Turning Veganese

Gyros sandwiches are something that we typically had as a treat growing up. I’ve had birthdays where my dinner request was a gyros sandwich. If you haven’t figured it out yet, gyros is one of the things I really, really miss since turning veganese. Luckily, there is a packaged vegan version at the store for when I’m feeling lazy.

I was initially hesitant to try Viana Veggie Gyros.Some vegan substitutes can be a little heartbreaking. But I had a gyros craving so bad that I just needed to pick this up.

Here’s the good: it’s tasty, good texture, none of that grease, organic, and chock full of protein (it is a tofu/wheat product).

The bad: None.

The could-be-better: I’m used to gyros meat that is thinly sliced and these were more like ‘meat’ strips. In addition, the ‘meat’ was packaged in a way that made it a task to separate the pieces, and it many cases, I ended up breaking the pieces into much smaller chunks.

This didn’t fill my gyros craving 100%, but a lot of that was my fault. I didn’t have any pita or appropriate ingredients with which to make a vegan tzatziki  sauce, so I ate the ‘meat’ with brown rice, tomato, and onion. Since I’m used to a greasy, saucy gyros sandwich, the dish felt too dry.

I’m glad to know that this product is out there (you can buy it from Vegan Essentials) but I think I would be better off making my own vegan gyros. That will have to wait for a day when I’m not feeling like a lazy bum.

Have you tried Viana Veggie Gyros? Have you made your own? What was your experience? –Melissa