Beefless Korean bulgogi reduces carbon footprint
If you’ve been on a downward spiral since reading the article on Straight.com suggesting that it may be time to give up beef with broccoli, we have a solution. Beef production has some serious detrimental impacts on our environment, but many foodies can’t fathom giving it up for good. According to the World Resources Institute, beef requires 20 times more land and emits 20 times more greenhouse-gas emissions during production compared to plant proteins.
As an on-and-off-again vegan but a dedicated vegetarian for more than five years, I’ve become very comfortable cooking with meat alternatives. Last night, as I panicked to find something to make for dinner, I stumbled upon a vegetarian beef bulgogi recipe.
I deeply enjoy cramming every dish I make with a concerning amount of vegetables, even if the recipe doesn’t call for it. So I figured that I would lean into the concept of classic beef with broccoli. I finely chopped up a head of the green stuff and mixed it in.
This recipe is a great start for meat lovers hoping to reduce their carbon footprint. The garlic and ginger sauce amply coats the morsels of soy proteins (I used Yves Original Ground Round), making them a dead ringer for real beef.
After two helpings, I posted the recipe on my Instagram, where I received heaps of messages from others also proclaiming their love for this dish. I felt disappointed that I wasn’t the first person to discover this recipe gem. But I’ll rest easy knowing that others are being proactive in saving intelligent cows and our vulnerable environment.
My creation—slightly less photogenic but still tasty as hell.