Most of the time I completely disregard the processed foods in our food buying club catalog, but I'm a sucker for new vegan foods on sale so I caved twice in the last couple months and bought two different types of veggie burgers. What caught my attention for both products was the lack of unpronounceable or unidentifiable ingredients. I've mentioned one of the products before, but this time we did a veggie burger to veggie burger face off.
Asherah's Gourmet
Hillary's Eat Well "The World's Best Veggie Burger" (left) vs. Asherah's Gourmet (right and top)
I guess claiming that your product is "The World's Best Veggie Burger" was intriguing to me so I went against my normal leaning toward the Adzuki Bean Burger variety. I also thought Ahserah's original was a better comparison to Hillary's Eat Well than my preferred chipotle flavor.They both are pretty good on the ingredient front:
Aherah's Gourmet (original) -
(photo from their website)
Hillary's Eat Well (veggie burger) - Water, organic whole millet, organic whole quinoa, expeller-pressed coconut oil*, organic sweet potato, organic spinach, organic onion, organic psyllium seed husk powder, organic arrowroot, Real Salt®, organic garlic, organic apple cider vinegar, sunflower seed oil (copied from their website)
*I'm not a huge fan of coconut oil, I know it is pretty uncool of me, but as much I love the taste of coconut I don't go for the coconut oil is a health food. Just me. I do however think it is fine once in a while. They both contain coconut.
Texture Winner - Hillary's Eat Well is the clear winner because it stays together. You could even grill these suckers, but the Aherah's Gourmet fall apart and can be mushy if you don't cook them long enough. I cooked both in the toaster oven.
Taste Winner - a tie. The kids said they preferred Hillary's Eat Well, but then on the side by side they liked them both equally. The Aherah's Gourmet tastes healthier, but that isn't a bad thing in our house.
Nutrition - from my layperson point of view, Aherah's Gourmet comes out a bit ahead of Hillary's Eat Well when you compare the numbers.
Packaging - Hillary's Eat Well is the winner on the packaging front with biodegradable packaging in sets of two patties. Aherah's Gourmet comes in four patty boxes so I guess it depends on how you look at it, but both companies seem to care about creating a quality product while being responsible about the environment.
Bottom line - I don't think you'll go wrong buying either of these two vegan veggie burgers and I'm so happy to see more vegan products hit the market.
I made an impulse buy at the co-op this week.** Flax Milk - I tried some on cereal and it works. Josie loved it by the glass. Our friend, Daniel, brought some to Amelia's vegan donut party Friday night. Josie was so happy to enjoy a glass with her freshly made vegan donuts. Flax Milk is devoid of protein and made with flax seed oil (we prefer the seeds), but I could see buying it once in a while. I wonder if it is okay to cook with since flax seed oil itself is not supposed to be heated.
**Valentine's Day was also Owner Appreciation Day at Common Ground. It was even more fun because my friend, Karen, offered to come pick us (Dema, Josie, and me) up so we could chat a bit and shop. We run into each other at the co-op and try to get a word or two in as the bustle goes around us so it was great to shop early in a less crowded store and chat on the way. We also checked out two other local businesses while we were there. Karen's son is so adorable I wanted to bring him home with me. We need to have Karen and her family over for dinner sometime soon!
We also ran into my sister, Karen, at the co-op and the kids she helped us find what was on our list and get the haul all bagged up. She is so thoughtful that later that evening she brought three things we couldn't find at the co-op, but were on our list; a pastry brush, Chinese five spice, and hibiscus tea.
I love my sister!
Texture Winner - Hillary's Eat Well is the clear winner because it stays together. You could even grill these suckers, but the Aherah's Gourmet fall apart and can be mushy if you don't cook them long enough. I cooked both in the toaster oven.
Taste Winner - a tie. The kids said they preferred Hillary's Eat Well, but then on the side by side they liked them both equally. The Aherah's Gourmet tastes healthier, but that isn't a bad thing in our house.
Nutrition - from my layperson point of view, Aherah's Gourmet comes out a bit ahead of Hillary's Eat Well when you compare the numbers.
Packaging - Hillary's Eat Well is the winner on the packaging front with biodegradable packaging in sets of two patties. Aherah's Gourmet comes in four patty boxes so I guess it depends on how you look at it, but both companies seem to care about creating a quality product while being responsible about the environment.
Bottom line - I don't think you'll go wrong buying either of these two vegan veggie burgers and I'm so happy to see more vegan products hit the market.
**Valentine's Day was also Owner Appreciation Day at Common Ground. It was even more fun because my friend, Karen, offered to come pick us (Dema, Josie, and me) up so we could chat a bit and shop. We run into each other at the co-op and try to get a word or two in as the bustle goes around us so it was great to shop early in a less crowded store and chat on the way. We also checked out two other local businesses while we were there. Karen's son is so adorable I wanted to bring him home with me. We need to have Karen and her family over for dinner sometime soon!
We also ran into my sister, Karen, at the co-op and the kids she helped us find what was on our list and get the haul all bagged up. She is so thoughtful that later that evening she brought three things we couldn't find at the co-op, but were on our list; a pastry brush, Chinese five spice, and hibiscus tea.
I love my sister!
2 comments:
Good to know about the burgers. I am writing them down. I would prefer to make my own black bean burgers, but it doesn't hurt to have a quick option around.
We like to make our own too, but I like having options if we are feeling lazy. :-)
Post a Comment