Where’s the beef?
Rethink your eating habits with a plantbased approach.
It looks like ground beef, makes patties like it, oozes red juice like it and even tastes pretty close to it, but it’s not meat.
It’s the Impossible burger, a plant-based food that is made with soy leghemoglobin that has been taking restaurants by storm and has more recently become available to home cooks through grocery store chains and natural food stores.
What makes the latest plant-based burgers different than veggie burgers of the past — such as those by Boca, Amy’s Organics or Gardein — is that because of the new science behind plant-based meat substitutes, they look like raw beef right out of the package and are intended to completely duplicate the experience of working with and eating meat.
At Union Liberty Bar & Grill, which has two locations in Chester County, they grill it just like they would a standard beef burger, and the finished product comes out looking like the real thing. For some looking for a meat alternative, it’s a little too close for comfort.
“It cooks exactly like beef and it looks medium rare inside,” said Ray Brown, general manager of the restaurant’s Kimberton location. “We have had people freaked out about it, because it looks so much like meat.”
For Kathleen Casner, manager of Nature’s Garden Natural Foods & Shoes in Exeter Township, who has been a vegetarian for 14 years, the idea of eating a burger that so realistically replicates meat is unattractive, but she feels they are a good option for someone in the process of transitioning to a more plant-based lifestyle.
“For a lot of longtime vegetarians, the idea of a fake burger that oozes red liquid is not appealing,” she said, adding that for those vegetarians looking for a taste of nostalgia, the latest plant-based burgers could be the answer.
You can find the new meatless burgers at some fast-food chains and other restaurants.
Plant-based and plant-forward might be a way of looking at food, even beyond burgers, that you’re hearing a lot of buzz about lately, and people seem to be taking notice.
It’s most likely because of the movement’s inclusivity. The overall idea is more about encouraging people to include more plant-based foods in their diet vs. making a blunt decision to go vegetarian or vegan.
This makes the movement more accessible, since everyone can participate. For example, it makes it possible for a meat eater to feel better by getting a plant-based fast-food burger fix rather than the beef version if they are looking to reduce meat consumption.
Casner said people are embracing the movement for health reasons, in addition to other motivations.
“Some do it for environmental reasons and animal welfare and the animal waste that is from commercial animal raising for food,” she said.
Why of all things has the hamburger become the face of plant-based eating?
“It’s the classic American lunch for go-to fast food,” Casner said. “A burger is the classic sandwich and something people have grown up with.”
Given the processed nature of the latest plant-based meat substitutes, Casner, who has worked at Nature’s Garden for 30 years, noted that a plant-based diet centered on whole foods is the way to go, with the ideal route including foods such as vegetables, beans, nuts, quinoa.
“The plant-based burgers are more of a convenience and nostalgic factor,” she said. “It’s not something people are going to do every day.”
Is the plant-based way of eating just another food trend that will have it’s moment and then fade away, or is it here to stay?
Casner feels that food trends wake people up to considering what’s on their plate and hopefully inspire them in the kitchen.
“I think it gets people to think about what they are eating and where their food comes from instead of mindlessly eating,” she said. “Anything that encourages mindful and selective eating is good.”
But starting with a burger substitute might be a good introduction to the movement.
“It’s likeable and familiar and can whet an appetite into this whole new world, and hopefully people will explore further and try a cauliflower steak,” Casner said.