Review: "Porkless" Pork

I've had a contentious relationship with pork my whole life.  When I first became a vegetarian in high school it was a gradual process.  Pork was the first meat I cut out of my diet.  I mean there's a reason why two major world religions don't eat pigs right?  Plus pigs are smart and (sometimes) adorable creatures that deserve our respect.

Well I've been reunited with pork (well kinda).  Gardein is on a tear right now with their products.  As I mentioned before I made a pilgrimage to Whole Foods last weekend and picked up some vegan goodies, among those some sweet and sour "pork less" pork.

Holy Cow! Or Pig?

This tasted so much like the real thing (as I recall) it almost made me nervous that it was real meat!  Between the texture and the flavor it was amazing.  The sauce was awesome as well.  I made my dish with some onions and peppers in our cast iron skillet.  Next time I'm going to add some pineapple to it as well.

I paired it with one of our favorite vegan products from Trader Joe's, Japanese style fried rice.  If you haven't tried this out yet I highly recommend it.  It's definitely a different twist on fried rice.  I usually pick up a bag every time I hit up TJ's. 

This was overall a pretty simple dinner to throw together.  I guess you have to have meals like that sometimes right?  I can't wait to see what Gardein has coming next!

Spring and Vegan Seafood

It almost feels like spring is here.  Almost.  We've brought our dog to the dog park twice this week after a long hiatus.  That's a sign right?

Our plants are starting to sprout which is pretty exciting.  I hope I can be a good plant mom to them, I don't have the best history in the world with growing things.  I replanted some scallions and they really have thrived.  It's so satisfying to eat something you have grown yourself, even if it is a garnish (a delicious garnish).

I'm also excited about the new products Gardein has put out.  I heard through the grapevine that Whole Foods was having a deal on Gardein products so I made a special trek there on Saturday.   I usually do all of our grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Stop and Shop, but Whole Foods occasionally has some great deals of vegan products. I was delighted to see new products I have never seen before and picked up some "crabless" crab cakes and some "porkless" pork.

I have yet to try the pork but I could not wait to try the crab.  My husband is not a fan of seafood so I only made a few to sample.

Overall, I thought they were excellent.  Before I was a vegetarian I was a fan of seafood, not so much fish but everything else.  I made the cakes in our cast iron skillet with a tiny bit of oil and browned them on each side.  Now, I'm not sure these "crab cakes" would rival Maryland crab cakes but as far as a vegan option they were pretty spectacular and really tasted like crab.  I would bet you could serve these as an appetizer to your non vegan friends and pass them off as the real thing.  I dare you to.

Unfortunately the husband and child are opposed to fake seafood or seafood in general, but I guess that means more crab cakes for me.  Score.

I made us some pretty rockin' vegan chicken soft tacos last night.  Whole Foods had a great deal on avocados so I picked up a few for dinner.  Had my family been more welcoming towards seafood I would have made vegan crab cake tacos, but oh well.  Maybe another time.