Advice/suggestion:

[elleng]

If anyone has tried veggie burgers, please let me know what you think, brand-wise/flavorwise.

Thanks.

[Warpy]

1. That'd be me

My favorite for burgers is vegan Boca Burgers. Even supermarkets are starting to carry them. They're great with or without the usual condiments, but I like mine with salsa and a slice of onion. There are other flavors, but I always go back to the vegan burgers.

The best chicken patties for sandwiches are definitely the Quorn patties, although others are certainly decent. Quorn got everything right, including texture.

If you can find patties made with okara, they're usually pretty good, especially with mushroom.

I've never been particularly fond of Garden Burgers, too thick and too mushy for my taste, but the flavor is quite nice.

There are also mixes for homemade burgers, but again, they tend to be a little on the mushy side for my taste. I've had good success making my own, especially using millet and lentils.

[elleng]

3. Thanks. Tried Amy's first; YECH! Daughter's name.

Just tried Morningstar/side? Not bad flavor.

Heard of Vegonaise? May have read about it here from the Vegans. Mayo getting pretty boring.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

5. Sounds like this is a job for ..........................

[elleng]

7. You are RIGHT, (((TANGELO)))!!!

:toast:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

9. I actually looked for that stuff in my Giant,

but they didn't have it. The Baconnaise people LIE on their website.

Why the veggie burger interest? You, of all people, know very good food.

I wonder if there's a recipe for a veggie burger that might produce a more palatable result.

To the google ---------------------------------->

<panting>

I'm back, and I found this - http://tinyurl.com/3a45z2 - sounds good, but no substitute for a hamburger, which is my narrow way of looking at the situation...................

[elleng]

12. I'll check my 2 Giants!!!

Looks like they like mail-order!

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. I did a pound of bacon in the microwave yesterday,

and the kitchen still smells so wonderfully of bacon.

Damn. Now I'm hungry..............................

[elleng]

15. Can't get favorite bacon anymore,

'cause NH smokehouse burned down. :(

[Tangerine LaBamba]

16. This is where I get mine -

https://bentonshams.com/order/index.php

Excellent stuff and very nice people ............

[Warpy]

19. It's all right. I'm still using Hellman's, though

As I recall, most of the tofu/soybean mayos out there use canola oil, something I have to avoid like the plague. They all taste like mayo, although some have less lemon and mustard and tend to be pretty bland.

I dislike Amy's stuff pretty thoroughly, so I didn't mention it. About the only thing I've ever had that was decent was a bean burrito, something that's really difficult to foul up.

Now that summer's upon us, I have the freezer all stocked with Boca and Quorn.

[elleng]

28. Thats it, LEMON and mustard!

Will add some! And may try Boca.

[ginnyinWI]

2. me too

You can dress them up with cheese, ketchup, BBQ sauce, mustard or whatever you want. And don't forget sliced tomato, lettuce and a pickle!

I usually pan-fry mine in a little oil. Gently so it doesn't stick.

[HappyCynic]

4. "Chicken" nuggets

I've tried the Schneiders "Oh Naturel!" chicken nuggets and they were very good - to the extent that I think I prefer them over actual chicken nuggets. The taste and texture are quite close. They also do a breaded chicken burger so I assume that it'll be about the same as the chicken nuggets. I haven't tried their beef substitutes (burgers or meatballs) yet, although I have a bag of the meatballs in my freezer.
If you're looking for some cheese-like item to top them with, stay the heck away from the Yves Good Slice (imitation processed cheese slices). I once had the misfortune of trying a slice. First bite was okay (tasted like regular processed cheese) but the bitter aftertaste grew with each bite until I was looking for a place to spit it out (5th chew or so). Maybe they've improved it since but you're probably taking a big gamble if you try it.

[elleng]

10. Thanks, but Genuine Aged Swiss is for me!!!

AND Cheddar. And Gruyere!

[Tangerine LaBamba]

6. If you really enjoy hamburgers,

there is no such thing as a "good" vegetable burger.

I've tasted a few of them - and they really, really suck. People pile all sorts of stuff on them to make them palatable, but, man, they are really inedible.

I am, though, a raging omnivore, so whatever I say about veggie burgers is suspect:

[elleng]

8. I'm ac/dc, but SO tries not to eat meat,

and discourages me from same. I'm experimenting.

Have you been to Ray's Hell burgers, or whatever?

[Tangerine LaBamba]

11. Ah, gotcha .........

It's hard if one person doesn't do the meat thing - I mean, just the smell of meat cooking makes me hot.

Yeah, Ray's is on Wilson Boulevard, just above Rosslyn, going towards Clarendon. The burgers are good, overpriced, and mundane. Nothing exciting. Frankly, I like the burgers at Famous Dave's better - http://www.famousdaves.com/

But, the same owner has Ray's The Steaks a few blocks west of Hell Burger, and I've had some nice meat there. Not a pleasant ambience, though - small and crowded and rushed.

Why am I telling you about meat when you're investigating veggie burgers? I'll shut up now ........................

[elleng]

14. 'cause!

I actually like Whopper Jr!

(Hope I don't get kicked out of C&BG now!)

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Warpy]

20. Funny, I prefer veggie burgers because they don't taste like meat

I don't particularly like cow and I don't feel good when I've eaten it.

You can have my share.

[HappyCynic]

23. Not like meat

I find that with a lot of the veggie products that are imitating something (hot dogs, hamburgers, ground meat, etc.), it's best to not expect them to taste anything like what they're imitating. Some are really good on their own terms. The Yves ground beef replacement is a good example, imho. It tastes very little like ground beef but it has a decent flavour of its own.

[elleng]

31. Thats good; decent flavor of its own.

.

[ginnyinWI]

22. When you think about it, it's the seasonings and toppings

that make a burger taste good. And the fat, of course.

Imagine eating plain ground beef, broiled without even salt. Not much taste there. Same with chicken or pork. It's the salt, the fat and the toppings. So give me a veg burger any day.

For me, I got turned off of ground beef after all the e-coli recalls, one after the other. I realized that there is a fair amount of manure in ground beef--it's just a matter of whether it's been cooked enough to kill the bacteria. Then it was mad cow disease. Then all the health stuff: the saturated fat is bad, the homocistine levels give you heart disease, etc. Then it was the environmental concerns concerning factory farmed meat. As a sort of a compromise, we eat chicken and fish several times a week and the rest of the week eat vegetarian.

[Tab]

17. I haven't tried a huge amount

But I liked the variety of the Boca Burgers - if I recall correctly they come in a few variations. Not a regular burger, of course, but edible and not half bad.

Cheap enough to give them a try.

- t

[Tesha]

18. Not a substitute... just different

Mr T used to eat veggie burgers.. but he really doesn't care much about the "hot meat in bread" treat, but me... oh, a good burger is heaven..

and what on nytimes.com today?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/05/06/dining/20090506-burger-interactive.html?th&emc=th


oh..... yummmm

[The empressof all]

21. Morningstar Farms Asian Patties

These do not taste like burgers but they are fricken AMAZING! I eat them crumbled up with stir fried cabbage and onions and it's just like the inside of an egg roll.

I tend to go with this brand for most of my "meat substitute" products. Their other patties are all good. There's an Italian one with basil and sundried tomatoes that's good and I like their breakfast sausage patty too.

[elleng]

29. Will certainly try,

thanks to success with their 'burger.' (Don't care whether tastes like burger, but SOME decent flavor!)

[hippywife]

24. We both still eat meat but

we both love the Amy's California Burger much, much better than Boca. We started out on Boca when were trying to cut back but we love the California by Amy's so much better. I always drag it through the garden when I top it and always add seasonings before cooking. I'm also told by a strict veggie friend that not all their variety of burgers are as good. I also trust Amy's more than other brands.

Chicken-wise, we both love the MSF Chik'n Nuggets best over the Quorn Patties and the Quorn Naked Cutlets for sandwiches and the Quorn Tenders for stuff like chicken salad and pot pies.

[auntAgonist]

25. Morningstar Farms Grillers Prime.

I can eat these but not the Morningstar Grillers regular. Weird. I do prefer a good hamburger though.

[elleng]

27. THAT's the one I have.

Had 2 of them yesterday (the prime.) Really did like them.

[livetohike]

26. Another vote for Morningstar Farms Grillers Prime

I also like the vegan version :-).

[elleng]

30. THANKS, EVERYONE, FOR INFORMATIVE+PLEASANT CONVERSATION!!!

:grouphug: