Garden Protein International knows meat (well, mock meat, that is). The company’s Vice President of Culinary Innovation is Chef Tal Ronnen, best known for his frequent appearances on the Oprah show (he was her chef for a while, too) and as author of the New York Times bestselling vegan cookbook, The Conscious Cook.
The products that GPI dreams up, which are called Gardein (a combination of “garden” and “protein,” in case you didn’t catch that!) emulate the taste and texture of real meat to an almost scary degree. Try the BBQ Pulled “Pork” in sandwiches. Or top a bed of rice with the “Chicken” Scallopini. Just want a snack? Try any one of the multiple varieties of battered “chicken” tenders…or maybe the buffalo wings. Garden Protein has it all!
Locally, the products are widely available (Costco, Wegman’s, Mom’s, The Common Market and numerous other stores sell them). 