What We Tried Today: Gimme Lean "Ground Beef" Style Burgers

Finished burger with ketchup and Vegenaise

My youngest son asked for a "regular burger" a few weeks ago, so I knew eating our favorite vegan burger was out of the question. He was looking for something with a bite and similar texture to ground beef. I picked up a pack of Gimme Lean ground beef style veggie protein and went home to experiment.

What I liked:

*I was able to prep and cook the burgers within 30 minutes

*Great source of protein and zero fat and cholesterol

*The flavor was pretty good and reminded me of char-broiled burgers

*It has a similar texture to regular ground beef and has a great bite

What we/I didn't like:

*Way too sticky to handle-one of my Youtube viewers mentioned it isn't as sticky when handling with wet hands

*Pricey-about $6 for 4 hamburger patties

Will I buy it again? Even though the kids liked it, I probably wouldn't buy it again because it caused my stomach to hurt. :-(  Fortunately, the boys didn't have any problems.

Watch my full review here. :-)

Have you tried this Gimme Lean product or any of their other products?

Walking Away From Beef

I used to think I wasn't much of a beef eater until I stopped eating it in 2008. I was wrong. From going to cookouts and running to a drive-thru before heading home, beef was just as pravalent in my diet as seafood.

Now that the U.S. is dealing with another mad cow crisis (by the way, mad cow is always going on-we just don't hear about it until many people get ill or die) in our meat production, I decided to talk about some delicious alternatives to eating beef.

These burgers don't taste like regular beef and aren't as tough but you will feel better about eating them. I promise if you start eating this way, you will acquire a taste for veggie burgers.

My introduction to veggie burgers was Boca. I hated them (and still do) because of the way they smell and their cardboard on a bun taste. I remember thinking, "See, this is why people don't eat this crap."  I haven't had one since '09, so maybe the recipe has improved but the smell hasn't. Hubby still eats them.

Next, I moved on to Morningstar (which has more vegetarian than vegan products) and enjoyed their black bean patties until I became a vegan.

Then I started eating Annie's vegan patties-very good and they have several varieties.

Now, we enjoy my favorite homemade version.

Some tips:

*Don't give up if you try a brand or recipe that you don't like.  I'm so glad that I didn't allow Boca to be my vision of what a veggie burger is.

*Don't be afraid to top your burger with condiments to get used to the texture and flavor.

*Baby steps are okay. I went from eating beef; to enjoying Morningstar's black bean burgers; to eating Annie's brand; to making my own right at home. You can do it!

Learn more about how factory farms typically operate in the U.S. here.

Have you tried any vegetarian or vegan burgers? What are your favorite brands/recipes? Let's talk about it in the comments.

My Favorite Burger

When I was a vegetarian, I ate a lot of Morningstar burger patties and fed the kids their chik'n nuggets. When I became a vegan, I realized those aren't vegan products and started buying the more expensive vegan options.  I never felt the processed vegan patties lived up to their expensive price tag and didn't eat many burgers until I discovered this recipe....

Ingredients:

2 cups vegetable broth

1/3 cup bulgar wheat (found in the natural grain section of grocery store)

1 cup of textured vegetable protein (TVP)

1/2 yellow onion

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp salt

4-6 mushrooms (any variety)

1/2 black beans (I used leftover kidney beans)

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (I like The Wizard's brand)

1 cup vital wheat gluten flour (holds the burgers together)

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

I used 4 oz of tempeh, cut into small pieces and boiled in a cup of vegetable broth instead of TVP. I drained the vegetable broth before adding it into the recipe.

You can find TVP in the natural food section

These burgers hold together very well while cooking and assembling.

I eat mine with arugula lettuce, mustard and vegan mayo

This burger is healthier and cheaper than the prepackaged options.

Enjoy!

Recipe from Tofu Guru-watch her make it below

Full recipe:

2 cups vegetable broth

1/3 cup bulgar wheat

1 cup TVP

½ cup yellow onion, chopped

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

4-6 cremini mushrooms, chopped

½ cup black beans, cooled

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

½ cup nutritional yeast

1 cup vital wheat gluten flour

In a small saucepan, add in 1 cup vegetable broth and bulgar wheat.  Bring to a boil on med-high heat. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer until fully cooked.

In another saucepan, bring 1 cup of vegetable broth to a boil, then add in TVP to rehydrate.  Turn off the heat.

Add oil to a skillet on medium heat and cook onion with salt until transparent.  Add in mushrooms and cook for about 4 more minutes.

In a food processor, add in black beans, tomato paste, cumin, and cooked onion and mushrooms.  As it’s blending add in vegan Worcestershire sauce.

Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl and add in vital wheat gluten flour and nutritional yeast. Mix it all together with a spatula.  Then add bulgar wheat and TVP to the dough.  Mix well with bare hands.

Form into patties and fry on medium heat with a bit of oil until crispy and brown on both sides.  Drain on a paper towel.