SOY

[Guest guest]

KEITH BEATY/TORONTO STAR

 

Oh joyous soy, we humbly thank you for Ontario soybean fields and the

way you've allowed mock meats to become edible and, sometimes,

downright tasty.

 

Soy long, meat

Mock meats are tastier than they used to be and lower in that

frightful duo, calories and fat They're also more accessible than

 

 

 

Here's a tip that vegetarians and savvy menu planners have been

sitting on for more than a decade. And it's a good one.

 

What if you could indulge in all your favourite foods such as nachos,

pizza, spaghetti sauce, burritos, deli sandwiches, bacon and chicken

fingers, but with a fraction of the saturated fats, calories and

cholesterol usually associated with those foods?

 

What would you say to a juicy, delicious burger with 12 grams of

protein but less than 100 calories and one gram of fat? Impossible?

Not if you replace animal-based meats with meat alternatives.

 

If the words " meat alternative " conjure images of bland, blobby tofu

and side trips to the health food store, here's welcome news: your

local supermarket has a full range of meat substitutes fashioned to

replicate the taste and texture of bacon, pepperoni, ground round and

chicken strips — but without the heart-unhealthy cholesterol and fat.

 

Welcome to the world of soy-based meats. Soybeans have been around

since ancient China. Soy is highly digestible and high in protein.

It's also high in fibre but with negligible fat and cholesterol.

Indeed, soy is versatile enough to be consumed in products ranging

from soy milk and cheese to the above-mentioned mock meats.

 

" One misconception (about veggie meats) regards taste, " says Kurtis

Hooley, managing director of Hain Celestial Canada, the parent

company of Vancouver-based Yves Veggie Cuisine.

 

Yves — which supplies McDonald's Canada with McVeggie burgers, and

hotdog stands with jumbo veggie dogs — is North America's leading

supplier of packaged, soy-based mock meats.

 

" Meat alternatives have come a long way and many consumers remember

tasting tofu years ago and believe soy-based meat alternatives will

taste the same, " Hooley adds. " All tofu is soy but not all soy is

tofu. "

 

Mock meats represent one area where meat and non-meat eaters

converge. Since most processed meats don't resemble animal body parts

anyway — having already been skinned, boned, chopped and otherwise

modified — even the most devoted meat eaters will find that processed

faux meats aren't so different from their preferred lunch slices and

breakfast patties.

 

While some items, like veggie burger patties, simulate real meat,

there are also grainy, vegetable-based options for non-meat eaters

who prefer less realism or want a full vegetarian experience.

 

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

(PETA) recommends faux meats and its Golden Bun awards recognize the

best in veggie burgers.

 

PETA pegs annual sales of veggie burgers in the U.S. at about $300

million, which may be a drop in the bucket compared to the billion-

dollar fast food industry. Yves pegs the meat alternative market in

Canada at $33 million.

 

Nevertheless, many marquee chains, including Burger King, Harvey's

and McDonald's, now offer veggie burgers. Even mom-and-pop carnivore

havens like Toronto's Apache Burger and Dangerous Dan's have the

veggie option.

 

So meat eaters can tuck into that Friday night T-bone knowing they've

banked calories, saturated fats and cholesterol during the week by

lunching on mock meat instead of animal-based products.

 

That's a point well taken when comparing veggie ground round with its

animal-based equivalent. Since beef chuck is normally used in concert

with a riot of other flavours in chili, sauces, nachos, and

shepherd's pie, substituting a meatless alternative can mean

negligible taste difference but substantial caloric savings.

 

Yves brand Veggie Ground Round — found, as are all their products, in

the produce section of supermarkets — is pre-cooked and only needs to

be warmed up. A five-minute toss around the frying pan with a bit of

oil yields moist, delicious chuck that looks like the real thing.

 

Boca brand frozen Ground Burger, by comparison, is heated in the

microwave, and is tastier if slightly drier than Yves.

 

Both brands are virtually fat-free. To put it in perspective, a 70-

gram burger patty made with soy meat, such as Boca, contains 0.9

grams of fat, about 67 calories and 1 milligram of cholesterol. The

same-sized burger made with lean ground beef contains 11 grams of

fat, about 150 calories and 40 milligrams of cholesterol.

 

Commercial, pre-formed veggie burger patties measure up, too (see

sidebar above), while eliminating the risk of contracting E.coli

0157:H7, or what Health Canada refers to on its Web site

as " hamburger disease, " caused by undercooked or poorly handled meat.

 

Moreover, the U.S. National Cancer Institute reports that barbecuing

beef, pork, fowl, and fish causes the formation of at least 17

different carcinogens called heterocyclic amines or HCAs.

 

As Yves' Hooley says, there's " good news about soy all the time. " The

U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found that diets low in

saturated fat and cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein a

day can reduce the risk of heart disease.

 

To put that in perspective, each serving of Yves' brand veggie meats,

according to the company, contains at least 6.25 grams of soy

protein. So one serving per day (say, two breakfast patties or a

veggie dog) — would provide roughly half the recommended daily dosage

of soy protein.

 

Products from veggie bacon to burgers can be prepared stovetop, on

the barbecue or in the microwave.

 

But just as lean ground beef yields better taste than cheapo chuck,

there are notable quality differences among commercial soy-based meat

alternatives. This proves especially true in the area of faux-

chicken. Three brands of breaded, faux-chicken nuggets make our

survey — Yves Veggie Chick'n, Boca's Chik'n Nuggets and Zoglo's

Golden Meatless Nuggets.

 

Zoglo's wins. Their nuggets (617 calories for four, or 72 grams, with

12 grams of protein and 7.2 grams of fat) are big, crispy outside and

moist inside. The dusting of sesame seeds is welcome, but the caloric

content is high. By contrast, four McDonald's Chicken McNuggets

(about 75 grams) are 190 calories with 11 grams of fat and 11 grams

of protein.

 

Next are Boca Chik'n Nuggets (165 calories for four, 15 grams of

protein, 5.5 grams of fat). Cooked using the toaster oven as

recommended on the box, the Boca nuggets, though slightly mushier

than Zoglo's, are tasty sided with plum sauce and hold their form

well.

 

The pan-fried Yves nuggets (187 calories for five, 13 grams of

protein, 3 grams of fat), however, are awful. Despite being fresh and

not frozen, these nuggets are gummy, bland and leave an aftertaste.

 

Still, we'll forgive Yves their nugget transgression in light of

their terrific Canadian Veggie Bacon. Individual slices are round and

conveniently about the size of an English muffin. One serving, or two

slices, equals 52 calories with 11 grams of protein and 0.4 grams of

fat. A serving of traditional bacon slices — defined by Maple Leaf on

their packaging as three to four slices — yields 331 calories before

cooking, plus 7.8 grams of protein and 33 grams of fat.

 

Like the nuggets, chicken patties tested are similarly varied. Yves

Chick'n patty, the only one not breaded, has a passable chicken

consistency. Served on a bun with lettuce, tomato and mustard, it's

as good as real breast. Boca's Chik'n patty, made as directed in the

toaster oven, is also good though heavily breaded. It's the most

cutlet-like of the bunch and, while Boca serves well on a bun, it

also passes plain or sliced and served atop salad.

 

No such luck with Lightlife's Smart Cutlets, also found in

supermarket produce sections. Heavily breaded, this cutlet is chewy,

bland and chalky in flavour. Lightlife is new to the Canadian market;

a spokesperson places the company's presence here to about a year.

 

Still, faux chicken patties add up to marked caloric savings over

their fast-food cousins. Each 71 gram Boca Chik'n patty, for

instance, is 143 calories with 12 grams of protein and 5.6 grams of

fat. KFC's Original Recipe Chicken Sandwich with sauce and bun, by

contrast, weighs in with 450 calories, 27 grams of fat and 29 grams

of protein.

 

The bottom line is to experiment to find out what you like, knowing

that substituting even a few meals a week with faux-meat could save

you many calories and grams of fat.