Vegetarian Foods - tag category postings

What would 4th of July be without some good veggie burgers on the grill or even some veggie hot dogs?  I have to be honest and tell you that every time I even hear the word veggie burger I get all clammed up at the thought of eating one, especially on the 4th of July holiday.  I am not sure exactly why, maybe it is just a guy thing.  Or maybe eating veggie burgers is something I just never got used to.

But maybe keeping an open mind on veggies burgers for the 4th of July is not a bad idea?  I don’t know. Maybe the guys can chime in here.  I just get the feeling that most guys are not too keen on going with veggie burgers most of the time.  But I could be wrong.

Anyway,  maybe it would be interesting to do a little experiment for the 4th of July holiday weekend especially if you have a good crown of people who you are celebrating with.  In addition to regular hot dogs and burgers, maybe offer veggie burgers and veggie hot dogs too and maybe put a label next to them to see if there are any takers.  A simple experiment indeed, but I wonder how many would go for the veggie style variety, and how many guys versus women would go for them.

The American Dietetic Association did a little nutritional breakdown on veggie burgers and veggie hot dogs. Here is what they said:

• Most veggie burgers with 10 grams of protein or less contain vegetables such as mushrooms, onions, celery, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, zucchini and whole grains such as brown rice, rolled oats, and bulgur wheat.
• Most veggie burgers with more than 10 grams of protein contain primarily soy protein and wheat gluten with very little actual vegetables or whole grains.
• Many brands offer vegan options without animal products such as eggs or cheese. However, just because it is vegan doesn’t necessarily mean it has more vegetables or less protein than non-vegan versions.
• Veggie hot dogs have many nutrition advantages over traditional meat hot dogs. On average they have fewer calories, less fat, less sodium and more protein than your standard frank.

So it looks like based on their research that if you really want veggies in your burgers you should go with the ones with 10 grams of protein or less.

They also included a table that breaks down the brands of veggies burgers and hot dogs with their nutritional values. You can see it here.

I sorted the table columns so that the veggie burgers with the least amount of calories, total fat and saturated fat would be at the top:

So it looks like the Boca brand veggie burger ‘OriginalVegan’ Style is the winner as far as least calories and leas total fat and saturated fat.

Hey and by the way, let me know how that experiment goes at your weekend barbeque to see how many guys versus women opt for the veggie style burgers or hot dogs .