Since I was a kid, I’ve always been a carnivore. I love meat. There’s really no other way to say it.
However, some of the actions in which the meat that I so very much love is processed are completely inhumane and cruel to the livestock.
Meat and poultry farmers often forego the necessary process of stunning their animals before slaughtering them.
With the variety of graphic and shocking videos distributed by PETA depicting the violent and extreme abuses against livestock, it is easy to see why some protest the industry all together.
Despite the concerns I have with the meat and poultry industry, I have yet to find an alternative to meat.
Vegetarianism is something that I respect, but at the same time, I don’t think I could handle the lack of eating something juicy and meaty.
I have a few vegetarian friends, and their menus always seem limited to salads, grilled cheese, and tofu based meals.
I always felt bad for them, eating tasty juicy meat in front of them, thinking of how badly they were missing out on all that taste and flavor.
But, this is the 21st century after all, and advances have been made not only in regards to technology, but in the food industry as well.
Vegetarians no longer have to suffer thanks to The Veggie Grill.
The Veggie Grill is a chain of restaurants catering to vegans and vegetarians. They offer a variety of “veggie-steak” and “chilin’ chickin,” all fake meats created by the ingenuity of tempeh, an organic blend of soy beans and rice culture.
Where The Veggie Grill stands out is how they sauté and grill their tempeh to create a juicy, meaty, and most importantly healthy protein for the basis of most of their meals.
I went for the first time last week on Earth Day where The Veggie Grill was hosting a free meal for all “veggie virgins.”
My vegetarian friend invited me to go, and I wasn’t against a free meal, and boy was I not disappointed.
I had their “All-American Stack,” which consisted of their trademark veggie-steak, a huge onion ring, lettuce, tomato, and their own chipotle-ranch sauce. My friend enjoyed “Papa’s Portobello,” a burger in which the patty consists of a Portobello mushroom.
The burger I ate was almost better than some real meat burgers that I had eaten at other restaurants.
The tempeh doesn’t necessarily taste like meat, but it does retain those juicy and flavorful qualities that one does expect with a burger.
In addition we shared their renowned “sweetheart fries”, which for a person who does not like sweet potatoes, were amazing.
Furthermore, each of their extremely flavorful dishes cost no more than $10, so you’re not only saving your body from the unhealthy characteristics of eating meat, but you’re also saving your wallet.
What The Veggie Grill did for me was create a great eating experience, with more than half of the calories cut out due to the healthy qualities of the tempeh.
If more restaurants like The Veggie Grill started to pop up around the South Bay, I might even think about trying to go vegetarian.
The health benefits are a given, but the taste benefits are remarkable. The Veggie Grill has truly created a food revolution.
While I know I’ll never be able to adopt vegetarianism completely due to my love for juicy red meat, The Veggie Grill has proved to me that vegetarianism is no longer a life style of bland and tasteless food, but one of flavor and satisfaction.