So now that I am back to "fighting fit" - guts don't hurt any more, blood tests are fine, abdominal muscles are strong enough to help me calve a cow without groaning - I am back on the veggie diet for real and thought I'd test out some meat alternatives.
Apart from fake mince, I've never explored this category of protein source before. The big thing that surprised me was the price - £20 PER KILO!!!!! I assumed quorn would be cheaper than meat, but it soooo isn't! I also didn't realise that there were so many different types of meat substitutes designed to taste like a specific type of meat. And that concept confuses me greatly. Meat-free versions of sausages, burgers and kievs are understandable as they're all processed products and don't resemble the original protein in texture or shape. But why would you want a chicken breast shape? Anatomically correct or replicated meat alternatives are just weird! Having a meat substitute that you can use in the same way and cook in the same manner makes sense, but why make it taste like meat? I bought "lamb style strips" and "steak strips" and they both taste somewhat like the animal meat they mimic. If you are an ethical vegetarian then surely you don't want to be reminded of the taste of the animals you don't agree with rearing or eating. If you are meat-free because you don't like the taste of meat........
Anyhew, I gave them a bash. The lamb-style strips I made into stir fry with loads of veg, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, ginger and pollenta (which is my secret weapon - carbs that cook in 1 minute? yes please!). As I said, it tasted a bit like lamb, but the texture is all wrong - kinda firm but mushy. It was edible but I don't think I'd use it again by choice. The steak strips I intended to make into Thai green curry (partly because I was worried it wouldn't taste that great, like the lamb style stuff, so maybe the Thai spices would cover it). I usually make it from curry paste and cream cheese, but the paste had gone off. So I hunted around the kitchen and decided to experiment with fajita seasoning mix with cream cheese instead. Win! Really nice actually. The spices probably did slightly over-power the taste of the quorn, but generally I think it was nicer. The texture is still really odd though.
Lunches at work have been a challenge, especially Wednesdays and Thursdays when we can have free lunch at the cattle market canteen. The food is really really good there and there's lots of choice, but as it serves the local farming community, those that go to cattle auctions, unsurprisingly there isn't a hot vegetarian option. I wouldn't expect there to be as 99% of the time it just wouldn't sell. So far I've had cheese salad sandwich and chips, chips and beans (needed a junk food day!) and chips peas and carrots (yeah, got some odd looks asking for that one!). Otherwise I take a packed lunch and am often on the road around lunchtime. The cheese sandwich boringness has necessitated a bit more creativity, which has lead to some really nice salads - I bought a great salad bowl thing with space for dressing from fab http://fab.com/inspiration/box-appetit. When I am in the office, reheated pasta dishes and soup have been great on frosty days.
Due to being ill, its hard to say how the diet is making me feel or changing things physiologically. I was worried that I wouldn't have enough energy, but so far that hasn't happened. I also haven't been producing excess gas (unlike the dog....!) which is a bonus! We'll see how things go over the next month :D
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