Adventures in Faux Chicken

Even in my pre-vegetarian days, I was not a big chicken fan.  I actually disliked chicken so much, that, if legend is to be believed, I even made it inedible for my mother when she was pregnant with me.  Sure, I ate it when it was served to me, but I never really liked it.  And if you tried to reheat leftover chicken and serve it to me again, just forget it.

My one exception to my feelings about chicken was what I call the fried chicken object.  Not actual fried chicken.  I'm talking the frankenfood extruded kind that, knowing all the additives and chemicals and gobbledly gook involved in making them, I'd run screaming from today.  Things like chicken nuggets, Weaver chicken tenders, Crispy Chicken sandwiches, etc.  Basically, something far removed from the actual animal, with breading to further disguise it's natural chickenness.

So, if I haven't completely grossed you out yet, my childhood fondness for the fried chicken object led me to try the Quorn Chik'n Patty as a treat.  Compared to a traditional breaded chicken patty, the Quorn product is not a bad choice.  It has 150 calories, compared to 250 for the actual chicken kind.  The overall fat, saturated fat and cholesterol content is lower, and the protein is essentially equivalent.  And, it has the "taste" I remember enjoying when I was a kid as well.

I heated my patty in the toaster and ate it on a whole-wheat pita with baby spinach, grape tomatoes and soy-free vegan mayonnaise, with some pineapple wedges on the side.  I have a second sandwich for lunch tomorrow as well.  I'll still try to eat more "whole" foods as a regular routine, but this is nice to have in a pinch (or when I am weirdly craving the fried chicken object).