VeganEgg: The Omelette Test
Like many other people I’ve been very excited to try the new VeganEgg by Follow Your Heart. I’ve had a number of other vegan omelettes, but none that I would consider to be especially eggy. At vegan restaurants if I order a vegan omelette, I usually expect it to arrive more like a thick crêpe, made from chickpea flour or something. Follow Your Heart makes a number of other products—we especially love their salad dressings—so our hopes for this product going in were pretty high.
I didn’t quite expect it to be a powder, simply because it comes in such clever packaging that mimics a typical egg carton. I somewhat expected that they went all the way and the product would come in crackable egg-shaped vessels. I don’t mind the powder at all, but I think that after a while the packaging is going to seem gimmicky and less-than-convenient. I would much prefer it come pre-mixed and ready to pour.
Here’s what’s in it: Whole Algal Flour, Whole Algal Protein, Modified Cellulose, Cellulose, Gellan Gum, Calcium Lactate (Plant Source), Carrageenan, Nutritional Yeast, Black Salt.
The Algal stuff is new to me. It’s essentially flour and protein derived from algae. And that’s not the only ingredient from the sea; carrageenan is extracted from seaweed and is often used as an emulsifier.
Some other included ingredients are very common in eggy vegan recipes. Nutritional yeast is commonly used for its yellow color and cheesy, umami-ish flavor, and black salt or kala namak, is an Indian volcanic rock salt often used in vegan cooking to bring a sulpheric egg-like taste.
It’s worth noting that the VeganEgg is cholesterol free, making it a potential solution for omnivores needing to be careful about their egg consumption due to health reasons.
I decided to make vegan Denver omelettes for dinner. Denver omelettes are generally characterized by having onion, bell pepper and ham, all cooked into the egg. I decided to add mushrooms to the mix, because it just seems like something I’d do and why not! Actually, I think I really made a Boulder omlette. I’ve never actually been to Boulder, Colorado, but from what I understand it’s a bit crunchier and more up my alley. So here’s introducing to the world the very first Boulder omelette! And since I’m the inventor, it’s vegan by default 🙂 Here’s the full recipe ingredient list:
- VeganEgg by Follow Your Heart
- Chao cheese (Tomato Cayenne) by Field Roast
- Benevolent Bacon by Sweet Earth
- onion
- green bell pepper
- mushrooms
- Earth Balance vegan butter
- salt
- pepper
To start off I prepped the veggies and bacon. I used half the onion and half the green pepper, just enough for 2 omelettes. I chopped up 3 slices of the Benevolent Bacon, but in hindsight could have probably used more.
Then I prepped the VeganEgg, which calls for 2 tablespoons of the product and 1/2 cup of water per egg. I also added a dash of salt and pepper, because that’s what people do.
I’m a bit confused because the packaging says that it “makes a dozen.” The package is supposedly 4 ounces, yet I counted about 10 tablespoons of VeganEgg powder. 4 ounces should be 8 tablespoons. Even at 10 tablespoons, according to their Basic Recipe should equate to 5 eggs. In any case, I think the calculations could be a lot more clear. I ended up just making enough of the mixture to where it felt like it would be enough for both omelettes.
Getting started with the actual cooking, on medium heat, I melted the butter, and then cooked the bell peppers and mushrooms for a few minutes. Then I added the onion and Benevolent Bacon and cooked that for a few minutes.
Since this is a Boulder omelette, I poured the VeganEgg on top to mix with the veggies and Benevolent Bacon.
After a few minutes I added the Chao cheese, and when it seemed like flipping time I attempted the flip. I guess this is a good a time as any to confess that I’m not an expert omelette maker. Logically you’d think I was, because I am an expert quesadilla maker. Needless to say, this Boulder omelette became a Boulder scramble…
For the second omelette I moved over to a non-stick pan, which didn’t make things any easier on me. Both Boulder omelettes became scrambles.
The kids’ omelette would surely be an easier job, because I was only putting Daiya cheddar cheese in theirs. And what happens!? I screwed it up again! I even turned up the heat and let the VeganEgg cook longer to firm up and ensure a successful flip. I’m not saying that the VeganEgg is unflippable, but my first crack at it was definitely a bust. If you know what you’re doing and can make a vegan omelette happen correctly, please make sure to add your recipe(s) to the recipes section.
So what did we think of the VeganEgg? Dinner was a HUGE success, and it was easily one of the best scrambles we’ve ever had. Credit has to also be given to the vegetables which were awesome, the Chao cheese which was awesome, and the Benevolent Bacon which was awesome. It was our first time trying the Benevolent Bacon and we definitely enjoyed it.
The VeganEgg was much more egg-like than other eggy dishes I’ve had that were made with tofu, chickpea flour or other egg-replacers, so I definitely think it’ll be an easy choice for omelettes and scrambled eggs at least. There are more tests to be done, especially to see how well the product holds up in baking situations. But based on these early results, I think we have a winner here.
