Vegetarian Star

Anderson Cooper invited actor Alan Cumming to his studios of Anderson Cooper Live to discuss New Year’s Resolutions and Cumming’s charities.

Cooper, Cumming and co-host Jill Martin enjoyed a plate of faux chicken tenders during the segment.

Cooper expressed that he would like to become a vegan, but thought the switch would be too hard as he’s used to eating the same dish (presumably meat dish) daily.

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New York Times food writer Mark Bittman visited a veggie chicken factory to get an insider’s view of how faux meat is crafted.

Unlike most chicken factories, Ethan Brown’s Savage River Farms research facility is lacking animals pumped full of hormones and housed in crowded conditions. Instead, the Maryland factory contains an extruder that delivers a chicken-tasting product containing soy and pea protein.

Bittman tests the product both plain and in wraps and concludes he can’t tell the difference. And he’s being paid to do so.

“When you take Brown’s product, cut it up and combine it with, say, chopped tomato and lettuce and mayonnaise with some seasoning in it, and wrap it in a burrito, you won’t know the difference between that and chicken. I didn’t, at least, and this is the kind of thing I do for a living.”

Watch the five minute segment here.

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It’s been awhile since we gave something away. We’ve been too busy munching on crispy faux chicken fingers and mock beef tips in burgundy sauce.

Vegetarian Star is giving away 2 coupons for a free Gardein product, which you can find at stores like Kroger, Whole Foods and Safeway. To find a Gardein carrying establishment near you, visit this form.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post telling us why you want to win.

The coupon is for any product you’d like, but we’re partial to the chicken fingers (which look like something you’d find in a basket at TGIF) or the Burgundy Trio, which is reminiscent of beef stew and rice without the factory farmed cow who keeps farting and contributing to methane gases.

Contest starts today and ends Tuesday, Februrary 1, 2011 at midnight Pacific Time. The two winners will be chosen randomly and notified via email within 72 hours of contest end date.

Gardein carries vegan fresh and frozen faux meats like chicken, barbecue wings, beefless tips and whole meals featuring mock meat, rice and veggies. Want a recipe idea? Check out Gardein’s recipe for faux bbq chik’n pizza below.

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Future Food, a show challenging two chefs to make food that’s more environmentally friendly, premieres tomorrow on Planet Green.

On a future episode of Future Food titled “Burger Wars,” a faux chicken nugget is created using tofu and corn on the cob.

Although there aren’t any birds in the recipe, 4 eggs are called for.

4 ears of corn (whole, on cob)
1 pound of tofu (firm)
1 cup of hickory wood chips
1/2 gallon of water
4 eggs
1 tablespoon salt, plus additional for seasoning flour
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
Vegetable oil

The eggs are added just before the patty nuggets are formed, so more than likely they serve to keep the mixture together instead of adding any substantial flavor, which indicates this might work well with a vegan egg replacer.

Planet Green has advice for those without a smoker:

“A makeshift smoker can be made by putting your wood chips in the bottom of a deep “hotel pan,” which is a large rectangular pan with tall sides, and a similarly sized hotel pan with perforations placed on top of the wood chip pan. Heat this over a flame until wood starts to smoke, add your items to be smoked, and cover with a lid.”

Grab the instructions for making corn on the cob tofu chicken nuggets.

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Singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb recently Tweeted about a snack involving soy chicken.

“Yum! Vegan asian snack! Fresh rolls. Soy chicken. Anyone else psyched? Anyone sad about it?”

We can’t think of any reason to be sad about it. Unless they were rooting for seitan chicken.

Just where can you get your soy chicken anyway? There is an abundance of veggie brands at your local natural foods stores, and even mainstream stores stock a few here and there.

Be on the lookout for these faux chickens who never lost their wings while getting to your plate.

Gardenburger: Carries a breaded faux chicken patty.

Quorn: Not made from soy, but mycoprotein. Yes, it’s a fungus. Sounds gross, but tastes good! Quorn has grilled faux chicken, faux chicken wings, faux chicken nuggets, and more!

Lightlife: Faux chicken fillets, strips, both plan and seasoned with savory flavoring or lemon pepper.

Boca: Breaded faux chicken, spicy faux chicken, nuggets, and even a “chicken on a bun with Swiss” sandwich.

Morningstar Farms: Buffalo wings, nuggets, patties, and herbed patties.

Yves: Smoked faux chicken, Thai lemongrass meatless chicken.

Don’t know about you, but we’re all chickened out!

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