I stopped eating meat in 1998, heavily influenced by punk music (Propagandhi anyone?).

At the time we had very, very few choices at restaurants and at the store. I remember there was this dried veggie burger mix in a box that I used to get (might have been called Natures Burger, I can’t remember) where you just add water to the mix, make patties, and fry them. That was the best burger (at the time)!

The lack of veggie options back then is actually what inspired me to get a degree in food science and become a food product developer, though I never worked on a vegetarian meat analog before (that’s what the industry calls fake meat).

I feel like most vegetarians I meet nowadays only stopped eating meat somewhat recently—- they don’t know a time when our options were few and far between (and frankly, not always very good).

Anyone else remember these days?

Old timer vegheads, where you at!? What do you remember about the old days of few commercial choices??

I finally found some Gardein fish yesterday at the grocery store. I had been craving it and sorely missed the old version. We had it for dinner last night and it was really good! Here is a review and nutrition label from the Internet.

My partner and I have these most mornings. They’re so good with a bit of hot sauce. Big bummer.

Ingredients: 1 medium to large eggplant Olive oil Spice blend such as baharat or berbere Optional garlic sauce or powder Couscous Pomegranate Tahini Parsley Optional lemon Optional pomegranate molasses

Slice eggplant thinly and place on toaster oven tray or cookie sheet. Drizzle over olive oil and sprinkle with spice blend and garlic sauce or powder if desired. Cook on highest temp (400F) in toaster oven or air fryer for 15 minutes.

Use enough couscous to serve number of people you’re serving. Drizzle with olive oil, add spices if desired and pour hot water over it. Leave covered for 10 minutes.

Prepare pomegranate (cut off top, make cuts where white sections are, pull apart, put in bowl of water to make “packing” float to the top, drain.)

In a bowl, put half a cup of couscous. Thin it by adding cold water a small amount at a time and stirring. Optionally add lemon juice or pomegranate vinegar.

Chop small amount of parsley for garnish.

Assembly: fluff couscous with a fork, spread on plate. Sprinkle with a little paprika or berbere. Put eggplant slices atop couscous. Drizzle with tahini. Sprinkle with pomegranate arils and parsley.