not overflowing) quantity of it.

Quorn Cutlets Parmesean Recipe

* Quorn Chik'n Cutlets, Breaded (includes 2 pieces, 7oz total)
* Smallest package of grated mozzarella cheese
* Marinara sauce
* 2/3-package of ziti or other pasta
* Frozen corn or some other veggie for a side (which is silly, since Quorn is a veggie itself)
* Spices to taste

Cook Quorn according to directions, flipping over halfway through. Five minutes before it's done, put some marinara on top to keep on the cheese, and then cover it with as much as will stay on. Put back in for five minutes. Heat marinara sauce in a small pot, adding spices (such as pepper, oregano, basil, onion powder, garlic powder) to taste. Cook veggie and pasta according to directions. Serves 2. Yum.

The texture was a bit startling at first - to me it felt like it was breading all the way through. However, I happen to like the texture of breading so I liked it. The taste was completely inoffensive, and mildly like breading. In the end, I consider it a moderate success: I could eat this every couple weeks just like anything else, but I'll probably get bored of it sooner than most dishes I eat simply due to its inoffensive nature.

The one downside was the cost: it was around $5 for 7oz, where usually we pay around $5 for 1lb of a meat product. The fact that it was in a unit that cost the same as we usually pay for meat, rather than a unit of the same weight that we usually buy of meat, makes it *seem* like less of a price difference than it really is. It was an okay quantity of food; I made extra pasta and included the veggies where normally I wouldn't've in a pasta dish.

For my next veggie attempt, I think I'll make a trip to Trader Joe's and grab one each of anything else on my list of veggie options. (rumorofrain, do you know if the new co-op carries any of these?) Currently I've got listed:

* Quorn Chik'n Cutlets
* Morningstar Farms Griller's Vegan patties
* Boca Burgers
* Gimmie Lean Sausage (we do a weekly sausage meal)
* Lightlife Smart Bacon (maybe for quiche)
* seitan for stirfry (maybe for fried rice?)
* tofu for ...??? (I'm open to suggestions)

Any other suggestions?

Comments

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, as I mentioned in the other post referenced above, no veggie products ever taste like meat to me. I certainly couldn't ever go vegetarian - I'd more easily be a meatatarian - but I do like the idea of reducing my carbon footprint so this summer I decided to try one meatless dinner a week. I'm going to check out Trader Joe's this weekend and see what they've got.