Vegetarians

[Lil Lil]

I'm not a vegetarian but my MIL is. She loves Morningstar farms products (ribs, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, steak strips, bacon, sausage patties, broccoli bites). I was just curious if anyone knows of any vegetarian tuna? A few years ago Morningstar use to carry vegetarian tuna (was called Morningstar tuno) in a can but discontinued it. My MIL loved there tuna and sad they don't carry it anymore. Also what are some other good vegetarian products you use? She also just tried Veggie crab cakes by Taste Above and loves it!

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

I was a vegan for many years and I have never run across good vegetarian substitutes for seafood. There are some restaurants that have been able to use tofu as a decent substitute in a seafood-like dish but I haven't actually come across something that was supposed to be like fish. In fact this is the first time i've actually heard of anything like it. I know there are some recipes in vegan/vegetarian cookbooks that have spices that can make it like a seafood dish but I really don't know of a specific product. Sorry I can't be of more help! I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has any thoughts.

 

[WDWBarb]

I've never had seafood (I have been a vegetarian for most of my life) but I know that there are people who swear that this recipe tastes just like tuna salad. Our Whole Foods sometimes sells this (or a variation of it) in their deli:

Vegetarian Mock "Tuna" Salad Recipe

Ingredients:
1 block firm or extra firm tofu, frozen, then thawed and pressed
2 stalks celery, diced
1 tbsp red onion, minced
1/2 cup mayonnaise or vegan mayonnaise
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp kelp powder

Preparation:
In a small bowl, crumble or mash the tofu with a fork until it reaches the desired consistency. Add the celery and onion.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, soy sauce, lemon juice and kelp. Gently add this mixture to the tofu and stir to combine.

Serve chilled.

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

I will definately try that!

 

[Lil Lil]

I've never had seafood (I have been a vegetarian for most of my life) but I know that there are people who swear that this recipe tastes just like tuna salad. Our Whole Foods sometimes sells this (or a variation of it) in their deli:

Vegetarian Mock "Tuna" Salad Recipe

Ingredients:
1 block firm or extra firm tofu, frozen, then thawed and pressed
2 stalks celery, diced
1 tbsp red onion, minced
1/2 cup mayonnaise or vegan mayonnaise
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp kelp powder

Preparation:
In a small bowl, crumble or mash the tofu with a fork until it reaches the desired consistency. Add the celery and onion.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, soy sauce, lemon juice and kelp. Gently add this mixture to the tofu and stir to combine.

Serve chilled.

Thanks WDWBarb! We go to Whole Foods in our area. I wonder if they make this vegetarian tuna? I will definitely have to check. My MIL would be so surprised. Otherwise I will give her the recipe above. I never would think to add soy sauce to tuna? How different. Do you like this recipe?

 

[atmtcprincess]

I'm going to try this sometime this week. Is kelp powder sold at regular grocery stores? Also, is it in the season section?

 

[etoiles]

I have heard, but not have gone myself to research this yet, that Asian grocery stores may have a vegetarian 'shrimp' in the frozen section. I had tried something that sounds just like that at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that served veggie 'shrimp' dishes. I always wondered where they got it from!

Shrimp was the last meat I ever ate before becoming vegetarian and so I would really be interested to try this sometime but haven't gone to look yet.

Hint: for the Morningstar products your mother in law likes there is a good deal at Target going on. Get a $2 off 2 products Target coupon and then sign up for the morningstar newsletter and they'll send you a $1 off coupon that you can print twice. You can use the Target and manufacturer coupon together to get the products for super cheap!

 

[npmommie]

The asian markets have the best faux meats and seafood products, here is an online market, but you have to order a minimum amount
http://www.vegieworld.com/cart/shopcontent.asp?type=products#VS

I have never tried any of the seafood products. but the faux chicken products from the asian markets are the very best, nothing like morningstar farms, they are much better.

 

[Lil Lil]

I have heard, but not have gone myself to research this yet, that Asian grocery stores may have a vegetarian 'shrimp' in the frozen section. I had tried something that sounds just like that at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that served veggie 'shrimp' dishes. I always wondered where they got it from!

Shrimp was the last meat I ever ate before becoming vegetarian and so I would really be interested to try this sometime but haven't gone to look yet.

Hint: for the Morningstar products your mother in law likes there is a good deal at Target going on. Get a $2 off 2 products Target coupon and then sign up for the morningstar newsletter and they'll send you a $1 off coupon that you can print twice. You can use the Target and manufacturer coupon together to get the products for super cheap!

Thanks so much for the info at Target . I will check that out. Morningstar is so expensive that any coupons/discounts will help.

 

[barkley]

worthington (loma linda brand as well i believe) makes vegetarian seafood-it's called "skallops" and is canned. it can be prepared as you would prepare any fish-and can also be made into an awsome version of fish and chips

if you want to get a good deal ( and if you don't mind stocking up on products you can get some great deals) on vegetarian food products do a google search and see if you live near any adventist stores. since they sell only vegetarian items the prices can be much lower than what the regular grocery stores sell identical products for. you can also check with them to see when they are doing their case sales-the savings can be phenominal.

 

[bicker]

One of the things I worry about, with all of these "substitutes" is that using them sometimes goes against a big part of the reason why my wife and I are vegetarians.

Our decision to go this way was prompted by our minister:

... I hadn’t given much thought to where our food comes from or what impact our food has on the larger world. Sure, I spent 15 years as a vegan—eating no meat or dairy. And lately, though I’ve become a bit more flexible, eating lots of fish and even an occasional chicken wing or burger, I still didn’t give my food’s origin or treatment much thought. I didn’t raise an eyebrow when my partner Jim, who does the grocery shopping, would bring home fresh strawberries in February, flown in from South America. I didn’t think twice as I ate fresh blueberries in January, flown in from Mexico. I didn’t think that there was something unnatural or destructive about eating food that wasn’t in season. It simply tasted good, and I have always been a fan of immediate gratification. I didn’t think about what it was doing to our environment. I didn’t think about the industrial induced methods of growing that infused the food I was eating with chemicals and pesticides and genetically altered science. I didn’t think about how I was lining the pockets of multi-national corporations, contributing to our dependency on Middle East oil, condoning abusive treatment of animals, or contributing to the exploitation of third world countries and migrant workers. I just liked food that tasted good.

Folks who know me, here, know I don't have a problem with "multi-national corporations" making money, but I also don't have a problem with people making a personal decision to care about where their food comes from, what impact certain foods have upon the Earth, and what impact eating foods that have to be transported over great distances has upon the Earth.

Tim went on to quote Rev. Alison Wohler:

While we would like to think, and often do think, with our independent human personalities, that what we eat is our own business, the truth is what I eat, what you eat, has further reaching consequences than merely staying alive and being healthy. In this world of finite connections, our interdependent web, there is no such thing as an isolated event, and because of that fact it matters what we do. It matters what we eat. It matters where our food comes from. It matters how it’s grown. It matters how an animal is slaughtered. It matters that eating food that has been transported long distances is contributing to the greenhouse effect. It matters that raising livestock produces copious amounts of methane. It matters if the food we are eating was harvested by people being paid less than a living wage. Nothing is an isolated act.

He also quoted Rev. Duane H. Fickeisen:

It might be a stretch for most of us to become locavores, eating only (or almost only) foods that [are] grown locally. But . . . you could start with one meal a week from mostly local sources, or with a single celebratory meal. Or you could find . . . five items on your regular shopping list that you could replace with locally grown whole foods. Or make it a habit to shop at one of the farmers’ markets . . . .By choosing to eat more locally produced food and more whole foods, we’re also choosing to do a little less damage to the Earth by our living here.

And that brings me back to my earlier concern about these "substitutes". They are, necessarily processed food products. Again, folks who know me here know I don't have a problem with GMOs, even, so I surely don't have a problem with processed foods, on principle. However, processing doesn't happen here in Burlington (at least not all processed foods are made here ). Processing happens somewhere else, and so whatever they need to make the "substitute" has to be shipped to the processing facility, and then shipped to my town. Shipping is what I am concerned about: The conversion of scarce fossil fuels into pollutants simply to move food around, when there is practically enough food already here.

And I don't want to lose sight of Rev. Fickeisen's comments that moderate the extreme perspective we could take. Eating locally is a positive influence on the world, in each measure -- it is not necessary to do it 100% to have the positive effect we desire to foster. So surely we'll be eating "substitutes" -- probably a good amount, but I'm going to be thinking about this issue of eating locally whenever I make a purchase of a "substitute".

For me, personally, because of choices I've made for myself (similar to the choices that Rev. Kutzmark has made, coincidentally), I'd sooner eat "real" shellfish than eat a substitute, balancing the damage I do by eating a living being against the damage I do by eating a processed food product -- a "substitute". Each of us need to make our own decisions along those lines, though, and more power to those who choose a more purely vegetarian approach.

(PM me if you want a link to all of Tim's comments on this.)

 

[WDWBarb]

Thanks WDWBarb! We go to Whole Foods in our area. I wonder if they make this vegetarian tuna? I will definitely have to check. My MIL would be so surprised. Otherwise I will give her the recipe above. I never would think to add soy sauce to tuna? How different. Do you like this recipe?

I've never actually tried it myself because I've never eaten tuna in my life and I wouldn't know what I was missing Growing up, I always thought it smelled like cat food and could never get past the comparison!

I'm not sure if it's close but I'm told it is. I did buy some "Tuno" from Morningstar Farms before it was discontinued and tried to get DH to eat it (he wouldn't - he's a meat-eater and loves real tuna) and I just couldn't bring myself to taste it.

I hope she likes it!

 

[WDWBarb]

Ok, I tried a different recipe for "tuna" salad. Some call it mock chicken salad, but my DH says it leans way more toward tuna.

1 can of chickpeas (drained and mashed with a potato masher)
dicked green onions (to taste)
diced celery (to taste)
1/2 c. of Miracle Whip or vegan mayo
salt and pepper to taste

Just mash and mix. SOOOOOOO easy.

I just had it and it was pretty good. I guess it would have been better if it wasn't SO much like meat (my brain couldn't handle it!). But I asked DH to try it and he did with a GREAT deal of hesitation (he's a meat eater and tuna salad is one of his all time favorites).

He smiled, gave it a thumbs up and said it was exactly like tuna, just not quite as flavorful. On a scale of 1-10 of being "tuna-ish," he gave it a 7.

 

[Lil Lil]

Ok, I tried a different recipe for "tuna" salad. Some call it mock chicken salad, but my DH says it leans way more toward tuna.

1 can of chickpeas (drained and mashed with a potato masher)
dicked green onions (to taste)
diced celery (to taste)
1/2 c. of Miracle Whip or vegan mayo
salt and pepper to taste

Just mash and mix. SOOOOOOO easy.

I just had it and it was pretty good. I guess it would have been better if it wasn't SO much like meat (my brain couldn't handle it!). But I asked DH to try it and he did with a GREAT deal of hesitation (he's a meat eater and tuna salad is one of his all time favorites).

He smiled, gave it a thumbs up and said it was exactly like tuna, just not quite as flavorful. On a scale of 1-10 of being "tuna-ish," he gave it a 7.

Thanks so much !!! That recipe sounds pretty easy! I will have to let my MIL know. Maybe she can add some kelp seasoning to give it a little fishy flavor.