Recently I have fallen in love with a family of products called Quorn. Having eliminated most processed and refined foods from my diet, along with meat from my kitchen, I find myself occasionally craving certain items like chicken nuggets. This should not be a problem because there are plenty of non-meat chicken nugget and patty like products, but I dislike most of them. That was all until I read about Quorn.
Let's first take a look at options available to someone for whom the chicken nuggets tops their food pyramid like the north star leading the way to crispy juicy flavor. The main replacements are soy based or chickpea based. I just plain hate soy. I'm not saying all kinds of soy are terrible, I like it in small doses like soy sauce and miso, but soy milk makes feel like I just drank a brick (I drink almond milk now), and tofu just pisses me off. Likewise, I enjoy chickpeas and love items like hummus, but cannot eat all that much of them without feeling rather ill. So when it comes to eating a big plate of “chicken” nuggets neither of these products work for me.
Enter Quorn.
Made from fungal “mycoprotein,” Quorn is a natural food high in protein and fiber and low in fat with no cholesterol. Its fibrous nature makes it an ideal stand-in for meat because it actually has some natural body and texture to it, unlike soy or chickpea based products. Best of all, Quorn is extremely digestible. Neither myself or my girlfriend, who's stomach is considerably more finicky than mine, have any problem digesting it. I often feel bloated and uncomfortable after eating a bunch of soy, chickpeas, or other beans, but never with Quorn.
Beyond the realm of nuggets I have tried Quorn's ground beef, which is wonderful and lets me enjoy a nice chunky meat-free red sauce that has plenty of protein in it. I also got their Chik'n Tenders which is like chopped chicken breast and went perfectly with penne and pesto sauce. I look forward to trying their other products, and anyone who has should leave me a comment about them.
A quick side note about other reasons to like Quorn. Being mostly made from fungus means that Quorn is extremely earth friendly and sustainable. Fungi are break down organic matter for their own food, helping place vital nutrients back into their various natural cycles. This means that it is probably better for the planet than not only meat but also plants like soy as well. With the world food supply playing such a critical role in my dietary concerns, this makes Quorn all the more attractive.
Next time you're in the health food store or co-op (you do shop at a co-op, right?) put down those mechanically separated chicken meal, chickpea, or soy nuggets, and whatever other hormone and preservative laden animal products you regularly buy and snatch yourself up a whole bunch of Quorn, your own body and all the starving people around the world will thank you.
If you've tried Quorn please tell me about it in the comments. Thanks!
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3 comments:
How does one go about milking an almond? I tried, and all I got was smushed up almond crumbs.
So to make the almond milk you need to soak your raw almonds in water for 8-24 hours, then blend them in the water, and then squeeze the whole thing through cheesecloth to take the pulp out.
Here's a great almond milk recipe I got from a friend outside of Philly.
1C of almonds and blanching them (putting them in boiling water for a couple minutes). Blend them up for a few minutes (about 3) with 2 C. water and then blend with 4 additional cups of water and some vanilla and honey to taste. I use about 1 tsp. of vanilla and maybe 2 tsp of honey? Experiment a bit and you should have it!
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