25 June 2006

Tofurky Sandwich

Now don't fall out of your chair... this is Ray's tofurky sandwich. I still refuse to even try a bite, but I still think it's way better than eating a real dead turkey. This Tofurky is new to us, not by acknowledgement but by actually buying it and Ray tasting it. It all started when we went to Green, a 100% vegan organic restaurant (one of the few around here) and discovered they are now hosting daily specials and a Pesto Tofurky Sandwich was the first one. Ray was super-excited and I just stick to my usual artichoke dip and jerk tofu salad, cliche, even for a vegan place. He thought the sandwich was great, especially because it was more than just a veggie sandwich but not a real-meat sandwich (his "last" bite of meat was in February... yes, I'm shocked!).

A few days later the Tofurky was still on his mind and he decided to buy some at the store (the peppered one, that's what Green had) as well as a big-ass roll and some veggies for topping. We have organic Veganaise, which I don't like either, never liked real mayo, and Ray likes it better than real mayo, so it works. He built this sandwich all by himself (thank goodness, as I just simply cut a piece of ice cream pie and had that for lunch yesterday, again) and it was ready in no time. He did a wonderful job, may I mention at stacking the layers so nicely.

And yes, the cheese you see is from a cow. He buys super-small blocks of "good cheese" every so often. On the tofurky sandwhich at Green there was faux cheese, it was a pepper-jack-something, but Ray has 5-year Wisconsin Cheddar and he was raving about it for the sandwich. It's all complete with peppers and lettuce and red onion. And isn't it nice to see a "meat-filled" sandwich that is still mostly veggies? So many sandwiches I see are just filled with meat and cheese or cheese sauce or some crap, and maybe a sprig of iceberg lettuce and a crappy tomato. In this case, there's a great variety and it is not overstuffed by one main ingredient. He ate the whole thing (it was huge!) and still has many slices left over for another time. He is trying to get me to taste even just one bite of one slice, but I feel like I am 5 years old again, throwing a fit, although this time it's not fitting about dead animals being eaten. It's about eating something that is claimed to taste just like a turkey tastes and I don't care to know that, chew it, digest it, nor even try to comprehend why I would want to eat something (vegan) that is supposed to be what the flesh of turkey tastes like. We've been through this before, I'll stop here. No thanks for me, but this is a pretty sandwich, right? And nothing dead.

26 comments:

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Ray has the star of a veggie deli case here!
I can't do the fake lunchmeat thing either, never liked them, never will and have no desire to try them. It took me years to even try seitan, let alone tolerate it.

funwithyourfood said...

i dont eat the fake deli meats either but I was never a big fan. But if richard wants it, it's better than him eating meat. I think he would like this sandwich haha I'll ask
btw
I just got in about 1 hour ago from San Francisco.. Going thru the pics now and I'll be posting later today or tonight!

Teddy

jenny said...

I think both sandwiches look great! I actually love Tofurkey slices, the Hickory Smoked slices are great and the Cranberry slices are amazing!

Carrie™ said...

I like those pepper Tofurky slices too. At the wine store, we have no microwave or toaster oven, so I take a lot of sandwiches. I OD'd on Tofurky slices and haven't had any for a while, but am thinking I might like some again. Ray's sandwich looks amazing! I still eat cheese occasionally and 5-year old cheddar would work really well with the pepper Tofurky. Tell Ray to try a nice grainy mustard. That's a nice flavour combo too. You can also freeze those slices. I portion the package out and individually wrap enough for a sandwich. It takes no time to thaw. And in Arizona, it should be almost instantaneous.

Freedom said...

Definately better than real turkey but I'm with you on fake meats - in fact I'm not a fan of any imitation products. I like what I eat to at least look a little bit like what it originally did.

Kris said...

Jim used to love Tofurky, but now we can get a bran here called Field Roast, which is still a mock, but at least it's WAY less processed and is actually made of good things like lentils.

I noticed on Jenny's blog you commented on the soy whipped cream- they just started carrying it at the co-op in Tempe right before we moved. They keep it in the dairy case.

Jody from VegChic said...

I'm with krispy, Field Roast rocks.

Leslie, I might pick the pie over the sandwhich too---though the sandwhich looks good. The Tofurky slices aren't bad and if it makes you feel any better, they don't taste like turkey. If they did, I'd probably have trouble stomaching them.

Anonymous said...

Everything you have been making lately is making me drool! The pesto, the hemp bars, the icecream pie, and this sandwich (yes, we can forget there's tofurkey in it)! Yum yum yum! Thanks for the food porn. :)

jenny said...

Ooooh, Field Roast sandwich with Miso Mayo! Yum!

KleoPatra said...

Leslie, you are so funny. I love your post today, really well done. Fiesty! I know how you feel about the faux meats, and you may know that i am not of that line of thinking since i'm a fan of the sliced stuff... but i do respect your choice and your feelings on the matter. Bravo to you. I do think the sandwich looks FANTASTIC though!

Eat Peace Please said...

Jess, I read your comment to Ray. We liked that! I am still working on getting seitan in my fridge...

Teddy, it's way better than real dead meat.

Jenny, I've seen all those varieties, plus more. Good to have some input, thanks!

Carrie, thanks for those tips. I keep many things in the fridge (some unusual) in the summertime just to keep them from melting. Even chocolate chips lose their shape and we do have A/C.

Raising Kahne, first, I don't know your real name. Next, I have your email and didn't publish your comment to the world.

Freedom, right on.

Kris, I've had field roast celebration hazelnut herb cutlets and I love them. I haven't had anything else and I plan on it real soon. Thanks for the heads up on the whipped cream at the co-op that is in the process of a huge moving sale and huge move.

Jody, ice cream is better than anything. I think.

Miriam, you're welcome for the food porn. I knew you could use some right about now.

Jenny, good call!

Kelopatra, I am fiesty, and an Aries if that means anything. Very stubborn indeed. Thanks for your kind comments, as always.

PS. I am not up this late by choice. I am blogging (responding) to stay awake.

Dreena said...

Leslie, that's a *very* pretty sandwich! My first reaction was
"wow, that sandwich looks like it was prepped, cut and photo done by a food stylist" (well, after my VERY first reaction when I almost did fall off my chair because I thought this was your meal with the faux meat)!!

We don't eat a lot of faux meats either. I like to use tofu, and tempeh sometimes, and I would actually not mind using seitan more, but my husband hates the texture of it and anything trying to be like meat! I don't care for the fake sausages, ham, bologna, etc, but I don't mind seitan because I take it for what it is - wheat gluten - but not trying to be bacon or ham, etc.

Anyhow, very entertaining post!! I suspect Ray may never accept the vegan cheeses - unless melted... I think they are pretty awful when they are cold (even though my kids like them). Melted, we enjoy a little, but cold (esp Follow your Heart brand) - kind of nasty imo!!

:)

Dreena said...

Oh, forgot to mention...

did you see in the new VegNews the news bit about 'vegan eggs' - using tofu for the whites and using the Jamaican ackee fruit (if I recall correctly) for the yolk??? That's bizarre to me!! Would you actually want to make fried eggs out of these? Weird.

Julie said...

I wanted to try that sandwich, but when I went to Green, they were all sold out! I usually don't like fake deli slices, but--then again, I have never had anything bad from Green!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

i don't really understand the comparison to real meat. too bad they don't give it a different name, one that doesn't sound like a real meat product. i think the sandwich looks great!

Anonymous said...

Leslie - gorgeous sandwich. I eat faux meats, but I don't like deli meats very much. I think it's cool that you stick to your guns. Eating a such a personal thing...you've got to be comfortable with what you are putting in your mouth!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love Tofurkey cold cuts. Tofurkey sammiches (my spelling) are great!!! :) Do try one. You'll love it!

Catherine Weber said...

I had a Tofurky sandwich once at a coffee shop. It was okay. (i.e., I ate the whole thing because I was hungry, but I haven't been persuaded to buy any since.) I'm not a fan of faux meats, either -- I do enjoy veggie burgers, but that's only if they taste of yummy things like grains, beans, and vegetables.

Anonymous said...

On an unrelated note, I thought you might like to know that I made my first batch of homemade Lara bars yesterday. I used what I had on hand (dates, prunes, walnuts, pistachios, cinnamon, crystallized ginger, flaxseed meal and a little cocoa powder). They're a little wet, but they've firmed up a bit in the fridge. Worth doing again.

Eat Peace Please said...

Dreena, thanks for the nice comments, and you made me laugh thinking I ate the sandwich. Nope. That's what I love about your cookbooks, you have more natural foods and recipes, not all that faux meat. Ray eats the fake cheese at Green on the food, but at home he eats cow cheese. And my VegNews *still* isn't here.

Becky, I'd prefer baked tofu instead as well. Glad your back.

Julie, we've been to Green twice since then and they have been sold out. Their order was messed up. How's your new place?

Vicki, why don't they give it a new name? Well, at least it entices meat eaters or veggies that miss the meat an option like it. What I don't get is why so many meat products are disguised by different names.

Megan, I stick to my guns with a lot of things, I'm stubborn, but open-minded, if that makes sense.

Lily, it may be a while before I try one... it's weird to me.

Catherine, I enjoy veggie burgers like you do, with grains, lentils, beans and veggies, not made to taste like a dead-fill-in-the-blank. This is too real to me.

Savanna, yes, it comes from the starch in the rice. Unless it's synthetic, but it most likely would just say maltodextrin, not from rice. Remember how I told you on Dreena's post that it's the sugar obtained from the hydrolysis of starch? That starch is the rice and it's probably fine. I don't know too much about Stevia, it is from Stevioside (maybe not anymore as it was banned), which is a sweetleaf from stevia rebaudiana, a plant that has sweetness like sugar. Have you tried agave nectar? It's a lot more natural than any of that and straight from a plant. You can even get it raw and it's sweeter than sugar. I'll email you soon about the nutrition stuff, ok?

Caitlin, your Larabars sound great. Why don't you call them something of your own? I like your combination of ingredients there, especially the ginger. Maybe next time use only dates or prunes individually to make it less sticky, or I just throw in some oats if you have them. Or more flax.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Shananigans said...

I eat my fair share of fake meat, or “feat” as we call it in my house. There is a lot of bad feat out there and I have tried a lot of it, but there are a few exceptional products that I like and buy pretty regularly. I must say the hickory smoked flavor Tofurky slices are very yummy. I make Tofurky sandwiches with avocado and veggies for lunch sometimes or roll a couple slices in a corn tortilla with a smear of hummus for a quick snack. I don’t know how much they actually taste like turkey, as I recall I always rejected any cold lunch meats as a child. But these taste good to me!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

for me, it's simply another food option, and a really convenient one at that. i don't miss meat, it doesn't remind me of meat, and to me, it doesn't taste like meat. i think it's cool that they make things like this because not long ago nobody cared to make meatless products, & it speaks volumes of the demand for people wanting to eat peace! the great thing is that there are so many more options for a meatfree diet ~ it's becoming more & more mainstream. terrific post & discussion! it's so great that with all our different preferences, we all have the big goal in mind! :o) btw: what did ray think?

Crystal said...

Never tried Tofurky - not really a fan of real deli meat anyways so I'm sure this wouldn't be top on my list.

Glad Ray found something he likes!

-Crystal

urban vegan said...

happy b'day killian. what a handsome boy.

Kelly said...

Wow, someone besides me doesn't like Vegenaise! I thought I was the only one.

Anonymous said...

i was skeptical about tofurkey slices since i had never liked lunch meat...(smells like rotting to me.) but my partner is a die-hard fan...so i eventually caved. i have to say, not bad. not bad at all. much tastier than regular sandwich meat.

i still prefer tempeh on my sandwiches. and lots of veggies. i always have the issue of putting far too much on my sandwich to the point that its all falling apart. story of my life. and i couldnt live without veganaise. :)

thanks for sharing.